What is a 5.7 handgun for?

Discuss handguns, revolvers and other pistol-type arms.
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Boriqua
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What is a 5.7 handgun for?

#1

Post by Boriqua »

Someone mentioned a 5.7 recently on teh board and it got me itching again. I am kind of facinated with the idea (Splinter cell) but because of the mention I went running off to youtube and found a Paul Harrell (sp) video where he shot his infamous meat target and the damage was less than impressive. Add to that its more difficult to load for than straight wall pistol cases and store bought ammo is hard to find and expensive when found ... Well .. it just begs the question .. what is its niche and what does it excel at. Not going to lie .. still interested and seeing more options.


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Re: What is a 5.7 handgun for?

#2

Post by BigNate »

I always understood that the intent was a lightweight, low recoil pistol cartridge that could defeat soft body armor - with the last thing (pistol cartridge that can defeat soft body armor) being the real selling point for a lot of folks.
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Re: What is a 5.7 handgun for?

#3

Post by Suck My Glock »

BigNate wrote: January 26th, 2023, 3:06 pm I always understood that the intent was a lightweight, low recoil pistol cartridge that could defeat soft body armor - with the last thing (pistol cartridge that can defeat soft body armor) being the real selling point for a lot of folks.
The problem is that the ammo designed for it that actually defeats body armor is forbidden to be sold to you and me. Although it is not supposed to be available, occasionally small EXPENSIVE batches hit the internet and can be had.

https://ammosupplyusa.com/product/feder ... 00-rounds/
FN 198LF.jpg
Otherwise, with any other loading, all you're doing is slinging .22mag type performance. It's a great round for handgun hunting rabbits out to 150 yards,...if you can shoot that well. While having a 5.7 handgun is better than having no handgun, and while it might maybe be better than .32acp or possibly even .380acp under certain circumstances,...the only real advantages are that they tend to have 20+ round magazines, don't recoil much and will deafen your opponent (along with yourself).

They might be a neat range toy, but I'd never knowingly carry one into harm's way.
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Re: What is a 5.7 handgun for?

#4

Post by paulgt2164 »

I am waiting for the new S&W M&P 5.7 to come out, it looks pretty cool and the price is right.

I never understood the hype regarding the round - due to the restrictions on the more interesting ammo types. However what I do like is it is flat shooting due to light projectile and high FPS. Not to mention the magazine capacity. I wouldn't mind one for "long range" hand gun shooting. I bought one of the original FN 5.7s when they came out - and disliked the pistol but loved going out and making good, repeatable hits at 50-100 yards.

I wouldn't carry one for personal defense, but the case could probably be made for shooters with certain issue with larger calibers.

I think the M&P will be the sweet spot for me to buy one - MSRP is 699 (so realistically ~550 or so on the shelf) and I like how it works as it is different than the normal tilting barrel system.
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Re: What is a 5.7 handgun for?

#5

Post by Suck My Glock »

If I were to be serious about such a cartridge, I'd rather play around with the .22TCM. It is length restricted due to being designed for use in the 1911 magazine envelope, but the cartridge is sooooo much easier to reload or even fabricate new brass from spent 9mm. And I like the 1911 wide-body, so there's that.

But if I were to try make a handgun round capable of penetrating soft body armor that I felt was also capable of being an actually dangerous caliber,...I'd work up a wildcat based off the 9x25 Dillon (which is just a 10mm necked down to 9mm), and neck it down further to .32acp diameter (.312)
That sucker would likely be throwing a little 71grn. FMJ at about 2300 fps. (That's 700 fps faster than a 7.62 Tokarev, which does a respectable job against Type IIA vests and even sometimes Type II).
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Re: What is a 5.7 handgun for?

#6

Post by mock0013 »

I am not saying it's gods gift or anything crazy but damn it's fun to shoot.

Especially with a 10.5" barrel on the PS90 SBR. The first gen FN pistol the trigger sucked bad .. worse than glock. The 2nd gen fixed that suckage, but the 3rd gen is probably pretty good and reliable.
The Rotating bolt and fixed barrel on the new S&W is really cool idea.. no spring device needed for a can would be awesome. plus that gun is thin and has a great grip.

5.7 has been hamstrung by the low-speed factory ammo after it defeated 2A body armor even with it. The hot stuff will defeat 3a. There are now 4 companies making custom HOT ammo with CNC machine copper bullets and stuff that are deadly. Throw that in the PS90 SBR with 10" barrel and two 50 round magazines you realize why the Security service used it 100-150 feet with lots of people but need accuracy from a flat projectile and something reliable unlike .22 ammo.

There are some good things about 5.7 Now since NATO adopted it.. so ammo choices are increasing and definitely more deadly ammo is available currently. at shot show 3 more types of round were announced to be made by Aguila. Palmetto State armory uses to sell 5.7 ammo by the pallet till the ammo shortage. but they are a great place to find 5.7 ammo typically and the prices are coming down. It use to be .14-.18 a round and less than 5.56. but Popularity has increased with the 5.7 AR uppers, Ruger, PSA, and FN and now S&W have pistols and newer upgraded pistols.

5.7 suppresses with .22 to 5.56 can so cheap to suppress and really small also.
Flatter shooting than 9mm

There is faster ammo that was banned. That's what law enforcement and militaries use.

Hopefully this bullshit about banning because of defeating 2A or level 2 armor is no longer relevant as police no longer run that low end stuff and are running 3 or 3A etc. or higher.

every type of crazy powerful and specific load is available from time to time based on availability.
Elite Ammo
IMPETUS SERIES DEFENSE AMMUNITION [5.7x28mm]
Speer Gold Dot Police Ammo or defensive ammo

general information about different ammo and barrel length
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Re: What is a 5.7 handgun for?

