FN Five-Seven?

[brew45]

I'm curious about this pistol. I've held one, but haven't shot one yet. How's the recoil? Accuracy? Etc...Are they worth it?

 

[LEaSH]

Did you just now hear of this 5.7? If you have a taste for unique firearms, you should get one. If practicality is a factor. you should avoid it.

Ammo is about as effective as .22wmr and about as available as .22lr is now.

 

[brew45]

I first saw it on Top Shot like a year ago or so. It looked cool when they were shooting it and they all reacted like it was something to marvel at. One of the guys who works in my LGS has one and he was letting me fondle it the last time I was in there and it was pretty sweet. I put it in the back of my mind because I was looking for a new 1911, but now that I've scratched that itch, I need a new obsession. This is just different enough to peak my interest. Kinda expensive though.

 

[indykid]

I have one and really enjoy shooting it. Very light recoil, very accurate and nice 20 round standard mag capacity.

Biggest problem is the ammo is really hard to find lately. For about the last year finding 5.7x28 anywhere has been like winning the lottery. It has popped up recently but not in any quantities like standard caliber ammo. This is a shame because it really is a nice pistol to shoot.

As for people complaining about it being an ineffective round, you will find people who complain about any pistol caliber if it isn't the ​almighty .45ACP.

 

[PiccoloPlayer]

I like the round, and wanted to get one of the ar uppers that takes p90 mags. Availability of the ammo is what scared me away. 5.7 was hard to find before the 2013 panic. I think only one or two companies manufacture 5.7 ammo. It didn't help any when antis started screaming cop killer round after Ft. Hood.

 

[Beowulf]

Actually, 5.7 ammo has become a lot easier to find over the last few months. It went from being completely unavailable, to you-can-find-it-but-only-at-$1-a-around, to now pretty regularly available (at least online, if not locally) for about $.50 a round. Given that it was going for about $20 a box at the very lowest before the crisis (and normally $22 or $23), the new stabilized price is only a few dollars a box higher (which is less than the jump for .45 and 9mm has been). I've been able to pick it up in 500 or 1000 round lots on Gunbroker consistently (buy it now, not even auctions).

So, I wouldn't let ammo availability dissuade you if you really want one. I love my PS90 and it always gets a lot of attention at the range.

If you have concerns about the caliber, that's a different story. I wasn't really planning on participating in any counter-terrorism assaults any time soon, so I leave the debates about the efficacy of the round to other people. My home defense choices are .45 ACP and 12ga 000 buck. Everything else is used for killing paper zombies and clay pigeons.

 

[JWAS]

I loved mine, and like Beowulf said, the ammo is easier to find now than it was when I had mine. Mostly because FN isnt the only place making ammo for it now and the price really hasnt changed too much. The only reason why i got rid of it was because the fixed sight version of the FN 57 is not dovetailed and the sights are setup to be aligned with the AP ammo that law enforcement can only have. Get ones with adjustable sights and it is great... very very accurate with less recoil than 9mm. A very fun gun to shoot. (plus there are a few threaded barrels out there now if you ever wanted to suppress it). While some may not want to use it in anything other than target practice, there are some really neat factory loads from places like elite ammunition (or just reload).

 

[richardraw316]

I have one and really enjoy shooting it. Very light recoil, very accurate and nice 20 round standard mag capacity.

Biggest problem is the ammo is really hard to find lately. For about the last year finding 5.7x28 anywhere has been like winning the lottery. It has popped up recently but not in any quantities like standard caliber ammo. This is a shame because it really is a nice pistol to shoot.

As for people complaining about it being an ineffective round, you will find people who complain about any pistol caliber if it isn't the ​almighty .45ACP.

Exactly. You should stick with the almighty 45. Big holes are awesome. If you want to shoot something that is nasty fast check out 9x25 Dillon. I have been dreaming about getting a glock 20 just to do a conversion.

 

[223 Gunner]

From what I have read. The round out of the rifle (PS90) at 300 yards or less is very effective. Out of the short pistol barrel, ballistically about the same as a .22 Magnum.

I too own a PS90, and love it, but have decided against the pistol. I was finding ammo for about $29 dollars a box, for a 50 round box, which is the mag capacity of the PS90.

If you want a different caliber that is easier to find, consider a 10MM or .357 Sig

 

[tdoom15]

5.7 is not a particularly effective round, it crushes significantly less tissue (even if the bullet YAWs) than a quality 9mm JHP. Just like anything else, it will kill, but not as effectively as other rounds.

