the FN Five Seven is it a good choice

im not gonna comment on the round as ya liek it or ya dont.

the pistol is kinda big and kinda clunky in shape. recoil is sparse and it has charging wings like the vp9s. plenty of real estate to hold the slide and grip the gun differently for ease of pain for older hands.

i like mine, kinda bulky for carry. much like my usp45 tactical. not similar other than both being just big and thick. its a good pistol but loud and kinda pricey.

i like the entire usp line. only thing i dislike is 15 rounds mags standard other than restricted mag states etc. easy to shoot hold grip charge, etc.

i find the vps to be easy to shoot and charge etc. compared to many of their competitors. i wouldn't toss that out before you held and played with one.

Given that the armor piercing 5.7mm round is banned here, I'm not sure what the actual use of the FN Five Seven is. I certainly have no use for it. It just strikes me as an expensive way to shoot rats at the dump, or a much harder (than a .17 or .223 rifle) way to shoot coyotes.

People like Dr. Fackler are highly dubious of the stopping power of the round on human assailants, and I see every reason to agree.

If I wanted something unusual to shoot, I'd buy a Rock Island .22TCM. It's a similar concept in a much handier package, with the added bonus of being able to easily switch to 9x19mm

I'm not a fan of current H&K pistols (the last one I handled had a trigger only a hair better than a Colt All American 2000), but I'd take one over a Five Seven any day.

socalbeachbum said:

I'm shopping for my next handgun. The FN Five Seven on paper looks pretty interesting to me, so does the HK USP9.

Is the Five Seven easy to run? My hands are getting weaker due to arthritis, and was hoping this one would be easy to manipulate. Are there any negatives to it other than finding ammo?

Is the USP easy to operate?

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You did not mention what the gun will be used for?

Depends on what else you really have. The 5.7 wont replace a 1911 or good 357 smith but it is a fun gun to shoot if you have the descetionary funds. Slide is easy to rack but like said the grip is bigger but 20 rounds is fun. I get mine out every month or so and smile every time.

It is a very light pistol with minimal recoil and significantly louder than most.

I love mine.

ETA: Muzzle flash is pretty significant as well. USP9c Would be a better choice for self defense.

The USP is easy to run. You might also consider its cousin the P30, which has superior ergonomics to the older USP series.

The 5.7 is a very easy gun to use. The mags load easier than normal mags, more akin to AR15 mags. The recoil is very light. The slide is easy to rack. Take down is fairly simple. Ammo is plentiful, effective, especially in a home defense posture and priced like any other quality ammo. Arthritic hands should find it one of the easier guns to use.

The USP is a fine pistol. One of the softest shooting 9mms you'll find. Loading mags is harder than the 5.7 but using a loader such as the Uplula helps. USP controls are easy to manipulate and the gun is pretty simple to take down.

Both are very high quality. The 5.7 is softer to shoot, easier to load. Both are very reliable. Both excellent choices for solid dependable shooting.

I'll add confirmation on the ergonomics, ease of use, and mild recoil of the Five Seven. So those advantages should be weighed against the unfavoring comments to follow below. The PISTOL in itself seems a good fit for your situation, pending application, of course.

I'll also add confirmation of the extremely limited usefulness of the cartridge and pistol. I enjoyed it, and cannot say I regret having bought it, if nothing else for the experience with such a unique system, however, it's just not a high utility, high performance round, and in a pistol, its applications are limited. I did a lot of small game hunting with mine, but I found it to be inferior to the Taurus Raging Hornet, despite packing more rounds, and less practical than my Taurus Tracker in 17HMR. Certainly not as potent in terms of killing power as a .30carbine or .327FM. And only slightly more useful than a Keltec PMR-30 22mag...

Again, it's in a pistol instead of a revolver, as most of these others I've compared against, save the Keltec, but for hunting, the distinctions between revolver and pistol is largely moot.

For defense or tactical applications, I personally don't see any advantage, as the average civilian won't face an armoured assailant. Comparing performance on small game, expanders in the 5.7 don't kill with nearly as much authority as traditional, larger caliber pistols. I can certainly see applications for military where the average opponent would have some form of armour, but for civilians, a 9mm is a better choice.

Re: 5.7 stopping power: I hate to use this example, but the Five-Seven was used at the shooting at Ft Hood some years ago - 13 dead, so it's not an ineffective cartridge.

