New (and more affordable): Echelon Alpha

For 25 years, Springfield Armory and Croatia’s HS Produkt have partnered on polymer-framed, striker-fired handguns, starting with the XD series, followed by the popular Hellcat, and, since 2023, the modular Echelon. We’ve reviewed the full-sized 4.5F, 4.0C Compact, 4.0C Comp, and 4.0FC crossover, and we’ve had little to criticize. They perform reliably. We’ve put over 5K rounds through assorted Echelons during reviews since the pistol was released and never had a notable problem with these guns. They run. (All photos: Chris Eger/Guns.com) Springfield has also gained meaningful traction for the Echelon in law enforcement. In December 2024, the St. Louis County Police Department, with nearly 1,000 officers, adopted it as its duty pistol under a $2.1 million contract, reinforcing the company’s claims about the pistol’s reliability and performance. The Echelon has secured other major law enforcement contracts as well, and abroad, the Spanish National Police have chosen it as their…