Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots TC Encore or Contender in 5.7x28

Has anyone here done a 5.7x28 in a contender or encore setup? Was hoping for some real world velocities through one of these barrels.

I have considered this combo and after careful consideration considering the 5.7X28's performance wondered if it would leave one underwhelmed!
Close in relatively fast performer, maybe i am wrong.

BUT

In that realm of "What the heck, WHY not" it seems like a chambering worth playing with.

I agree. Just thought a 16-18inch encore barrel in 22 wmr or 5.7x28 would be pretty sweet.

I've thought about having one made up. I think of it as a 22 hornet on steroids

The closed breech system and the longer barrel has to give that 5.7 a little more oomph!

I believe a few bolt action 5.7X28MM rifles were made a few years ago, but they didnt sell very well

I thought about it, and I don't think it's worth the effort. Ammo is expensive right now, brass difficult to find, and it's not exactly an easy round to reload.

A bolt action!!???? Who made them?

The .22 Hornet is far more powerful than the 5.7, in both a Contender pistol, and in a rifle. The 5.7 burns around 7gr of pistol powders like AA 5, 7, or 9. The Hornet uses 13gr of Lil Gun, 11-12gr of H110 and similar charges of other slow-burning pistol/fast-burning rifle powders.

Just acquired a 5.7 pistol, a S&W with a locked-breech gas-operated action. I don’t expect any ballistic magic from that locked-breech, but am hoping it is easier on brass. Reviews suggest it does reduce recoil somewhat, but I don’t have another pistol to compare. Maybe S&W will use that action in a carbine; they’ve been pretty busy with trendy stuff of late.

I believe it was Rock Island. The Philippine company.

They made a .22 TCM rifle. Never saw one in 5.7. Those rifles seemed a bit rough around the edges, but might be handy for someone with a .22 TCM pistol

There are some challenges for certain. Again, I’m hoping the locked-breech of the S&W helps, since the action doesn’t open until the bullet passes the gas port at the end of the barrel. Have some once-fired brass coming, a bit of range brass, and what I’ve salvaged of my own. Bought a catcher bag to keep my brass from flying away.

Primers are a mystery at this point. The data sheet from my Lee dies calls for SR primers; Hodgdon data uses Win SP; and the Handloader data uses Win SPM. The article with that data also says FN and Fiocchi ammo has crimped primers. We shall see.

Other quirks are that, according to Brian Pearce, SP primers gave higher pressure than SPMs, and boattailed bullets also raised pressures. Since the 5.7 runs at up to 50k PSI, I think I’ll start with SRs, and at the start, since the difference between starting and top end loads is pretty small.

I've never loaded for the 5.7, but I have read the margin of safety is very small...here's an interesting article.

https://www.handloadermagazine.com/handloading-the-fn-5-7x28mm

Savage had the Model 25 chambered in it for a short period, but it’s no longer in production.

Not much point in a rifle chambered for it, other than a fast-squirter for tactical use IMO. It only beats a .22 magnum by a bit. Fastest velocity I saw quoted online, admittedly not an exhaustive search, was 2300-something with a 21gr bullet, some special loading. OTOH, I think it's going to be very useful in a handgun for field carry, some hunting, and self-defense. Question for now is, just how well can I get it to shoot for me?

You are correct Pappy, it was a 22TCM not a 5.7X28MM

According to the data in the Hodgdon annual, there’s not much difference between their power, just the platforms available. Wouldn’t mind seeing more conversion options for the TCM. Would think almost any 9mm would be a candidate. It’s a stubby little thing, like a short .22 Jet. Maybe one of those funny Spanish 9mm carbines could be re-barreled🤔

I have a Dakota Arms Varminter single shot in 5.7X28 ( bought at Whittaker's Guns ) - and the previous poster is right - velocity with FN factory 40 grain V-max's ( blue tips ) was only 2140 average - about the same as a .22 rimfire magnum. I was kinda disappointed - but the accuracy was stellar.

