5.7x28mm round

[Jaenak]

Anyone have any experience with this round? This bullet type is used in the FN P90, the FN PS90, and the FN Five-seveN firearms.

Bullets:
SS190 military & police only round has about 10-12 inches penetration in ballistic gelatin
SS109 is the civilian version of the SS190 round
SS192 is a hollow point version

Stats:
With the help of Wikipedia and my calculator here's the stats on a 32 grain bullet. (the highest performing variant)

32 grains
2350 feet per second
392 foot pounds energy
.334 slug feet per second (momentum, a .22LR by comparison has a rating of .25 and a 9mm has a rating of .63)
20 pounds "Optimum Game Weight" rating

Thoughts:
The kinetic energy is roughly the same as the 9mm or 40 S&W. The bullet weight is really low and the speed is very high leading me to believe it might expend alot of energy into the flesh upon impact thus dealing alot of shock damage but the very low bullet weight will completely destroy it's combat effectiveness if it should hit something heavy because the bullet due to being very light won't have the "umph" it needs to punch through anything. The SS190 round is designed to be an armour peircing round but isn't sold to civilians for obvious reasons. The SS109 is the neutered version and I question it's effectiveness against hard objects. The momentum sucks and leads me to believe it probably won't exit the person it enters. The momentum seems to be roughly similar to something like a 38 special bullet. This bullet is rated for 20 pounds according to the "Optimum Game Weight" formula where as a 45acp is rated for 48.75 pounds and a 9mm is rated for 18.4 pounds.

My Question:
This round seems to really rock and really suck all at the same time. Some of it's stats are pretty good, others are pretty bad. How does this sit with everyone else? What would you guys say about it's combat effectiveness? What about penetration capabilities of the civilian rounds?

 

[barneyfife.357]

well I am no expert; however, I believe this particular round was made for less penetration. Personally, I like the sounds of a round that is not going to over penetrate, especially if I was in law enforcement or for SD/HD. I haven't had experience with the round yet, but I am planning a purchase for sure

 

[-v-]

From some murmurings I've heard over on the FN forums, it seems that the 5.7 does seem to live up to the reputation of a mini 5.56, in terms of being more effective then the simple numbers predict. But, this is all with a grain of salt, and I can't back any of it up.

Equally, looking at the velocity, 2350fps is about 2/3rds of the 5.56x45. It may be possible that it just might experience fragmentation similar to the ye'old .223 upon impact. All this conjecture of course.

 

[groundedclk]

The round originally was designed for military who needed a lighter weapon. Something that was more controllable, go to Youtube and search "P90" not "PS90". You will see the original sales video for it, and you can watch the sales tech double fist if you will two of them at the same time in full auto. The weapon with SS109 rounds has amazing stoping power, with no recoil. You could give the gun to a child and they wouldnt have a problem shooting it. Also with its 10.3" barrel makes it easy to round corners in a house, especially coming through door ways.

In a controlled enviroment I used some SS109 rounds in my PS90. With a junk car that a friend has in his back yard thank you Vermont. Put five rounds in the door clean in and out and destroyed the watermelon on the other side. Tried the same event with my Beretta 92 round tumbled out the other side. Barely causing grave damage to the watermelon. Again same event with my AR and some TAP ammo. The results were the same as the PS90 but alot more recoil, a half second per shot delay time over my PS90.

Far from being a expert on the weapon, system design of either firearm, or ammo. From what I have read and tried, the results speak for them self. It is a great weapon with great potential.

 

[Soybomb]

My take:
Fun to shoot, I wouldn't want to use it for self defense.

It may be possible that it just might experience fragmentation similar to the ye'old .223 upon impact. All this conjecture of course.

No reason to guess, we can look at gel tests and see that it performs nothing like 5.56

 

[LegalAlien]

Anyone have any experience with this round?

Full specs and details on the FN FiveseveN forum:-
http://fivesevenforum.net/showthread.php?t=7228

I have an FN 5.7, but no PS90 - pretty amazing handgun to shoot - word of warning . . . .YOU CAN GET HOOKED!!!

 

[W.E.G.]

Looks like a pretty neat round for anybody willing to spend quite a bit of dough on a "very unique" rifle that doesn't have as much gas as a .223.

Unless you are made of money, I see no worth in this round for any application except close-range full-auto fire. There, the diminished recoil in combination with the multiple impacts, makes up for the weirdness and diminutive energy of the round.

I do like too that its an FN product, and knowing that FN has a very positive outlook toward private gun owners. - Even if I can't see what this gun does that the MP5 doesn't do. Remember, HK s****, and they hate you.

 

[Deer Hunter]

Sure it penetrates....

But so does the 7.62x25.

 

[usp9]

In my opinion both the FN 5.7 and PS90 have limited military roles that do not translate to the civilian market in any real useful way. Without the ammo for which they were intended, they are more on the order of "just cool". I do think they have great collectable value.

 

[Jaenak]

After looking into it I think I'd rather stick to the 9mm, 40S&W, and the 45acp. It may have the KE of a decent pistol round but the low grain weight really scares me. Besides, on the FN forums that link above provides, it states that the JHP simply tumbles and doesn't actually deform. That's a big set back. And lastly, if the bullet is being compared to the .223 and the .22WMR then I really want to stay away from it. I'd want a self defense round to be compared to the 9mm, 40S&W and 45acp. Besides, the 5.7x28mm round only has one pistol it's chambered for and ammo seems to be very difficult to get hold of. I think I'll stick to the three main pistol rounds and leave the 5.7x28mm round to everyone else.

Thanks everybody!

 

[M2 Carbine]

I've got the FN 5.7 pistol.

The 40gr Hornady V Max does 1690 FPS and mushrooms quite a lot.

The SS-195 JHP does 2057 FPS and in my unscientific backyard tests the bullet turns sideways by two inches into the target and continues through the target broadside.

Personally I like the JHP bullet over the Hornady.

I have a Streamlight TLR-2 laser/light on the pistol and keep it handy as a HD gun. I have no worries that a couple rounds will stop about anything I want to stop.


This is one of those backyard tests. Wet phone books.
Two 45ACP defense loads, the Aguila IQ and Remington Golden Saber penetrated only 2 1/4 inches.
The 5.7 JHP turned sideways and continued to 6 1/2 inches.
One Hornady V Max mushroomed little and penetrated to 6 1/4 inches.
The other V Max mushroomed OK but penetrated to only 4 inches.

 

[PTK]

I have no problem trusting my life to 5.7x28 out of either of my USGs or my PS90. I prefer to have the blue tip "varmint" bullet ammo loaded.

For what it's worth, if one 20 round mag and two 30 round mags of 5.7x28 doesn't get me out of Dodge, not much will.

 

[jakeswensonmt]

IIRC the 5.7x28 was designed expressly as a pistol/SMG round with body armor penetration capability.