#7

Post by omegaman »

as mentioned above .22tcm is a better round for a hand gun same low recoil but actually gets 2000fps out of a 5" bbl.
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Re: What is a 5.7 handgun for?

#8

Post by BigNate »

Suck My Glock wrote: January 26th, 2023, 3:34 pm
BigNate wrote: January 26th, 2023, 3:06 pm I always understood that the intent was a lightweight, low recoil pistol cartridge that could defeat soft body armor - with the last thing (pistol cartridge that can defeat soft body armor) being the real selling point for a lot of folks.
The problem is that the ammo designed for it that actually defeats body armor is forbidden to be sold to you and me. Although it is not supposed to be available, occasionally small EXPENSIVE batches hit the internet and can be had.

https://ammosupplyusa.com/product/feder ... 00-rounds/

FN 198LF.jpg

Otherwise, with any other loading, all you're doing is slinging .22mag type performance. It's a great round for handgun hunting rabbits out to 150 yards,...if you can shoot that well. While having a 5.7 handgun is better than having no handgun, and while it might maybe be better than .32acp or possibly even .380acp under certain circumstances,...the only real advantages are that they tend to have 20+ round magazines, don't recoil much and will deafen your opponent (along with yourself).

They might be a neat range toy, but I'd never knowingly carry one into harm's way.
I think I might have been misunderstood... I'm not necessarily a fan of the cartridge - and I agree with effectively everything that you said... I don't own one - and I don't see much value in it. I was just responding to the OP's "what is its niche" question. :-)
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Re: What is a 5.7 handgun for?

#9

Post by mock0013 »

omegaman wrote: January 27th, 2023, 8:16 am as mentioned above .22tcm is a better round for a hand gun same low recoil but actually gets 2000fps out of a 5" bbl.
but .22TCM guns magazines aren't reliable.
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Re: What is a 5.7 handgun for?

#10

Post by pneuby »

Suck My Glock wrote: January 26th, 2023, 3:34 pm
Otherwise, with any other loading, all you're doing is slinging .22mag type performance.
Pretty sure Paul Harrel's vid/s corrected that misnomer. The 5.7's sprintin' along like 500fps hotter, IIRC.

In any case, the original FN pistol, and it's Gen2 version, both feel like pigs. Odd controls, also.
The Ruger is not bad, and can be had with or without safety. However, the Rock is cheaper, outshoots it, and has better build-quality, also. I wish the Rock was available with a safety, but it's still the best feeling one on the market for now. Oh, the PSA mags are half the price of Rugers, and will WORK in your Ruger 5.7 if you have one.
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Re: What is a 5.7 handgun for?

#11

Post by omegaman »

mock0013 wrote: January 27th, 2023, 2:12 pm
omegaman wrote: January 27th, 2023, 8:16 am as mentioned above .22tcm is a better round for a hand gun same low recoil but actually gets 2000fps out of a 5" bbl.
but .22TCM guns magazines aren't reliable.
Still have two of the three of mine only the very first early one is a lil finicky the later two worked great once they went to the nickel cases on the ammo it has been good to go
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Re: What is a 5.7 handgun for?

#12

Post by mock0013 »

Good To know that the mags and ammo have improved!
Thanks
omegaman wrote: January 29th, 2023, 9:00 am
mock0013 wrote: January 27th, 2023, 2:12 pm
omegaman wrote: January 27th, 2023, 8:16 am as mentioned above .22tcm is a better round for a hand gun same low recoil but actually gets 2000fps out of a 5" bbl.
but .22TCM guns magazines aren't reliable.
Still have two of the three of mine only the very first early one is a lil finicky the later two worked great once they went to the nickel cases on the ammo it has been good to go
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Re: What is a 5.7 handgun for?

#13

Post by smithers599 »

Jeff Cooper's standard answer to the question "What's it for?" was "It's for SALE!"

The 5.7 is mostly for fun, however --

I know a fellow who dropped a javelina with one. Went down like Monica Lewinsky.

At Scottsdale Gun Club, I stood in a lane next to a young (and incidentally, hot) woman, who, although clearly athletic, was under five feet tall. She was hammering the middle out of a silhouette, with an FN 57. No recoil, and she really knew how to shoot that gun.

Personally, I just don't like the safety in front of the trigger guard. Who thought that was a good idea?
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Re: What is a 5.7 handgun for?

#14

Post by Abbey »

I'll +1 the "it's for fun". I had one and it was really fun to shoot. But without the AP ammo, it was just a fun range gun for me.

Very plastic feeling, weird safety, mag disconnect that I couldn't easily disable, and very difficult cartridge to reload. (Incidentally, it's hard to reload because 1, it's small - no Dillon shellplate, 2, it's a blowback bottleneck cartridge so the shoulder gets blown forward each time you shoot, 3, it's tiny so it is very sensitive to pressure, and 4, it has a weird lacquered finish on the brass so you have to use ultrasonic to clean).

The only way I'd buy one again is if the ammo prices dropped dramatically or if I really got into Stargate or Battlestar Galactica cosplay.
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Re: What is a 5.7 handgun for?

#15

Post by AmericanEagle »

My ideal gun would recoil like a 22 and hit like a truck. I think 5.7 recoils pretty great, especially the M&P looks interesting, and it hits a lot harder than 22.

I haven't owned a 5.7 yet.
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