 Hey there friends thanks for checking in. Today we're looking at a new released handgun from Springfield Armory called the Echelon. Echelon stands for Rank or Position of Authority. This was completely redesigned from the ground up. You have never seen a Springfield handgun quite like this. Now at first glance you may say that's nothing more than a cross between an XTM Elite and a Hellcat. And in some cases that is true but the Echelon offers so much more. Let me get the basics out of the way. It's a polymer frame striker fired 9mm handgun with a 4.5 inch barrel. It's OSP optical sight pistol and it comes with a 17 and 20 round magazine. They also offer this base plate. I can put it on the 17 round mag and have two 20 round magazines. What makes the Echelon different? Well first off it's module. You can see it has the serial number on the trigger component group. Springfield calls that a central operating group. So it's modular. You can switch out the frame with other frames. Now this is a medium frame. Over here is a small frame. Each will accept three separate back straps. And they also have a large frame. If you look on their site they offer a large frame. So custom fitting the shooter's hand size is no issue with the Echelon. Let's take a look at the slide. Deep cut, rear and forward slide serrations. It's trench cut. Right there you can see that. It's beveled out. And the reason I like that is because I do not like and I don't even like to watch people charging their pistol with their optic. Nor do I prefer to slingshot it. I want to charge it right here and that trench cut will allow me to do that. It also has some flares on the back of the slide. Okay for those who do slingshot it. I see people do that all the time and you could do that or you could just charge like that without hitting the optic. Another thing is that it is ambidextrous. We can see the magazine release and slide stop on both sides. And if we look at the slide stop it's got this lever that sits rather flush. All right we can see it on this side sits rather flush but once locked back it's just one sweep of the thumb to drop that slide. That is a nice touch. Currently installed on this echelon is a Trigicon RMR but what they did with the mounting system is pretty amazing. Something I have never seen before. Springfield calls it a variable interface system and what that means is that they have these pins. The current pins are set up for the RMR cut and all of its variants and footprints out there but here's another one that are removable. They lock in nice and tight for a shield footprint and a Delta Point Pro. So it doesn't matter. It's a direct mount. It doesn't matter what optic you're running. Springfield says it will suit 30 different optics but actually it's much more than that because of all the footprint variants that are out there that will accept RMR, shield and Delta Point Pro optics which gives the user a variety of optic choices to use with the echelon. The trigger on the echelon is pretty sweet. It's a flat face trigger. It has a bar safety right there and the trigger guard is oversized. It has an undercut, some texturing on the front of the trigger guard as well as many index points on the frame but the trigger breaks right at five pounds right there. Nice crisp break with a reset that is very short. I noticed immediately at the range when I shot this echelon I shot the lights out with it and I really enjoyed it. Full size guns, they're my thing. I just think they're a confidence booster and this echelon did not disappoint right out of the case. The echelon is available three different ways and the MSRP depends on which one you choose. The sight system currently has a Hellcat system, U-notch and a Tridium front dot much like we see on the Hellcats. All right pretty common with Springfield Armory. They also offer three dot Tridium sights and the MSRP is a little more with that and then also a threaded model with three dot Tridium that has a 5.28 inch barrel much like this XDM Elite I'm showing you. With just the Hellcat sights and an optic plate instead of an optic the MSRP is 6.79. The three dot Tridium with an optic plate installed no optic is 7.19 and with the three dot Tridium and the threaded barrel you're looking at 7.39. But another thing that is very different with the echelon from any other Springfield Armory handgun is the disassemble. All you have to do is lock the slide back push this lever downward and then release the slide and it comes right off of the frame. It doesn't slide off you just pull it off. Here's a captured recoil spring and a 4.5 inch barrel. There's also no need to pull the trigger making it a safer process and then to reassemble you do the same in reverse order. All you have to do is put that cutout right where the cutouts are there and then lock the slide back push that pin upwards and it's that easy. No other Springfield Armory handgun is that easy to disassemble in my opinion. The unloaded weight let me dial down this light is 1 pound 11 and a quarter ounces just ounces you're looking at 27 and an eighth ounce here are 17 rounds. I have the 17 round mag in there 34 and a quarter there's a carry around 34 three quarters ounces loaded with 18 rounds. Safariland is already making a holster for the echelon called the MultiCam Arid. It's a duty holster it has some leather inserts there so you don't scratch the echelon. All you do is put this on your belt and then insert the holster just like that locks in nice and tight then insert the echelon it has a locking lever right there so when you go to draw the pistol just like that you push that back and draw the pistol it also has the thumb guard nice looking and very well performing holster by Safariland called the 6TS. So this is what all the buzz is about today a lot of people talking about it Springfield put some teasers out there everybody's wondering what did they come out with now because they have been pumping out firearms one after another the last three years and I'm super excited with this echelon I'll be interested to know what else they come out with for this frame colors different sizes perhaps a subcompact gun I don't know but this thing is really nice and I'm so honored to be able to show you today what they're offering everything that it offers I love what they did with the sight system I love what they did with making it modular and the slide and the overall shooting impressions with that five pound trigger is amazing and I couldn't be happier to showcase the echelon today if you like videos like this please subscribe and share I always appreciate thumbs up button thanks for watching and you guys be safe