The Springfield Armory Echelon is a full-size striker-fired 9mm built for duty and home defense. It has an MSRP of $710. Movable pins set into the slide let most current red dots bolt straight to the metal, so there is no adapter plate holding the dot up above the slide and nothing in the stack to shear.

Controls are ambidextrous throughout, and the sights are a tritium U-Dot arrangement, a vertical bar under a dot in place of the usual three dots. A 17-round flush magazine and a 20-round magazine both come in the box, so the home-defense magazine is not an extra order. The grip module is interchangeable because the serialized Central Operating Group is a separate stainless chassis, which also means a worn frame is a parts order. There is no manual safety on this build.

If you are cross-shopping, the Walther PDP Full Size matches the 4.5-inch barrel and the 8.0-inch overall length, holds 18 rounds and has an MSRP of $699, but its optic cut takes a plate that Walther does not include. The Sig Sauer P320 Full Size runs 4.4 oz heavier with a longer 4.7-inch barrel, and its grip module system covers more frame sizes than Springfield's does so far.