Opinions on FNH Five-seveN

[Nimbus]

I wasn't familiar with this handgun until a friend of mine was raving about his the other day. The more research I did on both the gun itself & the 5.7 x 28mm cartridge the more interested I became in owning one. My wife loves to shoot but has restricted herself to .22 rimfire only due to her dislike of recoil. I thought this might be a defensive handgun she could handle.

Last weekend we combed all the gun stores in the Tri-Cites for the weapon & a look at the ammo but no stores had either but all said great things about the gun.

Yesterday, on a whim, I stopped by our local gun store here in Moses Lake & was shocked to see a hardly used one on thier shelf for sale. I even knew the previous owner. It included a real nice cross-breed holster, three 20 round magazines, & one 30 round magazine. The price seemed fair & 30 minutes later I walked out with it. When I got it home a disassembled it & peeked inside it appears to have hardly any rounds through it & was super clean. A good buy! My wife just chuckled at my enthusiasm!

Now I can't wait to take it to the range! I bought the 200 rounds of ammo they had in stock so that should get me started. I'll report my range experience & would like some feedback on the firearm.

Thanks in advance!

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[gehrheart]

I have an off and on curiousity with this round... Also been looking at the .22TCM.

Not sure if I am ready to plop the money down on one,..... but I am intrigued.

 

[dirtbag]

great shooters when they have adjustable site system . hard to beat a fn product and and its a sound investment . the price per round is up there but if you are going to own a 1k+ pistol you dont cry to hard about ammo.

 

[45 for me]

I like mine at lot. People debate whether it has sufficient stopping power, or what level of armor it can penetrate, but there are a couple things about the round that I really like. The recoil is so light, you can shoot aimed shots almost as fast as you can pull the trigger, and the geometry of the round makes it very reliable in terms of feeding. It also shoots pretty accurately at longer than usual ranges for a pistol. If you like guns, you should have one.

 

[ripcity]

I also like mine. There is no recoil, like others have said. The only thing that held me back from buying this gun was the price and availability of the ammo. The more I look around for the ammo, the more I find. The prices I've found at local gun shops is 23 dollars per box. I do reload for this caliber and that cuts the price down quite a bit.

 

[stmcelroy]

Had one, liked it but couldn't afford to shoot it. Will probably get another one day for a range toy.

 

[45 for me]

I bought a case of 2000 for about $700 which works out to $17.50 a box, which is not bad. I don't know if you can still do that. Reloading is the answer.

 

[Nimbus]

I went ahead & ordered a case (1000 rnds) from Cabela's for around $450.00. It's of course, backordered for 3-4 weeks.

Thanks for all of the replies!

 

[wichaka]

A caliber that has no redeeming value.

Poor ballistic performance, that has no use other than on the range as a novelty.

 

[Burt Gummer]

Add a Burris Fastfire, get it threaded at Tornado, order a Sparrow or M4/2000, wait seven months, then really have fun with it. Look up Elite Ammo for everything from subsonic to penetrator ammo. Accurately hit the bullseye every time at 50 yards.

Then get a PS90 and let the fun really begin. 50 rounds, no real recoil. Unlike just about every .22, no failures.

 

[Nutty4Guns]

A caliber that has no redeeming value.

Poor ballistic performance, that has no use other than on the range as a novelty.

Now don't sugarcoat it wichaka, tell us what you really think.

 

[Dan-Dee Sales Inc]

Yeh, none at all.

By 2006, FN's 5.7×28mm firearms—the P90 personal defense weapon and Five-seven pistol—were in service with military and police forces in over 40 nations throughout the world.[12] In the United States, 5.7×28mm firearms are currently used by numerous law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Secret Service.

One of the design intents of the SS190 variety of this cartridge was that it have the ability to penetrate Kevlar protective vests—such as the NATO CRISAT vest—that will stop conventional pistol bullets.[33] Fired from the P90, the SS190 is capable of penetrating the CRISAT vest at a range of 200 m (219 yd), or a Level IIIA Kevlar vest at the same range

FN 5.7×28mm - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[1911magic]

I have one. Love it. Great gun. I carry it sometimes, its pretty light. People do look at you at the range thou, looks like you're shooting a mini flame thrower

 

[jp1985]

I have owned two models of the FN fiveseven for many years until i decided to trade them recently.

I owned a IOM and a USG model. I got the USG as a Birthday present from my Father since he knew i was into them, and I bought the IOM model myself many years ago.

I really enjoyed them and they where my EDC's. I had bladtech IWB holsters for them and thought they where an OK holster, but i preferred the black hawk serpa because I could use it either on my belt or IWB or on my should holster so there where many more options Than the blade tech holster.

