Springfield Armory Echelon 4.0C Compact Review

The Springfield Armory Echelon 4.0c, let’s check it out. 

 

Guys, Springfield Armory Echelon, and this is the 4.0c for compact. When they came out with their original model, I was very impressed.

It was an evolution of the XD or XDM series, but yet totally revamped. This is definitely the pinnacle of a modern handgun. There’s a lot of cool features with the Echelon originally, but this makes an excellent concealed carry choice.

We’re going to compare this directly to the Glock 19 because honestly, it feels like a Glock 19 in size and in form, but yet the ergonomics are over the top. I handle a lot of handguns and there’s a about this that makes it very unique. With the chassis system, it’s got a lot of modularity.

You can have one chassis, different grips, different barrel lengths, different slide lengths, and it gives you a lot of options. We want to give a big thank you to Springfield Armory for sending the Echelon 4.0c for this review and including us in the launch. This is a brand new handgun from Springfield Armory.

Honestly, it’s something to really take a look at. If you want more of a full-size feel as far as grip, yet very compact and easy to conceal. All right guys, Springfield Armory Echelon 4.0c. This is a brand new offering from Springfield and this is their compact version of the original Echelon, which we did a full review.

This is a full-size pistol. It’s a more of a service style pistol and it has a four and a half inch barrel. It’s big and it’s ready to go.

17 plus one and you can also get a 20 round magazine as well. There are a lot of cool features about this handgun, but it’s the same with the compact. The biggest thing is the compact is just very conceal carry friendly.

Just a little bit on the end and here about a half inch, but it does make a huge difference just like the Glock 17 and the Glock 19. Now I mentioned the Glock because this actually to me is one of the closest to the same form factor of the Glock 19. In fact, when I picked this up, I looked at it, I thought, man, that just reminds me of the Glock 19 more than about any other pistol that’s come out that’s tried to mimic the Glock 19.

The Glock 19 is one of my favorite handguns, but as far as ergonomics and a lot of other things, the Echelon has really moved way ahead. And so I may sound a little bit impressed and I am. In fact, I’ve really liked the original Echelon.

The 4.0C, I like it better and I really feel that this is going to make an excellent concealed carry handgun. It’s really funny because we have the Springfield Armory Hellcat and this is the pro and this one holds 15 rounds. And it’s really thin, really small, about the same size as your Echelon, but it’s just a thicker gun.

So now why in the world would I want the Echelon 4.0C when I’ve got the Hellcat Pro, which has a fairly long grip. It has, you know, really a full capacity type handgun size and it’s easy to conceal. But one of the things about having a larger gun, just a little bit larger, is that you have more to grip hold of in a self-defense situation.

So if I knew I was going into a dangerous area and I wanted to have more advantage, honestly, I would go with the 4.0. It’s a little bit larger hand size. It gives you a good full grip. It gives you more confidence.

And for me, carrying, I like to carry the Hellcat. It’s a really thin handgun, but if I’m really going into a dangerous situation, this really fits the bill. It’s going to give you less felt recoil.

It’s going to give you just that full grip to it and it will give you a little more confidence. But really it’s just for you to decide. But that’s one of the reasons why that I think that Springfield Armory did come out with the Echelon 4.0. Of course, this is really an upgrade over the XD series.

Now this is the XDM Elite. It’s in 10 millimeters. It’s a totally different style handgun, but there’s a lot of features that this really incorporates.

One of the big ones is that the XD and XDM series has a fairly high bore axis. With the new Echelon, it is an incredibly low bore axis. And so this allows you to get your hand up right up under the slide and it has less mass going way above your hand.

So if you think about it this way for bore axis, is the lower you have your hand, the more violently that the gun’s going to recoil. The higher up I get it, the more control I’m going to have. And that’s what I found with the Echelon.

Now let’s go ahead and check our 15 round magazine. Chamber’s empty, but it also comes with a 17 round magazine. So this just goes right in.

It extends a little bit out the base. And so it gives you just a few extra rounds. And for concealed carry though, it’s better to have that flush fit because this is the part that prints.

Now this has a chassis system inside. So that’s what’s considered the pistol and you can remove that chassis. You can get different grip shells, you can get different slides, barrel lengths.

And so this makes it extremely modular. And it’s the same with the original Echelon as well. And we’ll look at that when we break the pistol down.

But one big thing about the Echelon is the grip. It has texturing all the way around it. It is soft to touch.

