5.7x28

[Sheltowee]

Not sure a 40gr. V-Max doing 1800fps would be my choice to convince a bear to stop chewing on me. Would make a pretty interesting light varmint round for popping raccoons or groundhogs inside 200 yards, though.

The "magic" of the 5.7 is the SS190 loading with a steel core penetrator. We civilians can't get that. A 5.7 loading with standard FMJs or softpoints is getting you .22 Mag. performance.

 

[turbobrick]

I was deep into 5.7x28 years ago, its a really great little cartridge. I started out with one of the 57 AR uppers that uses the 50 round FN PS90 mags. I got the FN handgun and its a great shooting gun, very different than most of the other stuff out there. FN said they were going to release a bolt gun in 5.7, but it kept getting pushed back.

So I took matters in my own hands, and had a local old school gunsmith convert a R700 over for me. I ordered a really nice Shilen 22" barrel, reamer and gauges, and he did a ton of work to bush the bolt. It was a really fun gun, velocities were excellent, the only down side was that it needed single feeding. Ultimately I got out of 5.7, had it converted to .223 and sold it off.

The factory FN loadings, and the AE and other loads out there really are not good defense loadings. There are a couple places out there loading some stuff that really raises the handgun loadings to the place it needs to be for defensive use. One thing I always liked about the Fiveseven pistol was how easy it was to shoot at distance, and how well it did out there as well.

 

[kodiakisland]

Work with a guy who has one as his primary house and truck gun.
Odd choice but better than nothing.

 

[Doublegunner]

it's a pretty cool cartridge and the FN pistol is pretty light with low recoil. The Secret Service uses this setup with specialty ammo. It's a flat shooter. I've always thought about getting one but the ammo costs kept me from pulling the trigger. Ammo is much cheaper now than ever.

 

[Johnny Bravo]

I saw it years ago and said to myself it was a gimmick cartridge. I still believe that and no, never bought one or carry one. Only people in Idaho carry them

 

[schmalts]

The original idea of the 5.7 was as a pistol sized cartridge to defeat soft body armor. Outside of that intended purpose I don’t really get the appeal over a good 9mm, especially for the price of ammo.

I was under the impression it started as a service pistol for the British police and Royal guard. They wanted a pistol that used the same ammo as the PS 90 rifle.