Ayoob: Compact Springfield Echelon 4.0C Review

In today’s article, Massad Ayoob reviews the Springfield Armory Compact Echelon 4.0C pistol. The new handgun is a smaller version of the original 4.5F and is chambered for the 9x19mm Parabellum cartridge. The 4.0C handgun shares many of the great features with its older sibling including the modular Central Operating Group, and the Variable Interface System that is compatible with a wide range of red dot sights. How did the new compact Echelon 4.0C perform? Ayoob gives us all of the details. The pistol used in this review was loaned by Springfield Armory to the author.

The full-size Springfield Armory Echelon 4.5F made a big splash at its original introduction. This was due to its unique approach of interchangeable grip modules, chassis-style Central Operating Group fire control unit, the excellent Variable Interface System mounting system for red dot optics, and many other features. With such a modular-style design, it was inevitable that other variations would follow. Newest is a downsized version dubbed the Echelon 4.0C 9mm.

If you’ve been watching the Echelon line, you have probably noticed the numbering system in the product names. For example, the full-size model is called the Echelon 4.5F, indicating it has a 4.5” barrel and is a “Full-size” variant. This new version is the 4.0C, and you can probably follow what that means. It has a 4” barrel and is a “Compact” variant. It also features a shortened grip frame that houses a flush-fit 15-round magazine (compared to the 17-rounder of the full-size Echelon).

While officially dubbed a compact, this type of configuration is often described as a “Goldilocks gun” by many: not too small, not too big, but “just right.” It gives a full grasp and a good sight radius, but conceals well under a jacket or an un-tucked shirt. The shortened butt still has an ample 15 rounds in its flush-fit magazine, and the pistol comes packed with an additional extended 18-round magazine.

Details of the Springfield Echelon 4.0C

In addition to all the design elements that made this chassis-style, striker-fired 9mm pistol a hit, attention has been paid to the fine points. The iron sights are comprised of a big green tritium/luminescent circle set in the front post and a humongous U-notch rear with white outline, a configuration the company calls its “U-Dot” system. This sight set-up has proven highly effective on the company’s hugely popular Hellcat micro-compact series. The Echelon 4.0C is also offered with three-dot tritium sights as an option.

As I mentioned, the Echelon pistol features the Variable Interface System for mounting optics. In case you are not familiar with it, this system features a patent-pending mounting system that allows you to mount more than 30 of today’s most popular optics directly to the slide without adapter plates. This is achieved through a movable self-locking pin system. In most cases, this allows you to mount the optic low enough to co-witness the pistol’s iron sights through it.

The pistol is designed to be fully ambidextrous, with not only a fully ambidextrous magazine release but also an ambi slide lock/slide release lever design. While the slide lock levers are small to keep a straight-thumbs hold from over-riding them and preventing the slide from locking open when empty, I still found them faster than tugging the slide to chamber a round on a slide-lock reload.

The takedown lever of the pistol is finely stippled and lines up with a similarly stippled protrusion just ahead of it, which is mirrored on the opposite side. This provides something of a shelf for the support hand thumb. Some may choose to apply downward pressure to it to help keep the muzzle down. I found it worked better for me with the thumb pressing into the frame.

Specifically, this latter feature has two big advantages. One is that it keeps the support hand thumb the hell away from the slide. Many shooters inadvertently put that thumb on the slide, which causes them to have to re-grip it between shots, and can also add friction to the slide which could cause a malfunction.

Those built-in “finger pads” also serve as register points so the trigger finger can feel that it’s straight on the frame and not in the triggerguard at any time when the gun is drawn but is not actually being fired. This is a definite safety feature that more gunmakers should emulate in this writer’s opinion.

Adding Some Texture

I mentioned the stippling. Anyone who has run a Hellcat will recognize this stippling as the company’s “Adaptive Grip Texture.” They describe it as a “custom pressure-activated grip texture” featuring tall pyramids with flattened tops and shorter ones that come to a point. The former ensures comfort in the waistband, while the latter enhances your hold as you tighten your grip.

More of this light, comfortable stippling is found on the triggerguard. First, it is at the front for those who like to place their support hand’s index finger there. Secondly, it is under the triggerguard. I for one appreciate the latter because my preferred grasp is a “wedge hold” with the support-hand index finger a bit ahead of the others and pulled in tight to apply upward pressure to the triggerguard.

This style of grip has a camming effect that seems to give a stronger hold. How would they think of a subtlety like that? Well, it probably helps to have world champion shooter Rob Leatham as part of their group there to advise the Springfield Armory design team.

