FN 5.7 Practical Application

[lastinline]

For the vast majority, the ammunition that was intended is not available (armor piercing handgun), so it is relegated to be a fast .22 caliber. Here in diaper land, most shooters are limited to ten rounds. Not too many options in pistols or rifles available, so that is limiting. Ammo for it can be expensive, and I’m told that reloading for it has its own unique problems. I’ll pass on that caliber.
IMO, the .22 TCM might be a better way to get your rocks off over a zippy .22, and cheaper before it disappears into the safe, like all your other half-baked ideas.

[DrewN]

I literally read half this thread before it clicked it was 5.7, not 7.5 Bruno.

[Capybara]

Perfect example of a caliber that looks good on paper, for what it was designed for, it's ok, but in practical use for civilians, not very practical. Ammo is expensive, you can reload for it but overall, not worth the effort and machinations to most.

I have a few C&Rs in 7.62x25, a similar concept, high velocity bottlenecked pistol round. Loud as hell, fun to shoot but expensive too. Might be ok as an occasional plinker but for practical use, get a 9mm or a .45 ACP (or even .40 S&W, if you like it?) or if you want to be trendy, a 10mm.

[The Gleam]

Everyone who complains about the cost of ammo never planned ahead. I have enough Five Seven ammo to last my future grandkids. Palmetto had awesome deals with no sales tax and free shipping. Blue tip FN sold for 14 bucks shipped and Federal FMJ was 12 bucks shipped.

Was just thinking the same; those are the prices I recall, and there were also times places like Copes Distributing or SG-Ammo came into a large inventory of FN blue-tip for awhile and were dicounting it to $10.95 , and Federal at $8.95 (FREE SHIPPING/NO TAX). I bought a good amount just to have, AND bought some later at those prices you noted from PSA.

So I was baffled by the 'expensive' comments.

Then again, haven't paid much attention to current pricing because I've got plenty - but what's the cost of 9mm again?

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[tigerpan]

I wouldn't even consider a 5.7 if I didn't reload.

[Grumpyoldretiredcop]

I've seen the LE-only ammo for sale at a gun show, albeit at a ruinous cost. If you have someone who just can't handle the recoil of more standard handguns, it works as long as they can get past the significant muzzle flash. You do have to remember that it works on the "swarm of bees" theory... that's why they have big magazines. I know that doesn't work so well in the PRK (hopefully that'll change soon for good!), but it works up here in the NV back country.

I didn't buy the FN when it was more reasonably priced, probably should have. I bought the Ruger 57 instead and just picked up a PS90 (soon to become an SBR).

[the_tunaman]

I like mine, and have been using for car carry here since we relocated. It is a tack driver.

I have plenty of ammo for now, plenty of once-fired, and am able to reload for it.

Good enough for more than 40 nations to use for military or LE purposes, so not the worst choice IMHO.

[floogy]

That line of thinking has always bugged me a bit. What if people are just turned 18 or 21 recently or just can't afford to stock up when the getting is good? It's good advice to stock up when prices are cheaper, but not always possible.

I wish I could've stocked up on 22lr when it was 10 bucks a brick but I was only about 18 and had no way to store it through an enlistment and multiple deployments.

Ammo prices for people just getting into the game are just the reality at the moment. Even if you've got 10s of thousands of rounds stacked up. If you shoot as much as you need to for proficiency, you'll run out eventually and be faced with current ammo prices.

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As for 5.7, I started looking at it but decided against.

1: Its primary advantage is being able to pierce 3A body armor. However, even out of a 8" PDW barrel, the ammo designed to penetrate body armor has very poor performance once it gets through. It's quite poor even on an unarmored target. Regular FMJ or JHP 5.7 will not penetrate IIIA, maybe not even II.

2: As above, even from a PDW size weapon its performance compared with intermediate rifle calibers is poor. A 5.56, 7.62x39 or 300 BLK carbine or PDW is far superior in that role.

3:Ammo cost. While I stacked a lot of more typical calibers, the FN 5.7 was about it in the caliber for handguns until recently. The gun was pretty cost prohibitive.

A threat wearing body armor is going to be a rare occurrence. I don't want to sacrifice performance because I have ammo that will pierce 3A, but is poor in every other way.

If a threat wearing body armor is a concern, train for pelvic girdle shots.
As Clint Smith says, "Shoot em in the crotch! It may not be a fight stopper, but it's a good introduction." It certainly could be a fight stopper though.

[TomReloaded]

Its enormous and has shockingly bad terminal ballistics. With less than 10" of penetration, it's not meeting any standards. It's got 20 rounds because youll need them!

[SharedShots]

A mouse gun in an elephant frame.

It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks, what you think and use is what matters.






.

[moleculo]

Check out Elite Ammunition if you want some "proper" 5.7 ammo available to non-LEO or military. It's very expensive but if you have a need for that kind of ammo...

[OCEquestrian]

Great for making wood-screw pilot holes when you forgot the Makita at home.

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[OlderThanDirt]

Fort Hood.

[gwanghoops]

Was just thinking the same; those are the prices I recall, and there were also times places like Copes Distributing or SG-Ammo came into a large inventory of FN blue-tip for awhile and were dicounting it to $10.95 , and Federal at $8.95 (FREE SHIPPING/NO TAX). I bought a good amount just to have, AND bought some later at those prices you noted from PSA.

Out of curiousity, when was 5.7 this cheap?

it was $15/box shipped 6 years ago.

FN 5.7 -- not the best shooting handgun nor self defense round, but it'll do.

[drdanno84]

I concur, The FN 57 pistol is the quintessential firearm for self defense. It is one of my CCW guns, 20 round mags loaded with FN SS198LF ammo