FN 5.7 X 28 worth buying?

[6bg6ga]

I almost pulled the plastic card out of my wallet today to purchase a used 5.7 X 28mm semi automatic pistol. I got to thinking what about reloading it. Is it possible? Dies available? What does it take for bullets? I found out it takes common rifle primers and .223 bullets better if under 40 grains. I also found out people don't like to reload them simply because their a nightmare to reload. Something about a special coating on the outside of the case. Something else about it uncanny ability to blow up if overloaded by .1 gr?

I will admit there was something nice about that slim sexy necked down cartridge that got me excited. So, should I buy it or let it be?

[pretzelxx]

Not sure how common the components are, but I know I want one. More the p90, not as much the pistol. Good luck deciding!

[runfiverun]

they are reloadable.
the coating is a laquer.
and the round has some very viable uses.

you could just sell me the empty brass for 0.05 each and buy more ammo though...

[CopperniX]

If you are talking about the Five-SeveN it is really up to the individual person. I saw an episode of TacTV that showed it and the information came to light that it is stamped sheet metal covered in plastic. Granted it is probably sturdy I just do not want a pistol like that.

[Artful]

(From left to right) 5.56, 5.7x28mm SS190, 9×19, .224 BOZ, 7.62x25mm Sabot, 7.62x25mm, 5.45x18mm Soviet, 5.7x28mm SS190, 5.7x28mm SS195 LF.
40-grain Hornady V-Max and has a muzzle velocity of 1800 fps from the P90 and 1600 fps from the Five-seveN
What distinguishes the Five-seveN from any other sidearm is its long-range capability.
It thrives at extended ranges—100 yards and further are much easier hits than slower conventional rounds.
Its high velocity, low recoil and and good ballistic's keep the flat shooting round right on target.
Step up from the 22 mag, A lot of people call the .22 Mag the poor man’s 5.7×28, which is approximately true out of a rifle or carbine, with velocities for given bullet weights being extremely similar. However, the .22 WMR was originally designed for a 16+” barrel, and it loses a lot of velocity coming out of a pistol thanks to slow burning propellant. Sure, it’s much more powerful than a .22 LR – from a rifle it has more energy at 100 yards than .22 LR does at the muzzle – but from a pistol it’s down about 300 fps vs. 5.7.

Shot both FN pistol and Keltec P30 - but never reloaded for 5.7 - most small capacity cases require careful loading - but in blowback pistols you can exceed the design envelope pretty easily.

[NavyVet1959]

Personally, I would be more interested in the RIA .22TCM instead.

[9.3X62AL]

The Five-seveN pistols were verboten here in the PRC, dunno if they've cobbled up a 10-rd mag for them yet or not, or whether they've been safety-cleared by Cal-DOJ, or what-all River City wants done to get them blessed. Interesting idea for a field/varmint round, all the same. I'm moving in a different direction myself, reducing rather than expanding the number of calibers I want to ride herd on. I have subtracted 7 over the past year and a half, and added one (38-55). I don't see this one in my future.

[6bg6ga]

they are reloadable.
the coating is a laquer.
and the round has some very viable uses.

you could just sell me the empty brass for 0.05 each and buy more ammo though...

Its interesting how the info varies on the web. One site says the coating is a poly coating. Doubt that I will buy one now considering the pain to reload them. I did like the 100 yard capability and what I read to be the ability of the bullet to tumble inside a body. Probably the reason the secret service uses them. With their ammo their supposed to shoot thru a vest.

[6bg6ga]

If you are talking about the Five-SeveN it is really up to the individual person. I saw an episode of TacTV that showed it and the information came to light that it is stamped sheet metal covered in plastic. Granted it is probably sturdy I just do not want a pistol like that.

Ever look at a Glock? Is is much more than plastic covered metal? Are any of the newer poly pistols any different?

[6bg6ga]

(From left to right) 5.56, 5.7x28mm SS190, 9×19, .224 BOZ, 7.62x25mm Sabot, 7.62x25mm, 5.45x18mm Soviet, 5.7x28mm SS190, 5.7x28mm SS195 LF.
40-grain Hornady V-Max and has a muzzle velocity of 1800 fps from the P90 and 1600 fps from the Five-seveN
What distinguishes the Five-seveN from any other sidearm is its long-range capability.
It thrives at extended ranges—100 yards and further are much easier hits than slower conventional rounds.
Its high velocity, low recoil and and good ballistic's keep the flat shooting round right on target.
Step up from the 22 mag, A lot of people call the .22 Mag the poor man’s 5.7×28, which is approximately true out of a rifle or carbine, with velocities for given bullet weights being extremely similar. However, the .22 WMR was originally designed for a 16+” barrel, and it loses a lot of velocity coming out of a pistol thanks to slow burning propellant. Sure, it’s much more powerful than a .22 LR – from a rifle it has more energy at 100 yards than .22 LR does at the muzzle – but from a pistol it’s down about 300 fps vs. 5.7.

Shot both FN pistol and Keltec P30 - but never reloaded for 5.7 - most small capacity cases require careful loading - but in blowback pistols you can exceed the design envelope pretty easily.

Thank you sir for your fine post and information. Maybe I'll just wait for a 5.56 pistol to come out. LOL

[CopperniX]

Ever look at a Glock? Is is much more than plastic covered metal? Are any of the newer poly pistols any different?

Not a fan of Glocks either. I carry a Sig Sauer P220 or my Kimber Pro Covert II 1911.

[GhostHawk]

I went with the CZ-52 in 7.62x25 myself. The pistol itself is a tank, has 2 possible weak points, firing pin and the lock up rollers. Why anyone who builds a semi auto pistol as solid as the CZ-52 would put a crappy firing pin, and unhardened rollers I have no idea.

