FN 5.7 first and 2nd impression.

[huckberry668]

A buddy of mine recently bought a FN 5.7. It's all I heard from him after that episode of Top Shot aired. I wasn't sure about a bottle neck pistol caliber. I finally got to shoot it twice this past week. here is what I think of it.

1. plasticky... the entire gun except barrel is covered with plastic. sights, slide/barrel engagement and steel on steel. The small controls look flimsy but worked ok.

2. handling - the grip looks big and is big but feels narrow in the hand. The 1.5lb gun feels real light but well balanced. fits my hand very well and the nature point of aim feels familiar.

3. Trigger - felt like 6-7lb, spongy, griddy and too heavy for a light gun. Over-travel is almost non-existent which is a good thing. Reach is fine for me but a little far for small hands or short fingers. Trigger feels & breaks consistently and predictably.

4. Sights - this one had drift adjustable rear sight and it shot 4" low and 6" to the left out of the box at 50 yards. Adjusting the rear sight requires loosening up a set screw, a pin punch and a few good whacks from a plastic mallet.

5. Magazine - it came with the 10-rounders. loads like the staggered AR mags. just press the rounds in from the top.

6. barrel has no tilt, just moves back and forth when cycled. it has a steel 'C' clip of sorts that may be acting like an o-ring on the muzzle end. I didn't get to study it in detail.

My 50-yard group outdoors with the FN 40grainer was less than 1.25" 3-shots from sandbags. And it felt easily done.

I tried shooting at the 200 yard 18' gong with Kentucky windage but missed all 5 shots. a couple wildly toward the direction of the wind (more than 1' from the generate POI). I'm not sure if it was due to the light weight bullet losing stabilization or sensitive to the quarter value 7-10 MPH wind.

Yesterday I fired 5 more shots and grouped them within 15/16" at 25 yards indoors rested on bench. Shooting this gun well definitely requires the deliberate attention to 'trigger control'.

Overall, I like the gun. I was pretty impressed with the 22mag like felt recoil. Amazingly precise consider the heavy trigger and bad sights. Its precision deserves an optical sight or at least adjustable rear, a good trigger job and maybe heavier bullets for longer ranges.

[SilverTauron]

A buddy of mine recently bought a FN 5.7. It's all I heard from him after that episode of Top Shot aired. I wasn't sure about a bottle neck pistol caliber. I finally got to shoot it twice this past week. here is what I think of it.

1. plasticky... the entire gun except barrel is covered with plastic. sights, slide/barrel engagement and steel on steel. The small controls look flimsy but worked ok.

2. handling - the grip looks big and is big but feels narrow in the hand. The 1.5lb gun feels real light but well balanced. fits my hand very well and the nature point of aim feels familiar.

3. Trigger - felt like 6-7lb, spongy, griddy and too heavy for a light gun. Over-travel is almost non-existent which is a good thing. Reach is fine for me but a little far for small hands or short fingers. Trigger feels & breaks consistently and predictably.

4. Sights - this one had drift adjustable rear sight and it shot 4" low and 6" to the left out of the box at 50 yards. Adjusting the rear sight requires loosening up a set screw, a pin punch and a few good whacks from a plastic mallet.

5. Magazine - it came with the 10-rounders. loads like the staggered AR mags. just press the rounds in from the top.

6. barrel has no tilt, just moves back and forth when cycled. it has a steel 'C' clip of sorts that may be acting like an o-ring on the muzzle end. I didn't get to study it in detail.

My 50-yard group outdoors with the FN 40grainer was less than 1.25" 3-shots from sandbags. And it felt easily done.

I tried shooting at the 200 yard 18' gong with Kentucky windage but missed all 5 shots. a couple wildly toward the direction of the wind (more than 1' from the generate POI). I'm not sure if it was due to the light weight bullet losing stabilization or sensitive to the quarter value 7-10 MPH wind.

Yesterday I fired 5 more shots and grouped them within 15/16" at 25 yards indoors rested on bench. Shooting this gun well definitely requires the deliberate attention to 'trigger control'.

Overall, I like the gun. I was pretty impressed with the 22mag like felt recoil. Amazingly precise consider the heavy trigger and bad sights. Its precision deserves an optical sight or at least adjustable rear, a good trigger job and maybe heavier bullets for longer ranges.

FN has a winner with that design. A lot of detractors get on it for shooting a small & fast bullet. IMO, a handgun with no recoil that's easier to get accurate hits with beats a different model you have to struggle to shoot right.To be sure it shoots a tiny bullet-but more than a few bad guys got retired by the lowly .22LR . I imagine an Five Seven would do more damage than that.

Thanks for sharing!

[huckberry668]

I was seriously interested when they came up with the .224 BOZ a 'necked-down' version of 10mm/9mm cases to take .224" bullets for handguns. Too bad that didn't go anywhere.

