Leveling Up: Springfield Echelon Comp

Recoil Control. That’s what every manufacturer is striving for in 2024. Previously, compensators or ports on pistols were reserved for competition pieces or heavy recoiling behemoths. Now, every company aims to create the softest and flattest shooting pistol. How did we get here? It’s a natural evolution. Manufacturers are pushing the status quo to eke out market dominance.

The Newest Echelon

The Echelon is Springfield Armory’s mainline duty-type pistol. Its ergonomics are borrowed from a host of popular pistols and have been combined to create something that stands out amongst its competition. It even uses a modular chassis system with a removable fire control unit (just like a Sig Sauer P320) to allow customizers to build a pistol to their exacting specs. To keep pace with others (like Smith & Wesson, Sig Sauer, Shadow Systems, etc.) Springfield needed to evolve their newest pistol. That leads us to the Echelon Comp.

Instead of simply adding a compensator to a threaded barrel, Springfield added integral porting to the slide like on the Hellcat Pro model. This makes disassembly easier since removing an external comp isn’t required. Sig does something similar, but in Springfield’s case, the barrel is standard length with a port cut out of it that lines up with the port on the slide. The decision looks seamless for aesthetic purposes compared to Sig, which uses a shorter barrel within a slide that ends in an “expansion chamber.”

Everything else is the same as other Echelon models. The pistol comes in at 23.9 oz with a barrel length of 4.5”. The standard model will ship with one 17-round and one 21-round magazine (Springfield does offer the Echelon with reduced capacity magazines for those that live behind enemy lines). My favorite aspect of the Echelon is its use of its Variable Interface System for mounting optics. Instead of plates and stacking tolerances, Springfield uses a pin system with multiple screw holes to fit over 30 different optics to the pistol. This is one of the best mounting systems currently available and is something other manufacturers should strive for.

Final Thoughts

This is the next logical expansion to the Echelon line. As mentioned above, Springfield has already added this to the Hellcat Pro. The Echelon was an obvious candidate. Insofar as I can say, the Echelon is an excellent duty option that upgrades the ergonomics and features of the other options on the market. MSRP is $749. However, street prices should be lower.