FN Five-Seven

[koden]

I have seen these on the rack at local gun stores and always wanted to shoot one. Well, I was leaving the range today and there was a guy shooting one. I stopped and chatted for a sec and he let me put 3 or 4 downrange.

I have to say you would never guess the recoil is so light by the report the thing makes. It sounded like my 1911. The recoil was a little more than a .22 but way less than a mild 9mm.

I was able to keep the 3 or 4 rounds I shot off in the 2.5" circle at 50 feet (at least they all looked to be grouped there, kinda hard to tell with that small round). Not too bad for a first try.

It was pretty neat. Probably not the best self defense or carry gun but I bet it would take out a rodent or 2.

Very cool gun all in all. And 20 round mags!!!

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[PeakResources]

I have a recent magazine that talks about cartridges developed to help defeat body armor. The 5.7 was listed as one of the best calibers for doing so, having the best velocity in the group out of a pistol. Of course, you can shoot it out of a PS90 too. Unfortunately, I've heard folks are having a hard time reloading it.

Anyone else have experience with one?

 

[ronin223]

I have one, I love freaking out hunters at the range by shooting steel plates with the pistol at 200 yards standing. way easy to do, it shoots very flat out to 200.

does dent AR400 steel plates at 25 yards so be careful.

 

[DeLorean]

I have one as well. I love my Berettas the best but I shoot better with my FN. Huge muzzle flash, little recoil. It is a fantastic pistol.

 

[Dan-Dee Sales Inc]

I have a recent magazine that talks about cartridges developed to help defeat body armor. The 5.7 was listed as one of the best calibers for doing so, having the best velocity in the group out of a pistol. Of course, you can shoot it out of a PS90 too. Unfortunately, I've heard folks are having a hard time reloading it.

Anyone else have experience with one?

The round that defeats body armor is not available in the US as far as I know. If you reload them to hot they will blow up as a friend of mine found out.

 

[DeLorean]

Have you guys checked out eliteammunition.com? They make some great defense rounds in 5.7.

 

[Oro]

I bet it would take out a rodent or 2.

It's a great rodent handgun for $1000, that's for sure. And unless you need a $1k varmint handgun, you might want to shop around. Unfortunately, the polymer frame letting go and injuring folks is not that uncommon.

 

[PlayboyPenguin]

They are a hoot to shoot. My brother-n-law has one and I really enjoyed shooting his. I have not been able to bring myself to the point where I can pay nearly a grand for a mostly plastic gun but maybe someday. I do look hood holding it though.

 

[DeLorean]

It's a great rodent handgun for $1000, that's for sure. And unless you need a $1k varmint handgun, you might want to shop around. Unfortunately, the polymer frame letting go and injuring folks is not that uncommon.

Where did you hear that? I'd have to say it is pretty rare, I've only heard of one instance that was caused by a bad reload.

I find that statement pretty hard to believe considering the special forces and military groups that have trained with them for years now.

 

[PlayboyPenguin]

Where did you hear that? I'd have to say it is pretty rare, I've only heard of one instance that was caused by a bad reload.

I find that statement pretty hard to believe considering the special forces and military groups that have trained with them for years now.

Yeah, I have only heard of one confirmed case of a kaboom allegedly cause by a failure to return properly to battery which ended up being due to improperly re-loaded ammo.

 

[BryanO]

I find that statement pretty hard to believe considering the special forces and military groups that have trained with them for years now.

Which units and whats your source? Not calling you out, I've just been around a bit and have never seen or heard of any military guys using five-sevens (other than internet forums like this one).

I have, however, heard of some dude's wife's best friend who shot them as SF in Africa. Trust me, he's super legit. And SFOD-D. :winkkiss:

 

[TonsOfOregonBrass]

The secret service has purchased several p90s for security details. I will have to look for the source as i do not remember right now. they do not use them all the time, but it fits a roll and they use it for that roll.

As for the five seven, I LOVE MINE. it is one of the best shooting guns i own. 21 rounds and still weighs under 1.5 lbs. it is long, but can be concealed.

as for the armor piercing abilities, if you can find the aluminum core hollow points, they will penetrate level 2 body armor easily, and usually level 3 without plates.

It can be the same .224 round fired from your AR. and the hollow points don't expand, then flatten out causing a yawing/tumble. the wound channels are pretty brutal. that is from the dumb ed down American rounds out of the handgun.

the source of the photos and information is unavailable as the five seven forums have been closed now. however if you search Google archives you might be able to find some of them still.