I have the Citadel .22 TCM 1911. I am a hand loader. The .22 TCM is a short .223 Remington brass. The TCM has more punch than the 5.7. It is a very versatile cartridge for reloading. The .22 TCM turns 2,000 fps from a 4 3/4" barrel. It can drill through mild steel plate and drops 1" at 100 yds sighted in at 25 yds.

http://mousegunaddict.blogspot.com/2014/06/getting-to-know-22-tcm-through-clear.html

I like the gun, but it is just too big for my hands (front to back, because of the long cartridge).

I have the carbine, though... A PS90. I am moving into a condo, amd the round is very good to jot overpenetrate. You get more velocity and more potential damage for the round out of the carbine, compared to the pistol.

I know I will get raked over the coals for this, but I would also look at a PMR-30 Kel Tec. The magazine holds 30 rounds and fully loaded this guns weighs in at 19 oz. I know it is a 22 magnum and a rimfire but this pistol in this caliber holding that many rounds is very lethal. I own one and carry it on my person during the summer times when I wear light clothing and feel very safe.

The one draw back that I do find is trying to load 30 rounds into the magazine it becomes quite difficult so I usually load 25 rounds. I've never had a jam or a misfire after several hundred rounds and ammo is less expensive. The handgun is a soft shooting pistol with minimal recoil which is good for your arthritis. Once in a while I might see a fireball but not that often. On the other hand I've never shot it in the dark.

IMHO someone with the limitations of either arthritis or even just old age would find the PMR30 very difficult to load. It is one of my "most fun" guns but a 5.7 it isn't.

I have both the Five-SeveN and the USP9 and I carry (or have carried) both. The USP seems like the more sure-fire way to go. You only lose 5 rounds of capacity per mag compared to the Five-SeveN and it has better ergonomics. The muzzle flash on the Five-SeveN as mentioned is atrocious, something to consider for low-light purposes for example. Add to that the cost of 5.7x28mm ammo (I assume you would be practicing with the gun) and the USP starts looking much better for defensive uses.

However, if you just want a "fun"/range gun, both the Five-SeveN and the USP9 fit the bill well. I find the slide on both guns fairly easy to operate and disassembly isn't overly complicated. The USP fails in one minor area for me - the safety/decocker is on the left side of the frame and I am left handed. I realize I can put an ambi or right-hand safety on the gun, but this does add to cost - hopefully this is something that applies to you.

The FN is a cool gun, lots of fun to shoot. The practical side of me sides with ms6582 the KelTec PMR will do anything you want the 5.7 for at 1/3 the price to shoot. For a range toy/varmint gun it is very cool. The .22TCM is more versatile gun than both the above IMHO.
Happy shooting.

Athritic hands? Literally the best full size pistol there is;
-Large, long grip with aggressive texture requires less clenching
-Fairly light recoil spring
-No slide-mounted safety (make sure your index is good enough to operate the forward safety, though)
-Very light, very low recoil
-Very easy, low effort field strip
-High mag capacity means fewer change operations
-Ammo is competitive with 9mm defense loadings in price & effectiveness
-Most important; top loading magazine like a rifle vs a pistol is far, far, faarrrr easier to load

FWIW, the USP full size is even bigger, weighs more, and bucks like a mule by comparison due to its heavier bullet and far taller bore axis height above your wrist. Heavier recoil spring, too, as well as a heavy DA trigger and decocker that can be accidentally engaged when switching off safe (a real liability if the DA trigger is too heavy)

TCB

Comparing apples to oranges: I have one PMR Keltec 22 mag and it is junk.
The mag is a bitch to load.
I have one HK 5.7 x 28 pistol and it is not much better.
I do however have one AR 57 that is a tack driver. 50 round mag and all of the accessory rails. Kinda heavy though.
If I could do it all over again, I'd forget the 5.7 X 28 as it is very expensive to shoot.

KimberLover said:

Comparing apples to oranges: I have one PMR Keltec 22 mag and it is junk.
The mag is a bitch to load.
I have one HK 5.7 x 28 pistol and it is not much better.
I do however have one AR 57 that is a tack driver. 50 round mag and all of the accessory rails. Kinda heavy though.
If I could do it all over again, I'd forget the 5.7 X 28 as it is very expensive to shoot.

