Fun gun! S&W M&P 5.7

[vanfunk]

Hi all!

So a couple of weeks ago on a lark I bought a Smith and Wesson M&P 5.7. I had been intrigued by the caliber for a number of years and had recently seen good reviews of the S&W versus the FN, Ruger and PSA offerings. My LGS was hosting a S&W rep and they were offering some tasty discounts on in-stock guns so I took the plunge.

My first foray to the range wasn’t entirely positive as the gun was printing about 5” low at 25 yards. No matter, I was sure someone was making shorter front sights and I wanted to put a dot on it anyway. Other impressions were positive; I really like the “tempo” gas system and the fact that it’s hammer-fired. And for a hot .22, the recoil is very mild. American Eagle 40 grain was running 1625 fps and FN 40 grain was a hair over 1700 fps.

A few days ago I received my Holosun 507k green dot and threw it on there. Note: the included screws aren’t long enough so I picked up some longer ones at the hardware store.

I’m still getting used to the grip as it’s necessarily “long” between the backstrap and the trigger guard to accommodate the long 5.7x28 round. The trigger is good, about 4lbs; I’d like it to be a bit lighter but it is a nice single action pull after some takeup. The 22 round mags make for an engaging time at the range! Here’s 32 rounds (last of my supply) rapid fire at 25 yards.



I really like shooting it at 50 yards at the 12” steel silhouette. The little bullet gets out there so fast that it’s a “BA-DING” every time. I just received some of the FN 27 grain lead-free ammo and I’m anxious to see how that does; should be about 2000-2100 fps. I kinda want to see if it’s up to the task of groundhog and rabbit control in my vegetable garden once that gets going in a couple of months. It’s 40 yards from my elevated deck to the garden so I can hang out there and see what I can do.

 

[v8stang289]

My shooting buddy picked one up a few months ago. It was easy to consistently ring the 10"x14" steel at 100 yards with the iron sights, and much softer shooting than I had anticipated.
He's mounted a green dot holosun on it now, I'm curious to try it with that

 

[GooseGestapo]

I’ve been curious about the 5.7 since its inception.
What would you guess the accuracy is at 50yds?

PSA frequently runs the “Rock” at a very actrive pricier!

 

[vanfunk]

Thanks guys! I haven’t done any bench shooting yet but I wouldn’t be surprised to see this doing under 2” at 25 yards and under 4” at 50. I’d bet that can be improved upon with handloads too. I went 22 for 22 at 50 yards on the 12” steel silhouette, so that’s no problem. I might even be better when I have more trigger time with it.

 

[MachIVshooter]

Hi all!

So a couple of weeks ago on a lark I bought a Smith and Wesson M&P 5.7. I had been intrigued by the caliber for a number of years and had recently seen good reviews of the S&W versus the FN, Ruger and PSA offerings. My LGS was hosting a S&W rep and they were offering some tasty discounts on in-stock guns so I took the plunge.

Where did you find reviews that put the S&W on top? I'm a big S&W guy, have more than 30 revolvers and autos, but I have to say, of those 4 pistols, the M&P and Five-seveN are tied in last place for me, with the Ruger at #2 and the PSA Rock leading the pack by a wide margin. Price isn't even a factor in my ranking, though it is a big bonus.

I'm glad you're happy with your purchase, but I found the M&P to be the least ergonomic of the bunch, and they are well known for accuracy issues when suppressed due to the barrel being the gas piston inside a tube that is the threaded interface with a not insignificant amount of play betwixt those parts. Our Caracal model with it's .300" bore allows bullets to mostly hit POA, but rimfire cans with .25"-.28" bores get bullet contact that results in patterning rather than grouping with the M&P.

Not meaning to rain on the parade, just offering the perspective of someone who has direct experience with all of them. The PSA has the best ergonomics, highest magazine capacity, most sight options (they use Glock sights), and the best reliability and accuracy as a suppressor host. We could not get our Rock to choke until we put a rigid mounted 13 ounce 5.56 can on it.

We currently only have the Rock and the Ruger 57 as demo hosts at the shop, no reason to keep the others around when we didn't like them.

 

[vanfunk]

Hi Mach:

The reviews I saw were mostly Youtube reviews (Sage Dynamics, Honest Outlaw, etc.), of which there are a bunch. Notwithstanding those reviews, I went with S&W for a few reasons - “bird in hand” syndrome as it was right in front of me, price (discounted by the S&W rep), and familiarity with the brand. Additionally, my experience with Ruger (admittedly limited) handguns has not been positive over the last 30 or so years. I have no experience with the PSA and came across many comments online about varying quality with The Rock (and also, there wasn’t one in the store to handle).

I don’t have any accuracy issues with mine, thankfully, though it isn’t the most accurate handgun I own by any means. I absolutely agree with you about the ergonomics of the M&P and it feels “odd” until it’s handled a lot. I have no plans to suppress it so the issues you raise aren’t concerns of mine but may be to others; good to know. I like it and it fulfills and interesting niche in my collection due to its operating system and caliber.

I think it’s great that there are a few choices in this caliber and I hope they all sell well; hopefully that’ll drive down the price of ammo.

 

[Bullet Bob]

I bought an M&P 5.7 just beause I was intrigued by the Tempo system, I had no particular interest in the 5.7 round. Mine works well, and is a lot of fun to shoot. Although the operating system is different, I have two othe S&W M&P's in 9mm (a 1.0 & 2.0) that I also like very much, and have had zero problems with.

 

[actionexpress]

Love my M&P 5.7, and love that ammo seems to be dropping in price even more. I need one of those rubber grips on mine!

 

[vanfunk]

It’s a limbsaver pro handgun grip sleeve, $10. I’m actually replacing it with another; mine arrived slightly damaged but it’s not worth the time to return it. The 5.7 does benefit from some assistance with the grip. I wish there was a slip-on option with a little bit of a palm swell; my hand is crying out for something to fill that space!

I put another 150 rounds through it today with nary a problem. It’s really, really fun and can be shot very fast. Are there any trigger kits available for it? I’d like a way to get the trigger pull down to 2.5lbs if possible.

 

[The Happy Kaboomer]

What exactly is the 5.7 cartridge good for ?

 

[vanfunk]

It’s a fast, flat-shooting .22 basically. FN 40 grain V-max ammo leaves my pistol at 1725 fps and the 27 grain ammo does 2050-2100. It has virtually no recoil and can carry 22+1 rounds in a lightweight, service-sized handgun. I don’t plan to use mine for home defense per se (though my wife might) but I do like having it when I am out with my dogs in the woods, where potential coyote threats are abundant now. Other than that, it’s a fun, accurate range gun.

 

[actionexpress]

It’s a fast, flat-shooting .22 basically. FN 40 grain V-max ammo leaves my pistol at 1725 fps and the 27 grain ammo does 2050-2100. It has virtually no recoil and can carry 22+1 rounds in a lightweight, service-sized handgun. I don’t plan to use mine for home defense per se (though my wife might) but I do like having it when I am out with my dogs in the woods, where potential coyote threats are abundant now. Other than that, it’s a fun, accurate range gun.

I use mine for home defense, use the right ammo and it’s certainly capable. And, the wife loves it.

 

[actionexpress]

I think that when/if i live to be old, arthritic..there’s no other gun id want. It’s so easy to rack, chamber, shoot. It is the 5.7 EZ.