Edit: here is a couple sources for the effectiveness of the round:
http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=3&f=16&t=444185&page=2
<broken link removed>

as far as who is using the round / guns, i am too lazy to look that up right now.

Most people who knock it haven't shot one.

 

[NoAim]

I recently picked one up as well through a trade. I have no idea about how effective it is or what not.

It's a blast to shoot. Kind of like a "Super .22". Very accurate, decent trigger, big mags, and with the SS197SR rounds I can bang away at steel plates (if they are far enough away).

Sure, ammo is expensive, along the same lines as .223 and other rifle ammo. If I wanted to be super cheap about stuff, I'd shoot my .22LR and .45ACP stuff.

As a nice companion, I also picked up an AR57 upper. Also a blast (see reasons above).

So, in short, I'm using it kind of like a range toy (like most of the stuff I own). I think with the demonstrated penetration, it should be effective if your shot placement is good (like ANY other pistol round, including .45...bullets aren't magic). With the light recoil, multiple shots are easily managed.

So, overall, it's pretty cool. Would I spend $900 on one? Likely no. But with the magic of firearm trading, I "didn't".

 

[wade11a]

The little I have read about them they said that FN developed the round in response to the military wanting a round that would bridge the gap between the 9mm and the 5.56. They made it in the P90 for close CQB. Kind of a step above the MP5 performance wise. The p90 holds 50 rounds and is extremely accurate and controlable. Another benefit is if you are using the P90 you can carry the five-seven and cross load ammo.

A friend of mine has one of each and they are fun to shoot and very accurate. I can see how they would be very effective in a CQB enviroment.

Something I thought that was funny though was the five-seven REALLY throws the spent cartridges! I mean up a good 8ft and out a good 10ft. Pretty cool and a blast to shoot.

 

[DeLorean]

Which units and whats your source? Not calling you out, I've just been around a bit and have never seen or heard of any military guys using five-sevens (other than internet forums like this one).

I have, however, heard of some dude's wife's best friend who shot them as SF in Africa. Trust me, he's super legit. And SFOD-D. :winkkiss:

I talked to a guy who was stationed with some Belgian special forces guys and they gave him a couple mags from their 5.7 pistols. Makes sense the Belgians would use this weapon.

There are a number of other military and police forces that use the pistol. A quick look on Wikipedia lists them but I'm not sure what is current.

Bryan0, I wouldn't take offense if you were meaning to call me out. Sometimes its the only way to sort through the wide world of internet bull.

 

[chase]

I shot one once, it was the new style with the smaller sights on top. Anyways they are really manageable to shot, and 20 rounds for a magazine is crazy large for a pistol. They also sell extenders for the magazines to expand it to 30 rounds. Like others said the ps90 and FN sive-seven share the same round which is nice for bulk buying. There are several rounds available in five-seven, but only one for civilians. One of the cartridges is Armour piercing which is illegal for civilians to have in any round. Pretty expensive at $1000+ thoguht just depends if you want/need it.

 

[chentz]

The ss192 round is stated to go through class 3 body armor and FN has stopped import into the U.S. It was replaced with the ss195, which is still supposed to go through class 2 body armor. The ss197 is the sporting round thats most common.
Even though the ss192 is not imported now, you can still find it and buy what is in the states. I got 300 with my Five Seven when I got it from a private seller last year and I bought a 2000 round case off Gunbroker about four or five months ago. I also bought an upper and made an AR-57. Awesome to shoot!

 

[DeLorean]

There is not just one round available for civilians. There are two types currently offered by the factory and if you check out Elite Ammunition they offer several loadings and bullet types for any situation. You can get some pretty impressive defensive rounds but they aren't cheap.

Keep looking for deals on these guns. I just saw one a couple days ago at a shop for about $750 with a tactical light and five magazines. I'm glad I bought mine in 2005 when it was only about $800 new.

 

[ZeroRing]

Keep looking for deals on these guns. I just saw one a couple days ago at a shop for about $750 with a tactical light and five magazines. I'm glad I bought mine in 2005 when it was only about $800 new.

WHERE????? I want one!!!

 

[DeLorean]

WHERE????? I want one!!!

Call Sam's in Everett. They had an IOM (old style round trigger guard) in the $700 range, I can't remember exact price. Seems like a damn good deal to me. The USGs were nearly $1000.