I mean, you can feel the texturing, but it’s really soft. It’s going to be comfortable against your skin in a concealed carry situation. And then of course here, and that same texturing runs all the way throughout the gun.

But when you grip it, it locks into place. Springfield calls this their adaptive grip texturing. Again, smooth to the touch, but then when you lock in, it’s a solid full grip.

Also with the shape and the rounded off edges of the grip, it makes it a heck of a lot more ergonomic than your Glock, which is pretty much blocky. And one of the reasons why I like the Glock so much is because I’ve had so much experience with the Glock. There are better guns out there.

There are more ergonomic guns. But for me, the experience I’ve had and the reliability is the reason why Glock has held on for so long. But there are other excellent options.

And I think that the 4.0C is definitely one of them because it gives you that same form factor, gives you a more ergonomic, better grip, better control, and yet makes it a very concealable handgun. The slide is billet steel and it has a melanite finish on it. The serrations are into the slide, so it makes it actually a little thinner.

They’re very chunky, which I like. Great for gross motor skills. Press checks, rear serrations, really aggressive.

And we have these wings on the back. Now this is going to give you more leverage when you’re pulling that back. And if you’ve ever been into a combat training class or any kind of competition, manipulation of the slide is important.

And this really gives you a lot of advantages when you’re pulling that slide back. And again, those deep serrations and then those wings. And you can see that it bevels back at an angle and then it gives you a good solid platform to pull from.

But now it’s Red Dot ready. And one of the huge things about this system is that it’s the variable interface system. This will fit over 30 different optics, direct mount to the slide, no adapter plates.

And direct mount is my favorite. It’s less of a fail point. And there is a pin system that goes in here.

We’re going to look at that in a minute and we’re going to take this off and I’m going to show you underneath. But here we have the Vortex Defender ST, an excellent sight. And one thing about the sights on this handgun is it has that U-notch in the back.

And then we have a tritium front sight with a luminescent green around it. So it makes it a really great sight picture. In fact, honestly, with the Springfield Armory sights, I’m a huge fan.

It just naturally lines up. And you can see that it does co-witness directly with the Red Dot. Now the barrel is four inches in length.

It is hammer forged. So it’s going to really extend the life, the lands and grooves. It’s going to give you accuracy for a longer period of time.

And it does have a melanite finish. Three slot Picatinny rail. We have a squared trigger guard that is ample for gloved hands.

And then when we have the trigger, you can see that it has the blade safety. We’re going to look a little closer at the trigger action, but we have an indexing pad right here again with that same texturing. And then even the takedown lever has that same texturing.

When I’m finished shooting, I like to put my finger in a place and this just gives me an index point to be able to place it there. But also when I’m firing the handgun, both thumbs forward, it gives me a place to rest my thumb and that will help mitigate the recoil along with this low bore axis. Then we have our slide stop and it’s ambidextrous on either side.

Magazine release, ambidextrous as well. So a fully ambidextrous handgun. And when I bring back my slide, it goes in the slide lock.

I mean, even though that is minimal and it’s small, that really allows for you to hit that and it’s very positive. On the top of the slide, we have the Springfield Armory logo. Sight is dovetailed into the front.

We do have a cocking shelf on the sight in the rear. So if you don’t have the optic, you can actually use this in a one-handed reload or being able to put this on a table, your boot, your belt. I’d love to have that little cocking shelf.

But with the Red Dot, it makes it even easier to be able to pull that back. High rod undercut under the trigger guard, which again, allows you to get that hand really up high and it’s a double undercut on the trigger. And the trigger guard is very important because if you cut here too deep, then this actually changes your point of aim.

So that little cut actually allows you just to naturally lock that in to your sight. Now, one thing I’m really glad they did not include is the grip safety. And where the grip safety is passive, and of course it’s been used on the 1911s for years, this was a point of contention for a lot of people.

They just really don’t like that. But it does give an extra measure of safety. One of the things about the Echelon is that the trigger pack actually has a double sear.

And so that’s going to give you extra protection in case the gun is dropped. It has the firing pin block as well, but these exceed SAMI specs for drop test standards. And that second sear just comes in and is more redundant.

Now the trigger is somewhat flat faced and it does have the trigger blade safety. And this is just going to keep the trigger from being inadvertently hit. You just put a full pad on the safety.

It disengages there at the back. So as we take it, pull it, we come to a wall. And there is not, once you press your safety, there is very little take up.

