 friends thanks for checking in today we're going to do a comparison with the new springfield armory echelon with the springfield armory xdm elite osp with the threaded barrel 5.28 inches now the echelon was released approximately three weeks ago it was met with high approval by most of the people who have shot it others have claimed to be in the middle they're not sure and others said that's just another nine millimeter but those who have shot it said that there's something about this gun that is super nice and some of the updated features is worth talking about but over here we've got the xdm elite i remember i received this and said i now have springfield's best polymer frame full size nine millimeter handgun right here the xdm elite osp flat dark earth threaded barrel love it i said it's a great gun but now they came out with the echelon so let's do a comparison we'll start out the echelon has a 4.5 inch barrel this has a 5.28 inch barrel so if we look at it like this we'll see there and lies the difference right there and then also from this shot you can see that the xdm elite on the right seems just a hair thinner with the slide but the barrel sticks out there because it's 5.28 inches the magazines are very good in both cases the xdm elite has a 22 round mag comes with two the echelon has a 20 round mag they are not interchangeable i know a lot of people would have preferred interchangeable mags they seem to have the same look geometry to it if you will but they're they're not interchangeable 20 round mags and a 17 round mag to 22 round mags you have to give it to the xdm for that you know 22 round magazines if we look at the grip the echelon took what they created with the helcat adaptive grip texturing very fine bumps that are a different height you can't necessarily see it but when you grip it it's very nice and it also comes with additional back straps and speaking of the grip which meets with the frame it is a modular frame and there is the serial number the xdm grip feels a little bit thinner also comes with additional back straps wider textured lines and well texturing in the back strap and the front strap i like this but i really love this that that grip texturing is so nice and it's all throughout everywhere you grip the handgun you're going to feel that adaptive grip texturing so in my estimation the echelon wins in that category now both these handguns are ambidextrous with the magazine release and the slide stop and a lot of people like to use their their trigger finger their middle finger on the opposite side some people use a thumb reach well you can do either way with both the echelon and the xdm elite because you have the slide stop and the magazine release on both sides although they look a bit different both handguns are ambidextrous now you may notice the xdm elite has a grip safety forces a high grip on the pistol i just don't see it as that big a deal they do not have that with the echelon i'm gonna give it to the echelon but i will mention the grip safety doesn't bother me i'm a 1911 guy and it just doesn't matter to me now the xdm has a flared bag well and it is removable but i see no reason to remove it i like it you know quick quick mag changes it just guides the magazine where it is supposed to go the echelon does not have that so i'm giving that one to the xdm the slide serrations with the xdm are wider cut they did that with the elite models all right and we'll show clear here wider cut pretty nice i have to say now what they did with the echelon was they made a trench cut and these are wide as well but when you grip this it's just sweaty hands wet hands i don't think it's going to make a difference and the reason it's trench cut you could see that it has that trench cut out in there and it actually is a nicer slide serration than the xdm both have a pick rail however the xdm has a three slot pick rail as where this has a four slot pick rail i think in either case you're going to be able to put whatever light laser you you want on there but that's worth noting the optic i have here is a hex dragonfly on the xdm elite and a trijicon r mr both are optic ready but what they did with the echelon with the v is system and that is called variable interface system is that they created a pen system that will use up to 30 different red dots and even more when you think about the variations they have them for the delta point pro the r mr the rmsc and all of the variations i think that is super cool as where this is a plate system and it's a very nice you know there there's no issue there but i like the adaptability that the echelon offers now the xdm elite has suppressor height sights and i think that's cool because it has a threaded barrel you throw a suppressor on there and the echelon offers that exact same thing but not with this setup this is the 4.5 inch barrel but it has a tritium front dot and a u notch rear sight much like the hellcat much like some of the other xdm elites just not this one because it has suppressor height sights i can't really rank who's better right there because it's irrelevant if you have a suppressor then all of a sudden it's relevant the trigger with the xdm elite it's called a meta trigger match enhanced trigger assembly very nice trigger breaks right at four and a half pounds it's that second click right there see that that second click all right i like it it's got the trigger bar safety in there but this echelon trigger i have it breaking right at five pounds it's a little bit wider has the trigger bar safety in there breaks at five pounds but that reset is just a little nicer i have to go with the echelon on that trigger guard little bit undercut with both hand guns they have the same look to it a little bit of texturing different types of texturing here we have my thumbs in the way a little more of a gritty texturing the adaptive grip texturing and over here we have the same type of texturing that mimics the grip in both cases so no no big issue there i think either way will suit the user just fine how about price this is very important this is for this model optic ready flat dark earth $733 and with 222 round magazines and optic ready and threaded barrel that's actually a really good price if you compare that with other models you'll see that that's not bad in this case with an optic played on here and without an optic you're looking at $679 so what they did here is create that optic system which i think is amazing and they priced it to sell at $679 it's ambidextrous it has a great trigger 20 and 17 round magazines all steel sights easy disassemble disassembling these hand guns is simple in both cases here we have the slide locked back with the xdm we're gonna push this lever upward and then off comes the slide no need to pull the trigger to remove the barrel i have to take that barrel cap off those threads so i'm just gonna leave it as is but as you can see it has a dual recoil spring steel guide rod nice easy disassemble and you just slack it back and push that lever down and there you go the edge line is different slides locked back you're gonna push this lever down instead of up it released a slide and then just pull it off the frame and here you can see a single captured recoil spring steel guide rod and the 4.5 inch barrel once again i'm not going to put it back or take it all out but all you have to do is put this in place and then rack it back lock it put that lever upward and it's just an easier and quicker disassemble process let's go ahead and get these guns on the scale we'll start with the xdm elite unloaded magazine inserted 32 ounces even here we have the echelon and we're looking at 27 and 5 8 so a little over two ounces heavier with the xdm but here are 20 rounds we'll keep it consistent with both 36 and an eighth ounce and with the xdm elite we're looking at 40 and a half ounce once again a little over two ounces heavier with the xdm elite so let's talk about the most important factor the shooting accuracy in my hands anyhow at the range with both these handguns when i got this xdm elite with the 5.28 inch barrel i said there there it is that's the one i want that's the polymer frame one i want in 9 millimeter have the prodigy love that i want this one with the 22 round mags in the longer barrel and i shot it and said that is phenomenal because i love the xdm models i really do i don't mind the grip safety i like to grip texturing and i like the four and a half pound trigger i like the way it shoots and the way it handles recoil and the control i have with it it just has been consistent for me but i said it was the best polymer frame handgun that springfield made until they released the echelon and i will tell you when i've taken this to the range on three or four occasions so far it's only been three weeks i love it i've shot the lights out with it and this is not to state that i'm a great shooter i'm not it's just that this gun just performs it's a it's a very nice shooting accurate well controlled handgun and i encourage you to shoot it especially if you're the type that says oh you know it's just another 9 millimeter whoop they do i encourage you to shoot it because it is really a nice overall pistol and very seldom do you just take a gun out of the case and just hit everything that you're aiming at typically you have to get a good feel for the gun this is just a natural shooter for me i love it i think it's uh i think i think they did a great job with it and i i know that it got reviewed very much and in many cases over reviewed and i played a role in that myself but however i do think the handgun is worthy very fine pistol right here with the echelon so my two favorite polymer frame striker fire 9 millimeter handguns from springfield around the table right now and if i had to choose one i'm going with the echelon doesn't mean i don't still have love for this if you like videos like this please subscribe and share i always appreciate thumbs up button thanks for watching and you guys be safe