But, they are easy to find, they are reasonably priced, should be able to find a good one for around 200$. Plan on investing the money for a new hardened steel firing pin, and if yours has been shot a lot, the new rollers too.

Mine had hardly been shot at all, rollers were fine. Firing pin at http://www.harringtonproducts.com/firing-pins/

I see a lot of people posting that this round too is hard or tricky to load. So for now I'm using factory ammo.

[ebner glocken]

Here's what I did with mine @ 100 yards offhand.

http://s991.photobucket.com/user/ebn...tml?sort=3&o=4

Yes, there are some things to consider when loading for it. It's a blowback pistol that operates @ 50,000 PSI and WILL fire OOB. The round is necked combined with being blowback and high pressure when fired the neck balloons out a bit. If this ballooning is not sized back down enough the case is held slightly back OOB and yet the gun will still fire. This is when things can get exciting in this plastic framed gun.

One of the other things to consider is the same for any small case. VERY SMALL CHANGES IN POWDER CHARGE CAN EQUAL HUGE PRESSURE SWINGS! If you're feeling you're near the top end...STOP, think and if you do proceed do it in small steps.

The one thing people seem to mention the most is the least of worries in the pistol. There is a coating on the case that aids in feeding in the P90 mag. To clean the cases use simple green and water, do not tumble for it will take the coating off. Not a huge deal, just have to remember not to mix it in the "bag o' brass" that may get into the tumbler.

One of the last things I will mention here is dies and ammo availability. As civilians we don't get ALL available ammo for sale to us. The AP ammo where this round really shines is not sold openly. I found that the SS197 round shot well, was the most available and at the time affordable ($800/case). The only dies at the time out there were redding and they set me back close to $130. I'm sure they have went down since and others are available, probably not lee for $30 bucks though. If you don't mind spending a little more and getting top performance out of factory ammo, elite ammo is a good choice (when available). If you decide to load for it ramshot trueblue and a barnes 40 gr. TSX is a good place to look.

All these things considered it is not a pistol for everyone. One the plus side it is very light, holds 20 rounds (30 with mag extension) and performs quite well on meat for the recoil felt. This is not a chambering for the new reloader.

Ebner

[Whiterabbit]

I will admit there was something nice about that slim sexy necked down cartridge that got me excited. So, should I buy it or let it be?

I will say, that because of this reason:

IF my state did not have magazine capacity restrictions
AND my state did not have magazine lock restrictions
AND this round actually worked in revolvers

THEN I would own one 5.7x28 semi-auto pistol of some kind, a PS90 of some kind (I do not mind a 16" barrel for this), and an AR57. a 5.7 revolver would be simply mandatory. A 5.7 single shot would be strongly desired.

And I don't even own lots of guns or ANY semi automatic.

It's indeed a sexy cartridge.

I will buy none of this because as far as I know it wont work in a single action revolver, and with 10 round limits it feels pointless.

[NavyVet1959]

I will buy none of this because as far as I know it wont work in a single action revolver, and with 10 round limits it feels pointless.

Yeah, if you're limited to only 10 rounds in a mag, you might as well make them the 10 biggest honkin' rounds you can find.

There might not be any revolvers currently that support that round, but I don't see anything peculiar about it that would indicate that someone couldn't create a revolver for it if they were so inclined.

Personally, I think the FN is over-hyped and over-priced. The .22TCM seems a bit more reasonable to me. And the fact that it comes in a M1911 makes it even better.

[6bg6ga]

I'm starting to think the .22TCM might be a better way to go. I haven't looked into reloading this however.

[brtelec]

Ammo Supply Warehouse has Lee dies for the 22TCM for $84- a set, Hornady dies at $90.99 a set. Brass @ $19.44 per hundred, bullets @ $10.00 per hundred and ammo for around $19.00 per box of 50.

[NavyVet1959]

Ammo Supply Warehouse has Lee dies for the 22TCM for $84- a set, Hornady dies at $90.99 a set. Brass @ $19.44 per hundred, bullets @ $10.00 per hundred and ammo for around $19.00 per box of 50.

But you can also make your brass from cut down or even damaged .223 brass. For example, you're reloading .223 and crumble a neck. Cut it down and use it for .300 AAC. If you then crumple it while reloading .300 AAC, cut it down some more and use it for .22 TCM. If you crumple it after that, it goes in the scrap / recycle pile. Finding once fired .223 / 5.56 brass is easy since the military shoots so much of it. Unless the military adopts the 5.7x28, I don't see once-fired brass showing up that much.

[Whiterabbit]

We could argue the minutia to death. Die cost vs bullet cost vs powder cost vs brass availability vs reloadability vs firearm form factor vs firearm cost vs ballistics vs etc etc etc etc.

Doesnt matter, any of it. It's a cool little round. Both of them.

[Tackleberry41]

A friend works at a range, they have one of the pistols in the rack, he really wants to buy one. But they are really, really proud of what is essentially a plastic gun. I know for a while it sat unused as a rental as they couldn't get any ammo for it. At least your no longer stuck with only FN making ammo anymore. It doesnt really hold much interest to me, I guess its somewhat cool. But its really best used as its intended purpose, use in something like the P90 or similar weapons, and once you get rid of the AP ammo, loses some of its luster.

Never messed with reloading it, but everything I have read says its a pain to mess with. Special coatings on the cases, miniscule bullets, not much powder selection, and very sensitive as to how much is used, just to many headaches. If you have a steady supply of ready to shoot stuff fine.