Pistol manufacturers have noticed the accessory and competition world this year. The goal of a competitive shooter is to manage recoil as best as possible to maintain a positive sight picture and improve speed between shots. In general, this is a good idea, even for the novice shooter. Many shooters in this space will add compensators to the ends of threaded barrels to aid in this. This has started a trickle-down effect where more and more shooters are adding compensators to their everyday carry and duty weapons. Manufacturers have taken notice. Now, almost every mainline company is offering versions of their pistols with compensators.

Echelon Comp

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

The Echelon Comp is an obvious extension of the already popular line. The Comp model is great for duty and will see use in the Carry Optics division of USPSA. Moreover, it keeps Springfield in line with other mainstream manufacturers like Sig Sauer, Smith & Wesson, and Shadow Systems that already have comped models. MSRP on the Echelon Comp is $749. However, street prices should be lower.