Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 5.7 X 28...thinking about it

What say you?

I am seriously considering getting this caliber up and running. I reload and know of its quirks but I am fine with it.

Pistols I am considering are the ruger and the psa offerings.

Yes, its going to be carried.

Nothing against the FN it is just to expensive for what it is. If it was cheaper then heck yeah.

I am more than likely going to end up with one....just curious about others interests.

Would you consider this caliber, why and why not?

Very flat shooting, but the ammo is too damned expensive..

Smith & Wesson also has a 5.7 out now. You might check that out too.

I've had a 5.7 FN for several years now. As a hand loader of some 64 yrs. experience, I didn't think it would be very tough to load as long as I went slowly and carefully. I gave up after learning a few things. First of all, when you fire factory ammo, the case shoulder moves forward alot. Not good for a very fussy, high pressure load. The loading data warns you to increase loads .1 of a grain at a time. It really does go critical very quickly.
Factory 27 gr. ammo doesn't shoot anywhere near the zero for the much more common 40 gr. stuff.
That's the bad side. One the good side, I can shoot my FN much better than anything else I have shot in that weight range. It is a very powerful, deadly load. Even the 40 gr. stuff which "only" clocks 1740 fps. blows up my 2.5 gal. water jugs quite well. The 27 gr. ammo is even better. It clocks almost 2100 fps. Recoil really is 40% of the 9mm's recoil.
I really like mine. E

Thank you Montana I forgot about that.
That makes 3 to look at.

Oheremicus,

When things did go right how much life could you get out of a piece of brass?

I am only going to load 35 to 40 grain bullets with mid range powder drops.

I have a Ruger 5.7 and a select-fire P90. I use them both for hunting down vermin at night.

You have to push the shoulder back since both of those guns use a rinky-dink floating barrel setup to "sort-of" delay the action opening. It doesn't work very well, hence the shoulder blowing forward.
It appears the Smith and Wesson may be a real locked breach setup, but I don't have one yet, and that might eliminate the premature case backing up problem.

The cases also have some sort of lacquer coating on them to ease extraction. When I size the cases, regardless of lube, some of that coating gets stripped off, but loaded rounds still function fine with the partial missing coating. I haven't tried reloading them more than once, since a lot of the coating will be gone on the second sizing.

Tony

Fun to shoot. I recently picked up a Ruger 57. Low recoil. Accurate. Other than ammo prices right now, what’s not to like?

Definitely a hot number. Wear some hearing protection.

Thank you to all who are offering advice.

Yes, Tony, I have read about the "coating" and its purpose and how it is needed. I have also read about the blow back system and how case stretch is a big issue if you want to reload for it.
Did you have to trim every time you sized or just initially on the first go around?
I understand every weapon is a universe unto itself so one may cause more or less brass prep than another of the same make.

I hope the Smith offering will be of a locked breach.


BSA, I hear you on ammo cost hence the attempt to reload.

I haven't needed to trim the cases. The first thing I did before loading anything, was make a cartridge gauge so I knew where the shoulder needed to be pushed back to.
Then I just set the size die up so the cases were in the same position in the gauge as the factory ammo. I used a depth mic on the gauge to get it dead-on.

A little trivia for you....the 5.7x28 is the only cartridge that I know of that can be chambered by using two common drill bits. Punch a 1/4" hole first which is the neck size, then come in behind it with a 5/16" bit for the body.

You never know when you might be in a survival situation and really need that tidbit of knowledge.

Tony

I want the Smith. Started looking today.

Are they out yet? It looks like it would be pretty sweet.

Don't forget the $100 rebate

https://www.swrebates.com/SW/#/home

Thank you Tony, that is the route I will go with a gauge go/no go. Did not think of that.
And that "tid bit" is way cool on the drill bits.

I read and watched vids on the Smith and it referred to it as a "tempo" (hope i got that right) gas system.

