FN 5.7 as home defense gun?

[rod5591]

Anyone have any experience with the FN 5.7? Would the 5.7X28mm round might be too hot for home defense? I mean, would a miss go though the walls?

Anyone with one of these that can give an opinion?

 

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

It's designed so that misses that hit the fall don't travel far at all through the walls. It's well suited for the task and it would serve you well.

 

[usp9]

FIVETWOSEVEN nailed it. The round is very suitable to the task. The gun itself is top notch quality and reliability.

If you miss, the huge muzzle flash will likey scare an assailant into thinking the Marines have arrived and cause him to fall to the floor in shock and fear.

Seriously... a good choice. If I had dedicated HD pistols, the 5.7 would be in the mix.

 

[zonzin]

If your using the FN 197 ammo with the Varmiter bullets,, they will basically frag when they hit the wall,, not much will get past the second layer of sheetrock.

Love my FN,, and if the muzzel flash doesn't scare them , the report will. Sucker is loud.


.

 

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

If your using the FN 197 ammo with the Varmiter bullets,, they will basically frag when they hit the wall,, not much will get past the second layer of sheetrock.

I can't imagine it not going through sheet rock. Birdshot even penetrates sheetrock.

 

[G|0cKbYtE]

Anyone have any experience with the FN 5.7? Would the 5.7X28mm round might be too hot for home defense? I mean, would a miss go though the walls?

Anyone with one of these that can give an opinion?

Any gun firing solid projectiles of substantial velocity will penetrate sheet rock. A big selling point of the Five-seveN is that its ammunition rarely "over-penetrates", yet offers ample tissue disruption. In other words, and I don't recommend trying this at home; if you shoot a bad guy and your wife is standing behind him, she most likely will be "safe". If you spray a 30 round mag of 5.7x28mm ammo around your home with nary a regard for who is behind the walls, you could very well hit someone.

 

[G|0cKbYtE]

if the muzzel flash doesn't scare them , the report will. Sucker is loud.

Very true. A bad guy getting a front row seat to the business end of a Five-seveN is definitely going to know he is being shot at...

 

[NG VI]

I lost my post.

Well anyway what I said was that any load you would sanely use to protect yourself from a human trying to stick, slice, or shoot you is going to go through at least a couple of interior walls, provided it hits no studs. And the 5.7 is in the same power range as all the other calibers that are recommended for defensive pistol use. And physics applies the same to all bullets, you get a bullet of a given weight and construction, driven to a given speed, it will perform a given way in a given media.

If anyone tells you the 5.7 is a superkillercaliber, best EvAr!!! for defense use, think carefully about their breathless claims and read up on the way other bullets wound people. To see how it works, it's best to look at the 5.7 in the context of other low-mass, high-velocity light rifle rounds, since it does accomplish it's wounding with a different focus than the traditional service pistol calibers. It's much like a .22 Magnum rifle, maybe a little better, only it usually comes loaded with bullets that were constructed for defense use, and not small predator/pest control.

Also think carefully about anyone describing it as just a hopped-up .22, there are significant differences between the 5.7 and the rimfire .22s, and it really does perform in a way that makes it acceptable for defense against people.

 

[G|0cKbYtE]

I lost my post.

Well anyway what I said was that any load you would sanely use to protect yourself from a human trying to stick, slice, or shoot you is going to go through at least a couple of interior walls, provided it hits no studs. And the 5.7 is in the same power range as all the other calibers that are recommended for defensive pistol use. And physics applies the same to all bullets, you get a bullet of a given weight and construction, driven to a given speed, it will perform a given way in a given media.

If anyone tells you the 5.7 is a superkillercaliber, best EvAr!!! for defense use, think carefully about their breathless claims and read up on the way other bullets wound people. To see how it works, it's best to look at the 5.7 in the context of other low-mass, high-velocity light rifle rounds, since it does accomplish it's wounding with a different focus than the traditional service pistol calibers. It's much like a .22 Magnum rifle, maybe a little better, only it usually comes loaded with bullets that were constructed for defense use, and not small predator/pest control.

Also think carefully about anyone describing it as just a hopped-up .22, there are significant differences between the 5.7 and the rimfire .22s, and it really does perform in a way that makes it acceptable for defense against people.

If by lost your post you mean you actually deleted it, hit Ctrl + Z next time and it will reappear. It is a miracle macro if you never knew about it.

 

[NG VI]

Naw, I lost connection right before I hit post quick reply, and couldn't use the normally wonderful refresh button to resend the post. Vaporized it.

 

[dev_null]

A big selling point of the Five-seveN is that its ammunition rarely "over-penetrates"

Strange, I thought part of the kerfuffle when it first came out was that it supposedly easily defeated body armor? Either that's not true, or there's a disconnect here.

 

[G|0cKbYtE]

Strange, I thought part of the kerfuffle when it first came out was that it supposedly easily defeated body armor? Either that's not true, or there's a disconnect here.

It will cut through armor like a hot knife through butter and then "dump" all of its energy into the target. Over-penetration refers to a projectile that either exceeds the recommended penetration depths in humans due to excessive mass/velocity and/or bullet behavior.

