Review: Springfield Echelon Comp Runs Fast, Easy & Accurate

Article, Reviews

By Paul Rackley, GunBroker Editor

Some people jumped right into the use of striker-fired, polymer-frame pistols. Others took more convincing. As a lover of 1911s, I was in the latter group. However, I eventually came around, particularly as models improved.

Today’s polymer pistols come with advanced features, such as adjustable backstraps, accessory rails, speed cuts, ambidextrous controls and much better triggers. In fact, the stacking, hard-to-pull triggers of early models were what put me off originally. I didn’t think I should have to buy a pistol and either deal with a crappy trigger or pay for a trigger job.

Striker-fired pistols have come a long way. In fact, some can even be said to be beyond good, all the way to excellent, particularly with the additional features. The Springfield Echelon, introduced in 2023, is one of those pistols.

The Echelon featured a whole new operating system. This Central Operating Group was completely self-contained, as well as serialized, and can be easily moved between grip modules. Other features included tactical U-dot sights with a tritium front and luminescent ring rear, textured index points and a patented optics mounting system that allows attachment of close to 30 micro-optics without a plate. Most of the optics co-witness with the sights, providing sighting if the optic goes down.

The Echelon even comes with fully ambidextrous controls. There is no swapping of anything to fit left-hand shooters. This includes the manual safety on the pistols with that option. Its squared trigger guard and adaptive grip provides control, and it comes with excellent slide design that provides numerous grip points for manipulation. These include deep serrations on the sides and top, and a flared back. In fact, the pistol comes with almost everything a shooter would desire other than something to reduce the already low felt recoil. The company has solved that with the Springfield Echelon Comp.

Rolling at the Range

I tested this gun on a hot, muggy Sunday afternoon. Sweat running within minutes, letting me get a good idea about the adaptive grip texture. It actually feels smooth but provides excellent purchase, without being too aggressive, even during longer sessions. The gun felt good in the hand, with plenty of room for a full grip. It even comes with multiple, easy-to-change backstraps for adjusting grip size.

All the controls were within easy reach for either hand and the serrations and back flare made charging and press checks beyond instinctive. The trigger broke pretty cleanly at just over 5 pounds, after a little bit of play, and the U-Dot sights co-witness with the attached optic. As such, I tested both for accuracy, and groups with each were well beyond expectations.

At 5 yards freestanding, all groups measured under an inch with both sights and optics. After moving back 5 more yards, the groups grew to an inch. At 15 yards, from a bench, groups hovered around an inch, with some measuring under and some over. From there, I transitioned to drills with the Springfield Echelon Comp.

Now there are numerous drills that test the capabilities of pistols. There are two, however, that I like to combine, showing accuracy, recoil control and manipulation. It’s basically a double failure drill with a reload. I load two magazines with three rounds, perform a failure drill then a reload followed by another failure drill.

I followed this up with the Forty-Five drill and the William drill, along with a few others. Every drill run was to test the forward-slanting comp located right in front of the tritium sight. Comps are designed to reduce recoil, provide faster follow-up shots and increase accuracy. I wanted to find out if this is true with the Springfield Echelon Comp.

Speed that Matters

I’ve shot a few compensators over the years. In fact, a buddy had one that looked like a howitzer on his AR. It was big, ugly and loud and blew wind to each side of the shooter, but the sights barely moved during the shot.

I’ve also used them on large caliber revolvers, such as a .454 Casull and a .500 S&W. Without hearing protection those would rock your ears for days. I even tried out the Springfield Hellcat Pro Comp, being quite impressed with the gun. However, I wasn’t sure the comp made a real difference. As such, I was very curious if a comp on an easy-to-run, full-size 9mm would matter. Would the decrease in recoil be worth the increase in sound?

I wasn’t able to answer that question, but the Springfield Echelon Comp sure sped up my shooting. The gun did particularly well in situations requiring three or more shots. This pistol worked great with controlled pairs, but it just seemed to get better as the shot count rose. It was particularly easy to keep the Trijicon RMR on target.

The Echelon Comp worked really well with off-hand drills. This pistol can, in fact, easily bounce between hands. I conducted every drill with both strong and weak hands. While the strong hand was more accurate and faster, I had zero issues manipulating the pistol with my weak hand.

Even with the off-hand, recoil was light. Follow-up shots ran quickly, and I obtained above average times in drills. The Echelon Comp offered extremely manageable recoil. Even better, I couldn’t really tell a difference in decibels. The forward-slanting of the comp does a pretty good job of directing the sound away from the shooter. It might be a little louder but I don’t think people will notice the noise in a situation; they may, however, notice how quickly they can put rounds on target.