Range Report - Springfield Echelon
- Thread starter Astro14
- Start date
Just picked mine up a week ago, didn’t know this forum had a gun section till I was searching on Google if any echelon owners run steel cased ammo, then I found a bitog page! Haha 500 rds through it with cci blazer zero issues. Just need a dot sight but they’re so expensive
Steel case ammo is fine. The most important part of steel based ammo is the jacket of the bullet. It is Bimetal, so it will be "harsher" on a barrel than typical brass cased ammo. Steel does not expand and well as brass, so you will "need" to clean the gun more as it will get dirtier. The Echelon is a supremely made gun with a hammer forged barrel. All in all, steel cased bimetal jacketed ammo, might decrease barrel life some, by not by a margin that would really make a difference. Pistols are lower pressure low velocity=less barrel wear overall.
Most people have a budget in mind when shooting. Some use high quality defensive ammo all the time. I am in the mindset that trigger time is most important and one can buy a bunch more steel cased than brass cased.
Do not plan on having steel cased FMJ for your carry load, use a HP. Buy a few boxes of defensive ammo, like HST or Winchester Ranger, run them to validate, and keep enough to have two mags full.
Winchester M1152 is pretty serious stuff aswell, like +p+
For training go cheap.
What have you been running in you Echelon @Astro14 ?
20 rd mags are overrated. I got 5 15 rd mags for free with the echelon and I only load 8 bullets at a time so I just don’t blow through ammo. Plus I’m used to shooting my Ruger 1911 so I’m fine with 8 rd mags
20 round mags are like 400HP cars or 24” breaker bars. You may not need or want one, but some of us find that capability very useful.
I have a bunch of brass case ball rounds, in 115 and 124 grain, from various manufacturers, like Federal, Speer, S&B, American Eagle, even Magtech and Blazer, and I just finished a lot of new manufacture 115g from a buddy who was an ammo maker for a while.
It all shoots great in this gun. I avoid reloads and steel case. Brass only, new only, for me. Let me add that I bought a lot of that ammo when things were cheap, paying 16 to 18 cents a round, buying a case (1,000) at a time. Prices are higher now, but I have bought a few cases for 23 to 26 cents a round, again, a case at a time.
I just don’t see the value in saving a few cents per round by going to steel case. I paid a lot for my guns, so, they get decent ammo. I don’t just shoot defensive rounds, although I buy that by the case as well for the cost savings, because that is crazy expensive.
My go to for defensive use is Federal HST 124 grain.
That also works well in this gun.
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And then comes those that live in a state like NY. 10 rounds only
if you are a legal gun owner and you can't carry at all in more places than you can. Of course the non-law abiders really don't care.I think I'm safe walking to my mailbox, going to the range and maybe Walmart is about it.
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- Jul 15, 2023
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Agreed. They make it easier to train proper rapid fire technique and speed up your splits.
Thought of this thread today as I took the Echelon to the range again. Put a couple hundred rounds through it. Again, flawless. Types of ammo shown.
I was playing with the Trijicon and the irons - and so, put a couple just outside the center to ensure that I knew where it was hitting, and it is dead on, but the target shows more dispersion than I would usually have.
The gun is still really impressive.
I was playing with the Trijicon and the irons - and so, put a couple just outside the center to ensure that I knew where it was hitting, and it is dead on, but the target shows more dispersion than I would usually have.
The gun is still really impressive.
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It's always nice to buy a new gun, and have everything work out so well.
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