I will tell you one thing about the Fivesevens they are a fun gun to shoot but they are EXTREAMLY FINICKY!!! I once took the USG as my side arm for hunting and it got some dirt in it from the Holster and it refused to function until I took it back to camp and completely cleaned it out. Never let your Fiveseven get dirty or it will refuse to fire.

The other thing I didn't like about my fivesevens was the ammo cost and availability. Pretty much if you are wanting to go shooting or to the range it can be hard to find ammo locally for them.
I ended up canceling my member ship to the indoor range here because they wouldn't allow fivesevens to be fired there because they bought into all the hype about them being able to pierce bullet proof armor.

The thing I liked about them was the high capacity of the mags, and the different amount of ammo's you could get for them made shooting them a blast. Ss192, ss194, ss195, ss197.

Anyhow I ended up opting for different handguns that had common ammo available, and that had plenty of reliable statics for them IE 9mm, 40, 45.


Anyhow

Just my .002

JP1985

 

[wichaka]

Here are two articles from Gary Roberts, ballistic expert;

A quote;

"The current 31 gr SS-190 FMJ bullet has nearly adequate penetration, but the wound resulting from this projectile has a relatively small permanent crush cavity, as well as an insignificant temporary stretch cavity. Although the 5.7 x 28 mm penetrates soft body armor, wounding potential is at best like a .22 LR or .22 Magnum. Even 9mm NATO FMJ makes a larger wound--and we are all aware of the awe inspiring incapacitation potential of M882 ball from the M9......

A few large U.S. LE agencies adopted 5.7 mm weapons--after being involved in several OIS incidents with P90's, 5.7 mm usage in these agencies plummeted as a result of the poor terminal performance."


Small Caliber PDW's: FN 5.7 mm/HK 4.6 mm - M4Carbine.net Forums


FN 5.7? - M4Carbine.net Forums



I have shot the 5.7 at numerous ballistics vests over the years, and their penetration is sporadic at best...even those vests that are over 10 years old.

I personally know of no L.E. agency that uses it in the Northwest. With the research that's out there, I would heavily question anyone in charge that would implement the round for duty use.

The Secret Service agents around here do not pack it, so not sure where that info. is coming from. Ah yes...wikipedia, the web site of the last word on up to date useful information. UGH!

 

[dmpddiver]

Love mine and will never get rid of it.
Accurate, reliable, holds 21 rounds or 31 with extended magazine.
Compliments my PS90 perfectly.
Most love it or hate it.
Mines a love affair...

 

[Nimbus]

I took wife & gun to range. We were both surprised at the loud report & recoil. My wife did agree to fire six rounds but said she would only shoot it in an emergency.

It was as accurate at 50 yards as it was at 10. I enjoyed shooting it & the quality was superb. We only put 50 rounds through it but it shot every round without a hickup.

I've shot 10's of thousands of rounds through Sig Sauer handguns in my previous career, so I'm a huge Sig fan. This gun was very comparable!

The firearm is a keeper & I'm glad I added it to my collection. :winkkiss:

 

[shooter58]

Had an opportunity to shoot one about a year ago and I was hooked! Crazy light weight gun even with a loaded 20 round mag and no recoil. It is one of those guns that I was able to pick up and shoot well first time out. Price is up there but I will own one soon. Not perfect ballistics but easily fits into the category of - "I would be scared sh—less if I was being shot at by one"! I'm too fascinated by the gun/cartridge not to own one.

 

[Burt Gummer]

We are all gun lovers and variety is the spice of life.

It is a fun gun to 'prostitute' with big magazine, light/laser, red dot or scope, suppressor (real or not). It isn't 'hard core' but it just screams fun and not many handguns garner as much attention.

 

[aksu747]

Yeh, none at all.

By 2006, FN's 5.7×28mm firearms—the P90 personal defense weapon and Five-seven pistol—were in service with military and police forces in over 40 nations throughout the world.[12] In the United States, 5.7×28mm firearms are currently used by numerous law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Secret Service.

One of the design intents of the SS190 variety of this cartridge was that it have the ability to penetrate Kevlar protective vests—such as the NATO CRISAT vest—that will stop conventional pistol bullets.[33] Fired from the P90, the SS190 is capable of penetrating the CRISAT vest at a range of 200 m (219 yd), or a Level IIIA Kevlar vest at the same range

FN 5.7×28mm - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If you want armor piercing capability out of a handgun it would be much cheaper to reload 9mm shells with custom made steel core spitzer bullets and load it to +p+ levels or neck 9mm down to 7.62 and use 7.62x39 bullets on the shells and load to +p+ levels,these handloads will probably have more stopping power than 5.7x28 imho.