The 5.7x28mm uses an intelligently designed projectile that makes armor useless while throwing on the "brakes" when it hits soft tissue. Watch the following video; it clearly illustrates what I am trying to describe to you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtisZ9lT9Vs

If the bullet wasn't designed to tumble, it would most assuredly zip right through the simulant losing little speed and endangering others besides the intended target.

 

[dev_null]

Thanks for the insight.

Would I be correct in presuming that this safety factor, so to speak, does NOT apply to the 7.62 x 25?

 

[G|0cKbYtE]

Thanks for the insight.

Would I be correct in presuming that this safety factor, so to speak, does NOT apply to the 7.62 x 25?

You are correct. The Tokarev round pokes and keeps on poking to very dangerous depths. It will reach almost 30 inches in bare gelatin.

 

[NG VI]

Strange, I thought part of the kerfuffle when it first came out was that it supposedly easily defeated body armor? Either that's not true, or there's a disconnect here.

It's just that high velocity is the easiest way to defeat soft body armor, and the small cross section of the bullets allows it to focus it's roughly equivalent energy (compared to any other service pistol caliber) on less vest material, diminishing the effectiveness of the vests, which depend on fiber strength to prevent bullets from penetrating.

Also, some of the original bullets for it were designed heavily as armor-piercing rounds, at the time of conception the Soviet Union and other developed nations were still a very likely opponent, so having a pistol and defense weapon that could defeat soft armor was seen as a great feature.

Penetration of wet media like tissue and hard barriers like metal and kevlar is totally different, in tissue heavy bullets tend to penetrate the most, though they often aren't as good at penetrating things like metal or glass as a shallow-penetrating, high-speed bullet.

 

[NG VI]

The 7.62x25mm comes loaded almost exclusively with either FMJ bullets or JHP that acts almost identical to FMJ, and it has more momentum than the 5.7 as well, so it will penetrate much more in soft tissue.

 

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

More like over penetrate in soft tissue.

 

[481]

If anyone tells you the 5.7 is a superkillercaliber, best EvAr!!! for defense use, think carefully about their breathless claims and read up on the way other bullets wound people.

I agree. Great advice, NG IV!

 

[Strykervet]

The 5.7 is a specialty weapon designed to reduce overpenetration while increasing penetration of soft armor. And I'll admit it is cool. If I'm not mistaken, those bullets are heavier and intended to tumble and are just as important to the weapon system as the pistol itself. The ones available to the peons are much lighter varmint bullets that don't penetrate much and fragment instead of tumble. For most folks, this is a problem. For the intended purpose of the weapon, the main purchaser the Secret Service I think, it is the PERFECT weapon available. With the right ammo, it is in effect a pistol shaped assault rifle that can be accurately fired at a soft armored target in a crowd with a very low chance of a miss or overpenetration or other collateral damge. This makes it a specialty weapon, and mostly due to the ammo. With the civilian ammo, it is a varmint pistol? Is that what you'd "technically" call it based on its attributes?

Given that you can make really fast accurate followup shots and have 20rds., it might not be much of a problem for HD where penetration of walls is of concern when using the lighter 30gr. VMAX bullets. Usually in an apartment, the walls between apartments are much thicker and denser due to fire codes and sometimes even sheathed. Chances of one coming through that intact are slim, but not impossible. For interior walls, it may deform or even fragment the bullet, but it is still deadly on the other side.

So I suppose it does have an application as strict HD in applications where overpenetration is of concern. It isn't magic, it can still kill through drywall, but it minimizes risk with concern to neighbors, and that is very important. You may know where your family members are in 3D, but what about your neighbors? It has sufficient power and firepower at close range, accurate and fast, and low penetration which is a virtue here, so I suppose it has another specialty application.

But if I were you, I'd look hard at an M4 and some light varmint ammo. It is a much better choice for more reasons than I care to list right now. Like a 5.7 on steroids and much more accurate. The Hornady VMAX .40gr. loads are similar to the 5.7 loads but much more powerful. And you can fire M855 if you need to, you can't get that in a 5.7 version.

 

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

The 5.7 is a specialty weapon designed to reduce overpenetration while increasing penetration of soft armor. And I'll admit it is cool. If I'm not mistaken, those bullets are heavier and intended to tumble and are just as important to the weapon system as the pistol itself. The ones available to the peons are much lighter varmint bullets that don't penetrate much and fragment instead of tumble. For most folks, this is a problem. For the intended purpose of the weapon, the main purchaser the Secret Service I think, it is the PERFECT weapon available. With the right ammo, it is in effect a pistol shaped assault rifle that can be accurately fired at a soft armored target in a crowd with a very low chance of a miss or overpenetration or other collateral damge. This makes it a specialty weapon, and mostly due to the ammo. With the civilian ammo, it is a varmint pistol? Is that what you'd "technically" call it based on its attributes?

Elite Ammunition is where the good defense stuff is at.

 

[Pyro]

 

[Bozwell]

Troll alert!

 

[481]

Oh, Pyro....that's hysterical.

Thanks for the much needed humor.

 

[Prince Yamato]

I own one. I was looking up the differences between the sport and defensive ammo. In most cases, the difference was a 150-200 ft/sec decrease in speed. That's about it. Anyone who owns one will tell you, it's much more potent than a .22 . The bullet flies in a straight path for 100 yards. With that kind of energy behind it, I'd hate to be hit with it at 7 yards.

 

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

I thought we refuted the .22 Magnum myth awhile ago.