sparkyv
Member
One word: capacity.
Why oh why am I lured to the 5.7?
- Thread starter Lennyjoe
- Start date
orionengnr
Member
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2005
- Messages
- 5,827
I really can't get excited about 5.56 any more. So an even smaller round...no thanks.
For rifles, .22LR and x39 is about all I want to shoot.
For handguns, again, I don't see the point in 5.7.
Just another higher-priced, difficult to handload round.
I have enough handgun rounds that I reload for already, which are more effective and easier/more cost-efficient to load.
And more fun to shoot.
Each to his own.
For rifles, .22LR and x39 is about all I want to shoot.
For handguns, again, I don't see the point in 5.7.
Just another higher-priced, difficult to handload round.
I have enough handgun rounds that I reload for already, which are more effective and easier/more cost-efficient to load.
And more fun to shoot.
Each to his own.
oldfortyfiveauto
Member
Everyone complains about the ammo cost. 22mag is around $18 and 5.7 on sale is $26 with v-max bullets. It's not in the ballpark of 9mm but certainly not a show stopper.
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Lennyjoe
Member
My dilemma as well. That’s why I haven’t pulled the trigger on one
TTv2
Member
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2016
- Messages
- 5,569
In a pistol the 5.7 is really underwhelming, I do not see the appeal for it, not when if the industry would get its head out of its rear end and make a .30 Super full size pistol it would hold 20, maybe even 22 rounds and meet or exceed the capacity of all the 5.7 pistols out there (I don't care about the 30 rd mags the FN Five Seven has, everyone who has bought a 5.7 pistol the past 5 years it wasn't an FN).
If higher capacity is the focus for people buying 5.7 pistols, they'd be better served with a .30 Super as it's just a better stopper and the ammo is more affordable too.
In carbines and rifles, the 5.7 does become decently impressive w/ 40gr projectiles hitting between 2000 and 2100 fps, but when I see the .22 Mag is only a couple hundred fps behind in velocity and the ammo is cheap and available, I really question what more the 5.7 is giving me. Centerfire vs rimfire? Ok, rimfire is less reliable, but out of a rifle I can deal with that. Bottleneck vs straight wall better feeding? Yes, I agree, but this is all under the reality of the 5.7 costs triple what .22 Mag does and I already have .22 Mag revolvers and rifles.
For me to get into the 5.7 is me really going out of my way to buy in to a caliber I think is a nightmare to reload and gambling on the ammunition becoming so popular that other manufacturers start producing it in such quantities it can become closer to say .38 Special or .380 ACP in terms of price. For a time .380 was a pretty expensive caliber, but then all the little micro pocket .380 pistols came out and millions of people bought them and because of that the supply was increased to meet that demand the costs to produce it came down.
I'm not seeing millions buying 5.7, in fact if you live in one of the 14 states which comprises 110m people there's not much reason for you to bother buying a 5.7 and being stuck with 10 round mags, not when the selling point is it can hold a lot more than that. You could say the same thing about 9mm, but 9mm is the cheapest centerfire caliber one can buy and .22 Mag is usually the same price as 9mm is.
That lack of appeal for 1/3 the country to get into the 5.7 is going to put a glass ceiling on this cartridge. Same could be said for .30 Super, but what the .30 Super has that 5.7 never will is the .30SC is available in 9mm sized compacts, the 5.7 is eternally stuck in full size duty pistols, which are not the most popular for concealed carriers.
If higher capacity is the focus for people buying 5.7 pistols, they'd be better served with a .30 Super as it's just a better stopper and the ammo is more affordable too.
In carbines and rifles, the 5.7 does become decently impressive w/ 40gr projectiles hitting between 2000 and 2100 fps, but when I see the .22 Mag is only a couple hundred fps behind in velocity and the ammo is cheap and available, I really question what more the 5.7 is giving me. Centerfire vs rimfire? Ok, rimfire is less reliable, but out of a rifle I can deal with that. Bottleneck vs straight wall better feeding? Yes, I agree, but this is all under the reality of the 5.7 costs triple what .22 Mag does and I already have .22 Mag revolvers and rifles.
For me to get into the 5.7 is me really going out of my way to buy in to a caliber I think is a nightmare to reload and gambling on the ammunition becoming so popular that other manufacturers start producing it in such quantities it can become closer to say .38 Special or .380 ACP in terms of price. For a time .380 was a pretty expensive caliber, but then all the little micro pocket .380 pistols came out and millions of people bought them and because of that the supply was increased to meet that demand the costs to produce it came down.
I'm not seeing millions buying 5.7, in fact if you live in one of the 14 states which comprises 110m people there's not much reason for you to bother buying a 5.7 and being stuck with 10 round mags, not when the selling point is it can hold a lot more than that. You could say the same thing about 9mm, but 9mm is the cheapest centerfire caliber one can buy and .22 Mag is usually the same price as 9mm is.
That lack of appeal for 1/3 the country to get into the 5.7 is going to put a glass ceiling on this cartridge. Same could be said for .30 Super, but what the .30 Super has that 5.7 never will is the .30SC is available in 9mm sized compacts, the 5.7 is eternally stuck in full size duty pistols, which are not the most popular for concealed carriers.
tommy.duncan
Member
This would be a blast!!
