Best 9mm Combat Pistol, Springfield Armory Echelon: Better than a GLOCK

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Echelon Is the Bad-boy of the 9mm’s. Accurate, Smooth and Very Well Designed.

For test and evaluation, the very nice and professional people at Springfield Armory sent me their Echelon 9mm with threaded barrel. Their Echelon looked to be well designed. For this reason, I was interested in laying my hands on one to see if it measured up to my Glock 17 Gen 4. With the help of Hornady ammunition company, and Leupold Optics. Springfield, Hornady and Leupold is an unbeatable combination.

For February, it was very nice and warm with some light wind. Gridley and I took the Echelon to the Oklahoma City Gun Range where we started out on the short course bench range. Leupold, my favorite optics company, sent me their Delta-point PRO 6 MOA. With instructions included with Leupold optic, and Echelon, I easily attached the Delta Point to this bad-boy 9mm. With the Delta-point attached, Gridley and I easily sighed the Echelon in at 25 yards. We ended up with a five-shot group which could be covered with a silver half-dollar (for you young’uns it is 1.205 inches).

After tightening the groups of my Saint Springfield SBR with the Leupold red-dot, we moved to the metallic target range, or plinking range for us Okies. At the plinking range I fired over 100 rounds of 9mm ammo. I used some cheap ammo I have had for a while to warm up the Echelon. I then shot sixty rounds of Hornady 115gr Critical Defense FTX ammo. From my professional experience, this ammo is just the best for CCW of any 9mm. Hornady has a 100gr Critical Defense FTX round, but I prefer the slightly heavier round of the 115gr.

I then attached a suppressor to the Echelon and fired sixty rounds of Hornady’s 9mm Luger 147 gr XTP® Subsonic ammo. I then mixed the Hornady 147gr and the 115gr Critical Defense rounds. I fired one twenty round Springfield mag of this mixture. Gridley and I could not tell the difference in the report of

the two different types of 9mm ammo. Check out the YouTube video attached to this article. Give us a like.

Conclusion

We fired 180 rounds through the Springfield Armory Echelon straight out of the box. Like I do often, I rarely breakdown the T&E firearms prior to its’ feeding of lead and brass. Feeding problems seem to show up quicker when I practice this method. Echelon functioned perfectly with multiple types of 9mm ammo.

Being a striker-fired pistol, as many pistols are now days, I compared the Springfield Echelon to my Glock 17 Gen 4 I was required to carry for on duty. First off, the Echelon felt better and more comfortable in my hand. Even though the Echelon comes with three different back-strap attachments for different sizes of warrior hands, I like the sample I received right out of the box. The Springfield Echelon and Glock 17 pistols are excellent firearms. Springfield stepped up though and went above and beyond with the Echelon. I like the 5.28-inch threaded barrel. The non threaded Echelon barrels are 4.5 inches long.

The Echelon sights are Tritium / Luminescent front, Tactical Rack U-Dot™ rear. With the Leupold Deltapoint PRO 6 MOA attached you cannot see the front post when properly sighted on a brain eating zombie. The rear sight is tucked nicely behind the rear of the Deltapoint. When you sight in on your target, you can see the front post. As you level out the pistol it drops out of sight. At that instance you are on target. This is the way it worked for me. For others this may work differently.

Springfield engineered an ergonomics of the lower modular of the Echelon I just love. This modular lower is rock solid. All the above reasons in my professional opinion, the Echelon is now the leader of the pack. The Echelon sent to me by Springfield Armory performed much better than my Glock 17 Gen 4. The Echelon is more adaptable to varying officer’s hand size for comfortability which equals officers who are better shots. For the civilian side it is no difference. I say you should take a hard look at the Springfield Armory Echelon for your perfect firearms defense.

Springfield Says It best:

“The Echelon™ from Springfield Armory sets a new standard for modern, striker-fired duty pistols. With a host of patent-pending features, this modular and highly adaptable handgun is designed around a robust stainless-steel chassis and revolutionary optics mounting system.

At the heart of the Echelon lies the all-new Central Operating Group. Employing cutting edge manufacturing techniques, the Central Operating Group is entirely self-contained and serialized allowing it to be easily moved between grip modules in seconds. Precision built from stainless steel; the chassis provides a robust housing for its patent-pending operating system.

The Echelon ships with three backstraps – each with an integrated armorer’s tool. Backstraps are universal and can be installed in the small, medium, and large grip frames.

Built with safety in mind, the Echelon is designed and tested to exceed SAAMI drop test parameters by adhering to even tougher standards – our own. In addition to passing rigorous testing, the Echelon’s Central Operating Group features a unique second sear design to help prevent unintentional discharge should the firearm be dropped. Field stripping the Echelon is toolless and requires no pull of the trigger.”