Right here, a really nice break. There’s just a touch of resistance before we hit the brake. But that is a very crisp trigger pull.

Reset, right there. Check the trigger pull weight with our Lyman trigger gauge from Brownells. Four pounds, 7.3 ounces.

Four pounds, 6.4 ounces. So under four and a half pound trigger pull. Now weighed on the Echelon 4.0C with the Vortex Red Dot Sight, 25.2 ounces.

And the sight weighs one and a half ounces. Now it does have a couple of additional back straps and we have an armorer’s tool that’s built in. So this just gives you more convenience, but definitely easy to take down.

And of course, this is used to remove the other back strap. Now Springfield Armory did send the Safariland Incog. This is a appendix style carry holster.

I love this tactical fuzz they put on the Kydex. Very slick finish inside. This really helps things to quiet down.

Very comfortable holster system to wear with these little clips. And we have a standoff device, but fits really well inside here. And we have room for our 18 round magazine.

Safariland does an incredible job on holsters. And with this finish on the Kydex, this makes it a super comfortable handgun to carry, even appendix. Guys, check out suitsgear.com. We have just recently revamped our website and we have patches, t-shirts, stickers, but also we have a lot of our favorite items on there.

And we have a ton of deals, which can really save you money. So check out suitsgear.com. Big thank you to Fiocchi for sponsoring the ammo, all made in the USA. One of the biggest suppliers of ammunition in the country.

We’re also thankful to Lula Loaders for saving our thumbs. These mag Lulas are just awesome. Guys, the Springfield Armory Echelon has been very popular.

It’s a complete redo of the original XD-XDM series. Still made in Croatia, but they’ve really upgraded it with the deep slide serrations. I’m going to tell you, this grip is phenomenal.

The way they wrap this around. So when you’re it just really just sets in your hand and it goes all the way around. Of course, we’re using one of the Vortex Defenders for the red dot.

Excellent red dot. The Echelon series has been great, but now we have that compact version. This is great for concealed carry.

And those serrations really are just grippable. I love the co-witnessing of the sights. One of the things about Springfield Armory with that U at the back, and then we have a tritium sight at the front with that fluorescent ring around it, just shows up extremely well.

The shelves on the side that just give you a place to put your thumb, it helps mitigate the recoil as well. But the Echelon has been just a hit, but now they’ve got the compact version. Again, it’s going to make a great concealed carry piece.

Then with 15 rounds, and then you can jump it up to 17. You have a lot of mag capacity. So to me, this is really the pinnacle for the XD series and beyond.

Now for disassembly, we’re going to drop our magazine, check the chamber, the gun’s empty. Bring back your slide into slide lock, and then we’re going to take our takedown lever, and we’re going to bring it down just like that. Now release your slide lock.

You don’t have to pull the trigger. The slide just comes right off. That is an extra safety feature as well.

We have our flat recoil spring. I love that. That mitigates a lot of the recoil, but it does have a guide rod.

Then we have our barrel, which is hammer forged. It’s going to give it extra life. It’s going to preserve the lands and grooves, and it’s going to lend to better accuracy longer.

Slide is beautifully done and no tooling marks, just very well finished. Then with the frame, same thing. Of course, we have our dual slide stops, but overall, I mean, just a polymer striker for our pistol, but definitely very well done.

Now again, there is a chassis system in here, so what we do is go ahead and pull your trigger all the way back, and then we’re just going to start twisting the takedown lever. Once we get this out, now there’s a post in your frame, and then you have this slot in the front of your chassis. We’re going to take our slide stops, lift them up, and push forward.

You’ll notice that it’ll disengage there. Make sure that when you’re holding your slide stops up, just to pull the trigger, it’ll disengage your striker, and then you can just pull this right up, just like that. This will come out.

There are some nubs at the front. There we go. It’s not that difficult to pull out.

It just takes a little bit of unlocking, but this is considered the firearm, and this is the gun. This is just a grip shell, and you can interchange this with others. In fact, this will fit in the full-size Echelon.

Also, again, you can change out your slide, your barrel links. This just gives you complete modularity. Very well done.

It’s melanite finished, and of course, there are a few of the stainless parts that are showing, but a very cool system. Obviously, SIG really pioneered this, and we’ve had other companies to come up with it. I think that the chassis system is really the way of the future.

You don’t have to remove your chassis every time you disassemble, but if you do, it makes it a lot easier also to clean and to keep this lubricated. Now, for reassembly, there are some nubs in the front of your chassis, and you’re going to want to get those past this little area right here. We’re going to make sure our trigger is going in.