I would buy one
For me, the 5.7 in an AR upper was boring, and not much different for plinking/playing than .22 Mag, which is cheaper, with good bullets as well, V-Max etc.
So I sold the 5.7 Upper, and .22 Mag fills that playing at the range niche for me. If one like flash and blast, it's probably a hoot from a handgun, I don't.
DukeConnor
Member
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2016
- Messages
- 1,144
If you have room in your safe buy it.
If you don't have room in your safe buy it and another safe.
Life's short.
If you don't have room in your safe buy it and another safe.
Life's short.
adcoch1
Member
5.7 kinda makes sense in a large handgun if you can have the "standard capacity " mags, but in use I see it as a 22mag pistol. As in useful, but not thrilling. In a lightweight bolt gun it's very cool, as any small but effective cartridge would be, but not terribly useful other than varmints and survival guns. In an ar platform? No, not interested. I think 223 is kinda marginal for an ar pattern rifle, so going with a more limiting cartridge is a no go if I have to keep a 16"+ barrel...
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OP
Lennyjoe
Member
Purchased another 64 gun safe late last year because I ran out of room….lol
someguy2800
Member
I complain about the cost of 22 mag too. If I had a single shot break action or falling block 5.7 like I do in 22 magnum, I would probably get $26 worth of fun out of a box, but in a semi auto that is going to take me about 3 minutes of shooting steel. To me its competitor is not my 22 magnum but rather my 9mm AR.
I had a 16" AR57 upper years ago. Yes it was fun to shoot, light recoil and who doesn't like 50 round magazines.
But it is a difficult round to reload, especially for rifles using the P90 magazines. You need to coating on the case for the round to properly feed from a P90 magazine. Then there is the cost of loaded ammo. American Eagle 5.7 was the only affordable 5.7 ammo when I had my upper.
The 5.7 fits in between 17HMR/22WMR and 223 and didn't really have a purpose for me other than the cool factor of using P90 magazines. I sold the upper and all the magazines I had and went a different direction.
Now if Kel-Tec would just make a 20 round extension for their CMR/PMR 30 mags like their 17 round extensions for the CP33 then I would be a happy camper.
For those wanting a pistol and/or rifle in 5.7, get one if that is what you want. I'm not going to lie, I have thought about getting the PSA 5.7 pistol but the ammo cost keeps me from doing that.
But it is a difficult round to reload, especially for rifles using the P90 magazines. You need to coating on the case for the round to properly feed from a P90 magazine. Then there is the cost of loaded ammo. American Eagle 5.7 was the only affordable 5.7 ammo when I had my upper.
The 5.7 fits in between 17HMR/22WMR and 223 and didn't really have a purpose for me other than the cool factor of using P90 magazines. I sold the upper and all the magazines I had and went a different direction.
Now if Kel-Tec would just make a 20 round extension for their CMR/PMR 30 mags like their 17 round extensions for the CP33 then I would be a happy camper.
For those wanting a pistol and/or rifle in 5.7, get one if that is what you want. I'm not going to lie, I have thought about getting the PSA 5.7 pistol but the ammo cost keeps me from doing that.
small town life
Member
I bought an ar57 upper and really wasn't impressed as I thought I'd be. Bought the cmmg upper and it's the BEST! I have a p90 and it's so-so. 1st 5.7 i bought was the fn pistol and it's good! Bought the m/p 5.7 and love it! Bought 10k of 5.7 ammo about 8 years ago when it was about 26 cents per. Got about 6k left. Very low recoil and can shoot like a laser! I'm using the magpul conversion mags in the cmmg w/ binary trigger.
Nature Boy
Member
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2015
- Messages
- 8,571
If I wanted to be a little different I’d opt for an AR with a 1:12 barrel and load 40-50gn bullets in .223
I get all the same things a 5.7 delivers with none of the downside. Slinging .22 cal projectiles at 3,700fps would be fun for a while
doubleh
Member
I went with a 22TCM simply because I wanted to play around with it plus it's superior to the 5.7 by a small margin. My LGS keeps the ammo on hand but I wanted to experiment with reloading. I had no interest in a handgun but acquired a rifle. I managed to shoot it just enough to determine that it is a MIA gun and then my right hip went out on me so no more playing to this day. I managed to fire a total of 30 rounds. I know nothing of what the 5.7 case does when fired but I found the TCM to stretch considerably and that leads me to suspect both will have a rather short case life. Short fat cases seem to stretch more than others in my limited experience.
I have also come to the conclusion that thinking financially I should have forgotten the experimenting and stuck with a 223 or gone with a 22 Hornet which does everything the TCM will do. That is being rational in my thinking but sometimes I just have to get out of a rut and try new things. Staying in a rut is boring.
I have also come to the conclusion that thinking financially I should have forgotten the experimenting and stuck with a 223 or gone with a 22 Hornet which does everything the TCM will do. That is being rational in my thinking but sometimes I just have to get out of a rut and try new things. Staying in a rut is boring.
Ignition Override
Member
Because you 'can'.
Don't take for granted that most (?) countries don't allow legal handgun ownership for regular subjects ("citizens").
Don't take for granted that most (?) countries don't allow legal handgun ownership for regular subjects ("citizens").