For more info:
Small Caliber PDW's: FN 5.7 mm/HK 4.6 mm

There is also a thread on M4c I believe that has the surface area of the side profile a 5.7 round so you can compare it to the standard duty loads.

 

[zoglog]

I hate to say it but I find 5.7 all day long at Gander for way cheaper than any LGS. Infact, Gander had it on Black Friday for about $2 more than I was paying two years ago. American Eagle 5.7 is about $25/50 and FN is $31/50

I have not fired the pistol, but I love AR in 5.7. It is super fun to shoot, and everyone that fires it, loves it.

 

[snorko]

I hate to say it but I find 5.7 all day long at Gander for way cheaper than any LGS. Infact, Gander had it on Black Friday for about $2 more than I was paying two years ago. American Eagle 5.7 is about $25/50 and FN is $31/50

I have not fired the pistol, but I love AR in 5.7. It is super fun to shoot, and everyone that fires it, loves it.

Every time I see one of those AR-57 uppers I have to restrain myself. It would be very cool with a +/-12" barrel.

 

[Slawburger]

The recoil is very light (similar to .22 LR) and the mag holds 20 or 30 rounds (depending on which one you get). They are a lot of fun to shoot and if you already have (or plan to acquire) the PS90 rifle then you can have a rifle and handgun in the same caliber. I know some people that have them and they love their FN Five-seveN pistols.

I enjoyed shooting it but cost and availability dissuaded me from buying one. The pistol is not cheap (~$1,200). The ammo is about $30 per box of 50 and availability is much lower than the more common calibers (9mm, 40 S&W, .45 ACP).

Velocity is very high (2,000+ fps), muzzle energy is about 250 ft-lbs. Bullet is about 40 grains.

 

[Tombs]

I've had one for 7 years now.

Pros:
Obscenely light weight fully loaded
20+1 capacity
Very very little recoil
Very nice trigger
Easy to shoot accurately on the range
Extremely reliable
And the first loaded chamber indicator that I've actually felt was functional

Cons:
Questionable effectiveness of the 5.7 round
Extremely loud, large muzzle flash
Civilian ammo is loaded to 1500-1700fps(40gr) and 1700-1900(27gr), if you ever bother chronoing it instead of reading the hype (The 2000+fps readings are from a 10" or 16" PS90 barrel)
Ammo has become next to impossible to find in the past 2 years and reloading the round is a nightmare that requires some extremely precise equipment to keep your fingers
It's an extremely expensive gun when the slide is just folded sheet metal with a plastic cover


Overall:
It's a nice well made gun that is certainly a good shooter, and the ease of shot placement might just make up for the round's effectiveness. I've carried it on and off, although I wouldn't anymore after doing some testing on the ammunition unless I REALLY needed to carry a gun that light. The very rounded corners and the weight of the gun make it very doable for CCW.

But you have to stop and ask yourself, is a folded piece of sheet metal with some polymer around it really worth $1200 to you when you could have an S&W E series for that much? I certainly wouldn't buy one again, but I wouldn't part with mine either. Its value to me is in its unique/oddball nature.

 

[zoglog]

I haven't bought anything from you in a while, lol. But if we are ever both in Vincennes at the same time, you can fire it!

 

[saleen4971]

last time i was in gander mt (about a month ago maybe?) they had 5.7 on the shelves.

to me, that is jsut a beautiful handgun that i would LOVE to won someday. not an EDC, not particularly effective per round, but then again every gun i buy isnt for SD purposes. some are just for fun - as the FiveseveN would be.

 

[Cole46845]

Its a great gun, I have had one for a little over a year now. It is my bedside gun, I put a tac light on it. I have shot it a couple times and it feel great in the hands and shoots great. Recoil is low. The only bad thing is the ammo is hard to come by and expensive for the FNH ammo You can find it tho and sometimes its ok. I bought 13 boxes other day and paid around 23 a box. It was like 13 boxes, two FN mags full of ammo and ammon can for 370 so it was a decent deal. The gun is great tho and unique, kinda too big for a carry but it can be done.

 

[venenoindy]

Bare arms had some in stock the other day just don't remember the price.

 

[crispy]

Don't forget it's the preferred gun of Marvin Harrison.

He keeps his in a bucket of water down at the car wash...

 

[sheepdog]

Wish I had one. The one I shot was very accurate and kicked like a .22