We get down to pass those nubs, and then we just bring it inside, and then you just bring the back into place. You want to watch your nub, and go ahead and make sure it’s down, push down, and then it locks, and push it all the way to the rear. When the post is at the front of your chassis at this slot, you’ll know that you’re in place.

Now, we’re going to reinsert our slide stop. You’ll notice this little bevel. That’s going to help defeat this small part that kind of comes out.

There is some give to this part, so don’t feel like you’re going to bend it out of place. It takes a little bit of finagling, so we’re going to get it and see if we can just get it past that part. There we go.

Now, we’re going to go straight into the other side, that hole, and then you just push it down. Now, make sure that your slide stop is flush with the frame when you put it in, and that this rotates on around. Next, take your barrel, put it into your slide, take your recoil spring and guide rod, lock it in, and then bring your slide back over your frame.

Lock it, bring up your takedown lever, insert magazine, test for function, and we’re back in business. This is a completely tool-less design, which makes it nice. A little tough getting in that chassis system, but again, it’s not something you need to do for regular maintenance.

Now, keeping your firearms maintained and cleaned is vital, especially on a self-defense handgun. Otis makes some of the best cleaning equipment out there. They make a number of different kits that are dedicated for different rifles, pistols.

They also have Shooter’s Choice, which makes excellent CLP and bore solvent and different cleaning materials. The Ripcord is one of their signatures, and there’s a whole system based around it. They are suppliers to the US military, and so here we have our tactical kit.

It’s a very compact little pouch, and you have everything you need to keep your firearm cleaned in the field. But then also, they have larger kits with the steel rods and with Ripcords, and they make a number, in fact, probably the most I’ve ever seen. And then, of course, they have tools as well.

So check out Otis Technologies, highly recommended, and we want to thank Otis for being a sponsor of the channel. The variable interface optic system that allows you to direct mount, so many different options. We’re going to remove the sight.

I’m going to show you how it works. And to me, direct mount is the best way, hands down, to mount your optic. And with the Vortex Optics, this tool is included.

Now the Vortex Defender ST, I love this texturing on the front. And also, there is a rubber little pad right here, and this is just going to help, actually, to cushion any kind of blow. But just an excellent sight, and Vortex makes great optics.

This is the Delta Point Pro footprint. Here we have little posts that actually fit the Delta Point Pro. And as you can see, there are other holes to fit the different optics.

And each of these small posts just come out, and they fit into the right hole. So it’s a very easy system to change out your optics if you need to. They also include Shield RMS post and RMR post.

So a number of different screw kits for the different optics, and of course, your optics plate with suitable screws. And again, this little tool is great. Retail price on the Springfield Armory Echelon 4.0C is $679.

And of course, market price is going to be typically less at your local gun shop. What are some pros and cons? First off, the chassis system gives you a lot of versatility, makes it very modular. Hammer forged barrel, best in the industry.

The deep slide serrations are incredible. And we’ve been starting to see that with the Walther PDP and also with the new Beretta APX. But I really like these cocking shelves at the back.

Gives it a lot of gripping, especially with gross motor skills. The variable interface system that is direct mount for your red dot, and you don’t need adapter plates. You can change that out at any time.

That is also an excellent option. Sights, some of the best. I love the U-notch at the back.

I love the tritium bead at the front with the luminescent ring, and it allows you to co-witness. And we have a cocking shelf if you just want to go with the straight plate. Texturing is top-notch, smooth to the touch and yet very grippable.

And again, this is the adaptive grip texture. Trigger pull, excellent. I mean, a really good trigger, nice crisp break, four and a half pounds.

So a great combat trigger. What are some cons? It’s just a matter of choice. You can go with the Glock 19.

You can go with the CZ P10C. You can go with a number of different handguns. The Walther PDP is an excellent option as well, but there are a lot of pluses for the Echelon.

And again, looking forward to seeing more coming from Springfield Armory. Guys, there’s a lot of micro-9s out on the market, but there’s still something about that full grip in your hand, which is going to give you more confidence. It’s going to allow you to get shot placement even better, less felt recoil, and really it’s not all that much larger.

But if you’re ever in a self-defense situation, this makes a great option. And again, a big thank you to Springfield Armory for sending the Echelon 4.0C for this review.

 

Be strong, be of good courage. God bless America. Long live the Republic.

 

-Don