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Our test gun’s trigger had a relatively short but still very palpable light “take-up” as it moved rearward, then presenting the trigger finger with a “wall” of firmer resistance which broke cleanly with very little “backlash” or sudden rearward movement after trigger release. Trigger return was “short and sweet,” conducive to accurate rapid fire.

Springfield Echelon 4.0C Specifications

In Action on the Shooting Range

For testing, the pistol was fitted out with a 3 MOA Vortex Defender-ST red dot optic direct-mounted to the slide, which matched up nicely with the pistol and allowed for co-witnessing the excellent iron sights. For those not familiar with the Vortex Defender line of red dots, they are made up of the Defender-CCW, Defender-ST and Defender-XL. This ST sits right in the middle size-wise in the line and was a good fit for the Echelon 4.0C Compact.

The initial tryout of the pistol involved three testers, two male and one female, and all award-winning shooters. All three gave top marks to the short Echelon’s feel and balance, and fit to the hand. The short trigger reach was particularly appreciated by the average-size male who preferred distal joint trigger finger placement, and the five-foot-tall female with proportionally sized hands.

As a note, I want to point out that the Echelon 4.0C Compact 9mm — like all Echelon variants — features an interchangeable backstrap system on the grip module. The pistol comes with three backstraps included — small, medium and large — for customizing the grip to your hand. Each of the backstraps also features an integrated armorers tool. Also of note is the fact the 4.0C comes with a “small” grip module, while larger versions are also available.

On the range, recoil of the 9mm pistol was mild as expected, with the slide tracking smoothly back on target even during flat-out sustained rapid fire. The lady found the trigger tab occasionally pinched her small finger, but other than that she liked the gun.

Both the 15- and the 18-round magazines were easy to load all the way up. We particularly appreciated the short Echelon’s reloading speed. The ambi mag release buttons allowed use of the trigger finger to dump empty magazines, which we found faster and easier than using our thumbs. The built-in flare in the magazine well made insertion easy.

Even when the slide was forward, both magazines easily locked into place when fully loaded. Some other guns require you to practically pound the mag in when it’s completely full, which can lead to a failure in a hurried closed-slide reload. Not this one.

And, a potential life-saving feature: stand-off capability. Most autos go out of battery and won’t fire if they have to be pressed against the opponent. The structure of this pistol’s recoil spring guide rod keeps that from happening and will allow this short Echelon to fire at straight-in press contact.

Accuracy of the 9mm Pistol

Considering the oft-quoted standard that a service pistol should be able to put five shots in four inches at 25 yards, this gun passed with everything firing standing and unsupported: 3.40” with 115-gr. Federal 9BPLE +P+ JHP, 3.90” with 124-gr. Blazer Brass FMJ, and 3.80” with Winchester 147-gr. jacketed truncated cone. That’s consistent: less than half an inch apart in group size between the three loads, all groups measured to the nearest 0.05”.

Now, testing was done hand-held from a Matrix rest on a concrete bench at 25 yards. Testing has shown us that with this method, measuring the best three of the five shots will generally give about the same result as all five from a machine rest. This is useful since most of our readers don’t have a machine rest to compare our results with their sample of the same model, but can easily do bench rest testing. “Best three” group measurements were 1.20” with the Federal +P+, 1.30” with the Blazer ball, and 2.35” with the 147-gr. Winchester.

The most important thing is reliability. One-hand with either hand, small shooter or large, hollowpoint or jacketed truncated cone or round nose FMJ, everything we ran through the test pistol worked 100%. There were zero malfunctions of any kind with hundreds of rounds through it so far.

An Echelon for Concealed Carry

History shows us this size of pistol conceals well, and the new Echelon 4.0C Compact is no exception. I carried it for a day in Safariland’s excellent IncogX inside-the-waistband (IWB) holster. It was fitted out with the optional “Mag Caddy” for carrying a back-up magazine.

It works well in appendix carry, which is especially suitable for a carry optic-equipped handgun like the compact Echelon, since its greater height rests across the broader surface of the abdomen. During my testing, I found no sharp edges digging into the body with the pistol topped off with the Vortex Defender-ST.

Final Thoughts on the Compact Echelon

The new Echelon 4.0C 9mm adds a new dimension to the Echelon family of pistols. The pistol is offered in both U-Dot and three-dot tritium versions with one 15-round and one 18-round magazine, as well as restricted locale variants in 15-round-only and 10-round-only configurations (all come with two magazines). In addition, there is a threaded version with an extended 4.28” barrel with 1/2×28 threading and three-dot tritium sights. MSRP ranges from $679 to $739.

Considering that the original Echelon has already met with such strong acceptance in its full-size configuration, I won’t be surprised if this new compact version becomes even more popular.

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