Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters FN Five-seveN Pistol

Last night, a show on the outdoor channel had a story about the FN Five-SeveN pistol. I only caught the end of it where it claimed 2200fps from the 4 3/4" barrel. Recoil from the 20oz pistol was said to be less than a 9mm. The clip also said the pistol was for the home defense market as well as police.

This came from the FN web site.

"The FN Five-seveN� USG single-action autoloading pistol sets a new benchmark for handgun performance. Firing the low-recoil, high-velocity 5.7x28mm cartridge, the Five-seveN features a textured, ergonomic polymer frame with checkered panels for enhanced grip."

Not any load data on the FN site. A 5.7mm would be .23085 or maybe .231 caliber. It is .007 bigger than a .223 (.224cal)and .013 smaller than a 6mm (.243cal). Why a new caliber? There are lots of great .223 and 6mm bullets out there now. Or maybe "Five-seveN" is just a "marketing" name for a .224 bullet.

Anyone know any more about this round.

Thanks,

Richard

I believe it uses standard .224 bullets.

Yes, you are correct.

I found a website for Five-seveN users. Lots of info there.

Richard

Power wise it is in the .22 Hornet class.

what is the advantage of a it over a 22 long rifle pistol?

About 1000 fps.

The advantage is that FN's test show that it will defeat old style body armor at up to 200 meters. Main market is to police and military. Not only are the terrorist starting to wear body armor, our criminals are too. Have you seen any pictures of Mexico�s drug busts?

There is a lot of info at this website on the Five-seveN.

http://www.fivesevenforum.com/

I now understand where Five-seveN comes from. When I first saw the name I used the wrong factor to get the inch size. I divided .243 by 6 (243 Win & 6mm Rem), then multified that by 5.7 which results in .230. Of course that is wrong because the 6mm Rem was named for the bore diameter and the 243 Win for the groove diameter. If you use the correct factor of .03937008" for a mm and multiply by 5.7, you get .2244 which is the groove diameter for .223 bullets.

RN did good with the name of Five-seveN. Might have to get one!

The 5.7 is being pushed to civilians as a new and better alternative to traditional pistol rounds. In truth, it is just about like a Hornet or Bee, and only a bit more powerful than the .22 Magnum Rimfire; its vaunted ability to pierce body armor exists only with ammuniion that's illegal and unavailable to civilians. The whole FN 5.7 concept, from the carbine and machine pistol (the television 'Stargate' sci-fi weapon) to the 'new' 5.7 handgun, is an effort to apply radical new Star Wars tech to traditional and already well-addressed shooting situations. It doesn't do anything that older and better-qualified ammunition and firearms can't do as well, and cheaper. If it weren't being pushed by FN, it would be relegated to the same niche of such guns as the .22 WMR Automag, and the Calico,IMO.