It has a port in the barrel and the barrel has baffles/fins machined into it.
The barrel is covered by a shroud and as the gas fills the shroud the barrel turns on its axis. If you are familiar with the berretta PX4 partial rotating barrel design then you have the concept used by Smith....to a point.

This will be a definite purchase.

Comparing to the FN, Ruger and PSA they are ALL blow back....the Smith is not, and looks to be brass friendly.

Has anyone seen the m&p in stock anywhere?

That’s good to know and pretty cool.

Gunbroker is the only place I’ve seen one.

picked up the Ruger last fall and also got the reloading dies for it....plus picked up some brass to load for it...

then its winter and it hasn't even been shot. or reloaded for...

When I saw how much the shoulder moved forward after firing and learned just how touchy they are to even .1 a grain increase in powder, I quit trying to load them. The case length issue is enough to cause a head separation with even a milder load.
And, too, the milder loads shoot 5-6 inches below the full power ones. E

My daughter bought the FN years ago. I had wondered why, until I shot it. I was hooked. I ended getting Ruger 57 and like it better than the FN. The Ruger hasn't had any problems but it is very sensitive to different ammo brands and bullet weights. You sight in for one type and then switch to something different and it shoots way off from where it was.

Thanks again to everybody.

For those of you who are reloading for this caliber , What dies are you using and especially why did you pick that brand?

What powders are you looking at or have used?

I am going to get some ammo today which will be my brass source for now.

Just an FYI

These guys have 5.7 brass

$50/250 pcs

Need to call & ask for Adam

https://precisionbrass.net/shop/

Thank you Tikka.

It is going to take all of the restraint that I can muster not to order this today.

https://palmettostatearmory.com/psa...sun-407k-reflex-sight-two-tone-gray.html

With a 5.7 rated suppressor on order, this could end up being one heck of a multi-purpose weapon.

That would be great. Order one and evaluate it for us.

Yup

It is a bit unnerving to see the shoulder of the case blow forward like they do, but I imagine 99% of the users, probably never even notice.

The only factory gun/cartridge that is worse than the 5.7 is the North American Arms 32 NAA. That's the .380 case necked to 32 caliber. It gets blown out nearly straight-walled.
I imagine the 25NAA is the same way, but I haven't fired mine yet. That's the 32ACP (kinda), necked to 25. It doesn't have the 32 ACP rim.

Tony

I’m wondering if the gas operation of my S&W, because the action stays locked until the bullet passes the gas port, will treat the brass better. No plans to load yet, but I’ll recover what brass I can.

Just this morning I read some web chatter that said the delayed blow-back and gas operated 5.7s do indeed treat the brass better than the blowbacks, since the case stays put until the pressure drops. We’ll see. Ordered a bunch of ammo and will accumulate brass as I can. 40gr polymer-tip bullets are in good supply hereabouts.

Interesting that the data I’ve seen calls for SP primers. Woulda guessed SRs.

FYI, the guy on the TFB channel bought one that arrived missing the two roll pins that hold the fire-control bits in the frame. Then when he bitched they sent him the wrong ones.

Just thought, considering your general run of luck well, you know…………😛

LOL. You can bet your ass I won't roll the dice with a Ruger 57.

Get the S&W, or pony up for the FN.

I took mine apart this morning and cleaned all the synthetic grease out of it. Ordered a red dot and 10 boxes of boolets. Very clever design, and nicely done. At least find one to fondle before you buy something else.

Does the Ruger have bad reviews ?

No, but Paul does. Unluckiest guy here.

The only complaint with the Ruger I’ve seen is the trigger pull which is apparently looonng and mushy. Never handled one myself. Would’ve been my choice before the S&W appeared. I read and watch a lot of reviews because I geel you need to average them out to eliminate “flyers”.

This was just posted. Looks pretty good.

If that ain’t enough to move you, looky looky at this……..


https://palmettostatearmory.com/psa...sun-407k-reflex-sight-two-tone-gray.html

If that pistol is as good as Mr. Gunsngear says, that’s a screaming deal. Might be a pretty good one anyway.