Remember the Springfield Armory Echelon 4.0C Compact Comp? Now it’s got a “box” on top of it.
Courtesy of the fine people at Burris Optics, I got a Burris FastFire E. As it’s meant to be supported by an Aimpoint ACRO mounting plate, I contacted C&H Precision; I knew they’d have the right adapter plate.
As you can see from the link, they did. If you’re in the market, you should get their C&H Red Dot Maintenance Kit too.
You can’t be too careful.
The Burris FastFire E is a fully enclosed emitter red dot optic. The PMO features a 3.5-MOA dot and an "always on" feature. Powered by a CR2032 battery, the optic is said to have a 60,000-hour life. Once mounted, I found it to be user-grade simple – which suits me.
The window is wide and the sight rides fairly high – but the vertical white line atop the viewing window and the reasonable deck height allows sighting even without the dot.
Best of both worlds in an MSRP $420 optic: a wide-open, “big screen TV” view with access to backup sighting as needed. The dot I have is red; the FastFire E is available with a green reticle for those who prefer it.
The installation, following the instructional video from C&H Precision, was quick and easy. The thread locker had plenty of time to set up – I installed it on Tuesday and didn’t shoot the gun until Thursday.
On a range trip, I took a box of Federal Syntech 124 grain Training Match and a box of Monarch 115gr. FMJ. Checking zero, I saw we were only a little off with the first rounds fired. Following the simple instructions to get the reticle to coincide with the gun and ammo, it was the matter of eight rounds to get centered up.
A couple of types of ammo, a holster and an optics-mounted sidearm make for an easy day at the range.
I elected to zero at 25 yards. When shooting at seven and fifteen yards, the group was predictably a bit low on the 8” scoring ring, but the hits were inside when I remained focused on the job.
I spent the range time attempting to acquire the reticle – this optic does sit higher than the slide-rider glass I’d been using for the past year or so.
The window is so large and the glass so bright, it took little time to drive the dot into view on presentation. I found myself shooting slower than I needed to as I was surprised to see the dot so quickly back in the target center after shooting.
Part of that is due to the flat-shooting nature of the Echelon 4.0C Comp pistol.
I didn’t abuse the glass or the mount; for that kind of action, there are people who will test to destruction. The C&H mounting plate is sturdy; I’ve used them before on Echelon projects with great success.
The Burris FastFire E is built like a tank, or so it seems from this sample. The plate-grabber mounting arrangement – with a single bolt – seems strong out of proportion to its size.
I’ll be leaving this glass on board for a while, though I tend to carry iron-sight defense pistols. There’s some shooting I’d like to try and this is the right platform to try it.
— Rich Grassi