[Mr310]

FN has a winner with that design. A lot of detractors get on it for shooting a small & fast bullet. IMO, a handgun with no recoil that's easier to get accurate hits with beats a different model you have to struggle to shoot right.To be sure it shoots a tiny bullet-but more than a few bad guys got retired by the lowly .22LR . I imagine an Five Seven would do more damage than that.

Thanks for sharing!

It does. Someone on THR put something up about the wounds caused by Hidal Hassan at Ft. Hood. That scumbag used his FN to great effect.

[SilverTauron]

It does. Someone on THR put something up about the wounds caused by Hidal Hassan at Ft. Hood. That scumbag used his FN to great effect.

On that subject, ill post this from Wikipedia. If its a credible story that he practiced this much then its no wonder he did the damage he accomplished with it.Too bad the US Military still thinks 50 rounds of pistol ammo is enough to stand as "qualified".

[Mr310]

Yeah. If I recall correctly, the LEO who dropped him did it from a distance with her Beretta, too.

[bishop2queen's6]

Buddy has a FN 5.7 pistol. He can never find ammo for that thing.

[Foebia]

I tried Cabelas, tenative 25th and comes with plastic ammo box. Gunbroker for upwards of fiddy cent a round. 10 days and counting on my 5.7 i am sure it will be enjoyed.

[bubbapug1]

I have one and like it, but the trigger is kind of glock like and really detracts from what is otherwise a very nice weapon. If the trigger was lighter the gun would be so easy to shoot at 25 and 50 yards.

I'd rather get shot with 9mm than 5.7 any day.

that said, ammo is not cheap, easy to reload, ir readily available. But one day it will be.

[scootle]

problem with owning a Five-seveN is the fact you'll probably want a P(S)-90 to match it...

and a small fortune for ammo to feed both.

[ROCKETW19]

A buddy of mine recently bought a FN 5.7. It's all I heard from him after that episode of Top Shot aired. I wasn't sure about a bottle neck pistol caliber. I finally got to shoot it twice this past week. here is what I think of it.

1. plasticky... the entire gun except barrel is covered with plastic. sights, slide/barrel engagement and steel on steel. The small controls look flimsy but worked ok.

2. handling - the grip looks big and is big but feels narrow in the hand. The 1.5lb gun feels real light but well balanced. fits my hand very well and the nature point of aim feels familiar.

3. Trigger - felt like 6-7lb, spongy, griddy and too heavy for a light gun. Over-travel is almost non-existent which is a good thing. Reach is fine for me but a little far for small hands or short fingers. Trigger feels & breaks consistently and predictably.

4. Sights - this one had drift adjustable rear sight and it shot 4" low and 6" to the left out of the box at 50 yards. Adjusting the rear sight requires loosening up a set screw, a pin punch and a few good whacks from a plastic mallet.

5. Magazine - it came with the 10-rounders. loads like the staggered AR mags. just press the rounds in from the top.

6. barrel has no tilt, just moves back and forth when cycled. it has a steel 'C' clip of sorts that may be acting like an o-ring on the muzzle end. I didn't get to study it in detail.

My 50-yard group outdoors with the FN 40grainer was less than 1.25" 3-shots from sandbags. And it felt easily done.

I tried shooting at the 200 yard 18' gong with Kentucky windage but missed all 5 shots. a couple wildly toward the direction of the wind (more than 1' from the generate POI). I'm not sure if it was due to the light weight bullet losing stabilization or sensitive to the quarter value 7-10 MPH wind.

Yesterday I fired 5 more shots and grouped them within 15/16" at 25 yards indoors rested on bench. Shooting this gun well definitely requires the deliberate attention to 'trigger control'.

Overall, I like the gun. I was pretty impressed with the 22mag like felt recoil. Amazingly precise consider the heavy trigger and bad sights. Its precision deserves an optical sight or at least adjustable rear, a good trigger job and maybe heavier bullets for longer ranges.

great write up. I was torn between this and a G21. the G21 only won cuz glockworx! I spent a small fortune there and gun is on its way now hope it was worth it.
this 5.7 will be my next gun specially if the recoil is so light the wife will love it.

[saki302]

Ammo cost is no more than what a nice box of commerical .45 ACP costs, and is cheaper than a lot of .223.
Keep in mind you're ALWAYS shooting the good stuff- there are no cheap loads (yet) for the 5.7.

The little C-clip on the barrel retains the recoil spring when you field strip the pistol.

-Dave

[Steve1968LS2]

problem with owning a Five-seveN is the fact you'll probably want a P(S)-90 to match it...

and a small fortune for ammo to feed both.

I have both and I find the ammo for $18.50 a box (50) online.. just gotta hunt around

Fun to shoot.. in a free state the PS90 and FN57 is a killer combo.. 70 rounds on tap before having to reload..

And since the ammo is light you can carry a ton..

[Bug Splat]

The pistol is just too plasticy for me and I'm a glock fan . I'd only want it if I could get 20rd mags.

[paul0660]

and don't forget, they look cool.