Do not reload this cartridge unless you completely understand this system!
If you do not create the appropriate pressure at the appropriate time you will create a catastrophic failure. I am not saying this is what happen in this case, so let me explain.
The 5.7x28mm has been through milions of dollars of testing to make sure this does not happen. I am sure that no one on this forum or any other has put in the time to develop the exact timing needed to produce the proper timing of this cartridge. Without this timing and proper development of pressure at the exact time you can cause the slide to start the rearward progression too early. This premature movement will result in the pressure spike occuring after the case has been partially removed from the chamber. And I beleive everyone knows what the end result is.
Pressure from the expanding gasses will folloow the path of least resistance. If the case is partially removed before it has developed all the pressure quess where that path is now?
The cartridge is designed to form to the chamber during this process, this is why it the shoulder is not the same after firing factory ammo. The shoulder forms to the chamber and is all a part of this critical timing.
I personally would not reload this ammo. I am saying that as one man to another, not because of company policy. I reload, I have loaded more than 500,000 rounds of .38 super for competitive IPSC/USPSA competition. I understand the need for reloading as it does save money and you can create a load that works for your needs. This cartridge is not as easy to load because of the timing and pressures. It was never intended to use heavy bullets with high velocities. Light bullets create the high velocity not heavy bullets.
Wow - he is only helping the case of this person and other plaintiffs.
Let's see what we have here:
1. The gun and the round are very, very, very, very different from most auto pistols, in that the timing and the specs of the ammo are CRITICAL to keep the gun from exploding, due to the extremely unique design and extreme sensitivity to out of spec ammo. So different and dangerous in fact, that a technical worker who WORKS for FN says that he wouldn't even try to reload it, due to the high danger factor.
2. Many, many people reload handgun rounds through ordinary auto pistols without a problem - rounds and guns which are not so critically sensitive to slight (and common) errors in reloading. No guns are forgiving of serious errors, but the vast majority are tolerant of very small errors in ammo specs. Morever, FN KNOWS this fact, that many people reload handgun rounds.
3. Given the above, shouldn't FN issue a bold, conspicuous, clear, dire warning to purchasers of its guns, warning either against reloading it at all, or at least giving a strong recommendation not to try to reload it? I think the answer is clearly yes.
4. So the question becomes, to what extent did FN issue a warning to INFORM the owners of the extreme sensitivity of ammo to prevent catastrophic failures? What's in the manual? On what page? How many warnings? How big? How bold? How conspicuous? Is the slide stamped "DO NOT RELOAD FOR" or "FACTORY AMMO ONLY"? Were there any special stickers or inserts on the box, stuck to the pistol upon purchase, or anywhere else, containing this very important warning? I don't know, but it doesn't sound like it. Could very well be a high degree of negligence on FNs part, if it's so very very different from other guns as the FN representative keeps trying to convince us (to the detriment of their defense of this and potentially many other cases). If I was FN, I'd start stamping "FACTORY AMMO ONLY; DO NOT USE RELOADS" on the slide of every gun, starting today. Why not try to protect the unsuspecting public from injuries, and help avoid lawsuits from injuries from here on out?
I mean, issuing these warnings now is great for future purposes, to protect the average joe and themselves, but these warnings are TOO LATE for this person and maybe others, if there weren't warnings on in the manual and other paraphernalia that came with the gun. Not everyone reads thehighroad or accurate reloading's site - nor should they be required to read, in order to buy a gun and reload for it.
In other words, we the public DON'T need after-the-fact, CYA, blame-the-user warnings about the sensitivity of the reloading process. We DO need these warnings when we BUY the gun! Maybe someone with a manual can tell us what warnings about reloads are contained therein? Just saying "using reloads voids the warranty" isn't nearly enough of a warning - the warning doesn't match the potential danger and sensitivity level, seems to me.
Any suggestion of lawsuit is simply ludicrous and lacking in insight. If I were the company, I would contersue for libel. Do we really want to see an inprint on all of our firearms that says "do not experiment with untested reloaded ammunition"?? Thanks to greedy, worthless lawyers we have enough of those signs, please don't encourage to add more.
I think you'd change your tune in a heartbeat if it was a loved one of YOURS that deciding to take up reloading (encouraged by you), and was as careful as he/she knew how, but made a very small mistake in reloading, and resulting in a serious injury, due to the extreme difference and extreme senstitivity of this gun, if there was no warning at all given to your loved one (or to you, to pass along to them). I'm not saying there wasn't enough warning - I don't have a manual - there may have been. But there definitely SHOULD be a warning, and if it means stamping it on the barrel, then so what? Who cares? It's ugly as sin anyway - why not a warning that might save many a serious injury? Again, it's easy to be all high and mighty and condescending until it's YOUR loved one that is hurt - even if they are exercising *normal* prudence in reloading, not realizing that they *should* be using extraordinary care and prudence.
And by the way, you don't HAVE to stamp something on the gun - it can be as simple as a seal or tag stuck to the gun when you buy it, that must be taken off by the purchaser before using, that issues the warning. It doesn't have to hurt the aesthetics of the gun to be an effective warning - maybe FN did that - I don't know. But I doubt it, or they'd be pointing out that fact now, and they don't seem to be emphasizing the level of warnings.
[P.S. I fully believe the FN rep when he says it won't fire out of battery. I don't think that's the issue here.]