FN Herstal Five-Seven (5.7x28mm) Pistol

[RetiredE9]

Anyone familiar with this handgun? I was at the range and saw my neighbor shooting one. I was intrigued with the ammo and the light weight of the pistol. I fired a few rounds and was pleasantly surprised at the tame recoil in such a light pistol. I've done some online research and see that it's armor piercing capabilities seem to be the big selling point for the ammo and pistol.

The pistol is fairly large and expensive and the front blade sight is large enough to use it as a letter opener.

The 20 rd. mag has me looking at my 6 rd. .40cal mag with more than a little jealousy.

Anyone have any comments?

[Texas Armadillo]

I don't have the pistol, but I have the PS90 rifle that uses the same cartridge. It's a great little gun.

There is tons of info on http://www.fnforum.net about the 5-7. You might want to check it out.

[rm9792]

I keep one at the house (friends) and it is a nice pistol. We managed to shoot through a 4x4 post and lodge deep into a 2x4 behind it out in the field behind the barn. It does have excellent penetration and seems to shoot very flat. We were keeping it on the paper at 100 yds easily, might do better in better hands. It will overpenetrate as a CCW wepaon IMO and is too difficult to conceal as you mentioned, it is large. Controls are very very well laid out with and ambi safety literally at your fingertip in proper carry position. Slide release is high and far back at the rear. I love teh control layout. Easy to disassemble once you know how for cleaning. Trigger is so so but I cant tell triggers as well as others. Pull seemed high but I dont have a meter yet.
20+1 is nothing to sneeze at but you will hit whatever is behind your target even if you strike medium bones IMO and the hole might be too small for stopping power. It does have the matching PS90 which would be a nice setup. I have something similar in a CX4/Beretta 92 combo.
Just my opinion and I am not a pro so hopefully others will weigh in.

[txinvestigator]

AP ammo is only available for police and military.

some agencies using this round have been less than impressed with the results.

[WildBill]

We managed to shoot through a 4x4 post and lodge deep into a 2x4 behind it out in the field behind the barn. It does have excellent penetration and seems to shoot very flat.

Are you shooting FMJ?
I checked one of these out at a gun store and really liked the idea. I think I would pick this gun over a "survival" type rifle that some of the other people on the forum were talking about recently. My biggest concern would be over the availability of ammo.

[Crossfire]

I had one, but have since sold it. Definitely not concealable, but by golly, more fun to shoot than the law should allow!

The muzzle flash alone is worth the price of the pistol. You gotta be careful shooting at paper so that you don't set the target on fire! Accuracy is excellent once the pistol settles in a little, and the sights are awesome.

The downside, and the main reason I sold it, is the price of ammo. With a couple of 20 round magazines, I could easily go through $100 worth of ammo in minutes. I can shoot a WHOLE lot of reloaded 9mm for $100!

[rm9792]

We were shooting FMJ AFAIK. You can only get factory ammo and it is expensive to me. Every show I go to it is 19.95 for 50rds. I think that is the right price...could be wrong.

[Syntax360]

It will overpenetrate as a CCW wepaon IMO and is too difficult to conceal as you mentioned, it is large.

Quite the opposite, actually. The major complaint with any 5.7x28mm weapon system (short of using LEO-only SS190) is that the rounds severely underpenetrate. The cartridge does not meet the FBI minimum requirements for penetration in ballistic gelatin. "Stopping power" (if there is such a thing) will be on par with a .22WMR - for a defensive handgun, it is lacking in a lot of areas. It is a great little niche gun for anyone in the market for a pistol that does offer penetration through body armor and the PS90 (in SBR form) makes a great little PDW with 50 rounds on tap (though I would count on needing a lot of them).

[rm9792]

So you are saying it will penetrate 5 inches of wood but cant penetrate a body? I have heard of that but how does that work ballistically? I am not arguing, just curious. I have heard the Aguia IQ rounds do this as well. We agree stopping power is lacking but for different reasons.

[txinvestigator]

So you are saying it will penetrate 5 inches of wood but cant penetrate a body? I have heard of that but how does that work ballistically? I am not arguing, just curious. I have heard the Aguia IQ rounds do this as well. We agree stopping power is lacking but for different reasons.

I have spoken to people at agencies that have tested/used the round, and even in the rifle form they have found it to be a poor performer.

[rm9792]

Good info TXi, guy who owns the one I have wants to CCW it. I will let him know. I have him on a 1911 now.

[Syntax360]

So you are saying it will penetrate 5 inches of wood but cant penetrate a body?

Yes. Many types of ammunition will penetrate solid objects well, but fall short when penetrating soft fluid mediums. A lot of factors play into why this happens - the common problem with these types of ammunition (HK's 4.6 also comes to mind) is that they are very small, very light, and very fast. When they pass into a fluid medium, they tend to fall apart too fast or simply lack the momentum to tear through the target.
Trying to judge performance of a round by shooting solid objects is a fool's pursuit - a .223, for instance, will do a number on wood and even steel plates (with the right ammo) at a distance, but fire that same round into a swimming pool and see how far it makes it...

[DoubleJ]

but fire that same round into a swimming pool and see how far it makes it...

I think it goes without saying that this is not advisable, but I'll say it anyway.

'sides, you might hit the PoolBoy

[rm9792]

but fire that same round into a swimming pool and see how far it makes it...

I think it goes without saying that this is not advisable, but I'll say it anyway.

'sides, you might hit the PoolBoy

Oh man, I was on my way to the city pool. Just kidding. I have seen a .25 fired underwater in a pool (not me). I felt the concussion and the bullet went about 10 feet away. Brain Surgeon was shooting at the underwater light, while in the water.....I left immediately before I got electrocuted. I hate apt pools.