Got a picture??? Sounds beautiful

I just ordered a cartridge gauge from Sheridan Engineering this afternoon. It has a segment cut out so you can see what’s going on inside.

https://sheridanengineering.com/product/57x28-ammunition-gauge/

I misquoted Pearce on the primers. He actually said the SPMs gave less pressure than the factory ones. He pulled factory ammo apart and used the primed case to test with his loads. Presumably factory ammo is loaded with SRs and I’m going to use them as well since I have a bunch.

That'd be the .221 Fireball

Yeah, I was completely wrong in my comment. I know I have heard that but shouldn't have said anything until I checked some data. My mistake.

The Rock Island gun was not a 5.7x28 ' it was in .22TCM

I have a T-C G2 barrel 16 1/2" long that handles my short range truck rifle needs without any fuss. And uses the same rounds as a "Winchester" 1885, a Savage combination gun, and Ruger, Colt, and S&W revolvers. Why add another fairly hard-to-find round, new dies, and reloading components to the clutter?

(It's your itch; just glad I don't have to scratch it....).

I thought it'd be a cite groundhog popper in a Contender rifle.
But have a 14" Ingram .22 mag bbl collecting dust. Might send it off to be threaded and silver solder an extension, make it 18".
That w Bullberry wood would make a nice little zapper.

I've had a 5.7 FN for several years now. The original version FN pistol weighs 19 ozs. empty. The 40 gr. V-Max ammo clocked 1740 fps. in my gun. Using my 12 inch long, 2.5 gallon water containers, it will blow the front half apart at 10 yds. The bullet fragments and the base of the jacket will dimple the back of the jug.
It will group about 2 inches at 20 yds, and kicks with 40% of the recoil of a 9mm.
I have found it an easy to carry field gun.
I gave up trying to reload for it. Too critical and lots of brass flow. E

So most good ammo is FN 27grain pills. There are some 40grain pills also. So making and ordering a barrel on the mgm site it gives you twist options. IT’s suggesting a1-14 twist. There are options for 1-7/1-8/-1-8 also but that for larger grain bullets that are not made in the 5.7x28 chambering. So! What twist rate would you go with in the 5.7x28?

I'm very interested in getting a rifle in 5.7. My use is kinda specific. I usually hunt a large pasture with shots out to ~400 yards and a variety of game up to and including nilgai. So my primary rifle is a 7mm rem mag with a Dead Air Nomad suppressor. I have a corn feeder ~20 yards from my blind that is usually bogarted by hogs which I shoot at every opportunity, head shots exclusively. Ideally, I want to be able to kill pigs close up as quietly as possible so I don't scare off any other game in the pasture. I have experimented with other calibers and combo's. I have on occasion shot a pig with a 5.56 AR with the can and deer grazing within 50 yards. The pig sounder always dips out but arguably less vigorously than they do when un-suppressed. The deer look but have not spooked in this scenario, they just go back to grazing.

I also have a SilencerCo Sparrow .22 can that is rated for 5.7 use. I'd like to acquire a 5.7 rifle of some type to put the Sparrow on and kill pigs via 20 yard head shots. I have a TC Contender which is a viable option but MGM, BBW and EABCO barrels are ~$500. I'd also slightly prefer a repeater for follow-up shots to whack multiples. In my experience, the sounder will scatter with the first shot but when using a suppressor, they usually run a little ways slowly before stopping to look around and presenting second shots.

How about a 223 bolt gun shooting suppressed, subsonic loads?

Keep in mind that the .22TCM cartridge was developed by Freddy Craig as a pistol round, a role in which it excels. Then, instead of adapting it to a new auto loading carbine, the Philippine factory chose to chamber it in an existing bolt rifle design (from which most people expect precision shooting). However, as of a few years ago, credible information had it that a 2” 5 shot group at 50 yards was accepted by the factory as being within their .22TCM bolt rifle performance standards. Not exactly awe inspiring, eh? But, hopefully that has changed by now. Because, last I heard, they were looking at balancing rifling twist rate with bullet characteristics and propellant charge.

Sounds like that 22 Win Mag barrel would be a good candidate for a 218 Bee conversion for a Contender. The Bee is a very good round and reloadable so the cost of shooting goes down not up.

CMMG makes a few options from 5inch to 6- to 8inch in pistols. And then the 16inch rifle. I think the 8inch would give great velocities.