First Look: Springfield Armory Echelon 4.0C 9mm

At its launch in 2023, the full-size Echelon 4.5F saw success as a full-sized duty-grade pistol. The new Echelon 4.0C has the bones of the original, but with a shorter 4-inch barrel and compact frame for enhanced concealability.

The core of the Echelon 4.0C is the patent-pending Central Operating Group, made up of an entirely self-contained and serialized stainless-steel chassis. The result is a system that is easily moved between available grip modules. The pistol comes standard with the small grip module and three interchangeable backstraps, while medium and large grip modules can be purchased separately.

Adding to the pistol's features is Springfield’s Variable Interface System, which employs patent-pending self-locking pins that ensure consistent and reliable point of aim/point of impact. In addition, the pins can be positioned to fit the footprints of a wide range of popular optics.

The Echelon 4.0C comes standard with two magazines — a flush-fit, 15-round magazine; and an extended, 18-round variant.

“The full-size Echelon 4.5F was engineered from the ground up to be today’s most advanced striker-fired pistol,” said Steve Kramer, Springfield Armory’s Vice President of Marketing. “The new Echelon 4.0C takes everything that made the original so popular, and sizes it down to offer users an exceptional and concealable duty-grade EDC pistol.”

The Echelon 4.0C is offered in several variants at release, featuring a choice of either U-Dot — with a U-notch rear sight and a tritium/luminescent front dot — or three-dot tritium night sights. Additionally, the pistol is offered in reduced-capacity models with U-Dot sights in 15- and 10-round capacities for restricted locales. Lastly, the Echelon 4.0C is also offered in an extended threaded barrel variant with tritium three-dot sights.

For more information, visit springfield-armory.com.