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Just curious, but was it that is junk about the PMR30?

kokapelli said:

Just curious, but was it that is junk about the PMR30?

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Whereas I wouldn't call it "junk", the Kel Tec isn't in the same league, quality wise, as the two other pistols mentioned; the USP and FN. Especially when held side by side with the FN, one can appreciate the differences.

usp9 said:

Whereas I wouldn't call it "junk", the Kel Tec isn't in the same league, quality wise, as the two other pistols mentioned; the USP and FN. Especially when held side by side with the FN, one can appreciate the differences.

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Yes "not in the same league" or same price range either!
Does the PMR mel function, have an inferior trigger or is it just the appearance that is in a different class?

It's the material quality, the construction and finish, to name a few. I like my PMR, but it isn't as well made as the others. As to price, I paid $399 for my Kel Tec, $400 for my USP (used) and $700 for my FN (also used but ANIB), so in my eyes they compete close enough. As to the OP's point though, the major handicap associated with the Kel Tec is the difficulty in loading the mags. The FN is the easiest gun I own to load. This point alone makes it a good choice for arthritic folks. Add to that the minimal recoil and effectiveness of the 5.7 round and it's a excellent option. It's the gun I'd buy for my mother if she were still with us.

Comparing apples to oranges: I have one PMR Keltec 22 mag and it is junk.
The mag is a ***** to load.
I have one HK 5.7 x 28 pistol and it is not much better.
I do however have one AR 57 that is a tack driver. 50 round mag and all of the accessory rails. Kinda heavy though.
If I could do it all over again, I'd forget the 5.7 X 28 as it is very expensive to shoot.

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The five-seven magazine top-loads as a double feed double stack; easiest kind to load there is. Sadly, practically all pistol mags will have a stiff spring toward the end, but at least you aren't having to press down & slide back like you normally would (PX4; now there's a fun mag to load)
It's also funny you'd mention the five-seven mag being hard to load, then bring up the AR57 and *not* mention how obnoxious its mag is to load

I'll bet a gun with a stock on it is a tack driver compared to a handgun . I was also able to ring a 20" gong with my five-seven at 150yds shooting to point-of-aim last weekend (first time I'd played with this kind of distance; took me five shots, the first three being Kentucky-windaged well above the target). All 5.7 guns are tack drivers. There are videos of guys plinking at great distances that would be near hopeless without well-calibrated target sights on other pistols --the benefits of speed in ballistics!

5.7 is not particularly expensive to shoot, unless you primarily do budget FMJ shooting. 5.7 would be just as cheap if not cheaper in that case, but FMJ 5.7 would be considered 'armor piercing' by our dumb laws, so it isn't sold here. Otherwise, it runs 30-34 cents a shot for hollowpoint polymer ballistic-tip ammo, which is not unreasonable compared to most domestically-sourced defensive rounds. It just weighs a lot less which makes a lot of people think they're getting a worse deal

TCB

Get one and try it. It's hard for us to judge by your hands. But the 5.7 pistol is easy to rack and has light recoil. So it's a viable option for sure.

Well, I can only speak to the USP. I have both the full size and the Compact, both in 9mm. I do have numerous other guns in the same caliber to compare them to, but not an FN. Both the pistols are dead reliable - neither have ever failed me in any capacity. If I had to stake my life on reliability, I would go to either of these guns. Regarding their "shootability"... in the Compact USP, I find the recoil to be pretty average and comparable to most polymer framed guns. The full sized USP on the other hand, feels very tame on the range. It's a large pistol for sure - I wouldn't carry it - it's definitely a gun designed for combat. I spoke directly with the H&K gunsmith in Georgia when I bought the full sized USP. He stated that they do not do trigger work on them, as the gun is designed for combat and H&K feels that the triggers are well designed for that purpose. I would agree. I find the triggers to be what I call, "a bit mushy feeling", but they are smooth, creep-free, and you are able to easily predict their clean break. Both guns shoot extremely well for me. They're easy to break down for cleaning as well. I've had the Compact for many years - it's a very early one, and it keeps going just like the Energizer Bunny. Highly recommended. (on the other hand, I like the FNs that I've handled also!)

Both slides are easy to grab hold of and not all that difficult to pull.

Here's a side-by-side pic that shows the size differences: