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FN Five-seveN

StoicMaverick

Regular Member
Joined
Nov 5, 2011
Messages
24
Location
Norfolk, Virginia
Hey guys. I have been reading the forum for a bit now and finaly posted. I have a few bucks coming up and I am seriously considering getting an FN Five-seveN. Everything I have read about the gun indicates it is pretty solid. I admit though that I have not actualy handled one but people compair the grip to an M9 which I have worked with.
 

MAC702

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jul 31, 2011
Messages
6,331
Location
Nevada
I have one. I like it, for what it is. It's not as accurate as my 1911 or some of my other pistols, at close range. But with its very flat trajectory, you can still hit things at 100 yards with it without even thinking about how much to hold over.

I don't see it as a carry piece much, and wouldn't want its penetration in a typical street need, but 20 rounds in the flush-fitting magazine makes a nice truck gun, especially if you get a carbine in the same 5.7mm. I had the PS90 for a while, but that was because of circumstances other than actually wanting one. The AR57 upper is more ergonomically friendly, even if longer. Now, a little pump action carbine that uses the same Five-seveN magazines would be slicker than snot, but probably too narrow a market.
 

SovereignAxe

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2011
Messages
791
Location
Elizabethton, TN
First thing you should ask yourself is: is 5.7mm available in the stores in your area, and if not, are you really willing to not only pay the price premium, but pay to have it shipped to you?

5.7mm to me is the answer to a question no one in the civilian world was asking. Kinda like the .338 Lapua round. Nobody has a need for either of these rounds, but they would be ohhhhh so sweet to have-if you can afford to shoot them.
 

carry for myself

Regular Member
Joined
May 1, 2011
Messages
544
Location
Maine
in all honesty. i would not carry the fiveseven...........the 5.7mm is an extremely hot round. extremely. and its a very small round. in some ballistics tests it is capable of piercing body armor.

with that said. in a self defense situation.......its going to peel through your human target, and strike whatever is behind them. possibly peel through them as well. and so on and so on.


NTM the five-seven is uberly expensive. and the ammo is crazy priced as well.

but that's my personal opinion.
 
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StoicMaverick

Regular Member
Joined
Nov 5, 2011
Messages
24
Location
Norfolk, Virginia
I'm not worried about over penitration. its been shown to stop pretty quick in gel and only the steel cored SS190 load will penitrate kevlar. my thoughts are basicaly this: I like the base of ammo I can keep in one mag (lets face it, I woud rather stop shooting because I ran out of BGs than ammo and I refuse to carry spare mags with me all the time) I like the fact that its easy to keep on target with successive shots (1/3 lesss recoile than 9mm) and its crazy light weight. I do admit though that this is all second hand info so as soon as I get hands on with it I may change my mind but as for right now its looking good. I wont lie though, the fact that it looks a bit like the pistol from Halo doesnt hurt either :)
 

RetiredOC

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Dec 21, 2009
Messages
1,561
I'm not worried about over penitration. its been shown to stop pretty quick in gel and only the steel cored SS190 load will penitrate kevlar. my thoughts are basicaly this: I like the base of ammo I can keep in one mag (lets face it, I woud rather stop shooting because I ran out of BGs than ammo and I refuse to carry spare mags with me all the time) I like the fact that its easy to keep on target with successive shots (1/3 lesss recoile than 9mm) and its crazy light weight. I do admit though that this is all second hand info so as soon as I get hands on with it I may change my mind but as for right now its looking good. I wont lie though, the fact that it looks a bit like the pistol from Halo doesnt hurt either :)

it looks even more like the pistols from counter strike...aka the five seven XD

IMO it is a cool gun to have, and if you have the money, go for it. I buy a lot of guns based off the cool factor as well. The problem for me is, I love to shoot all my guns and with just common calibers such as 9mm and .40 I find it to be expensive as hell. Now throw in a gun with some odd ball hard to find caliber and you've got yourself a sweet ass gun and an empty wallet. Cool gun, but because of the caliber I would not recommend it.

My 2 cents.
 

ixtow

Founder's Club Member
Joined
Nov 25, 2006
Messages
5,038
Location
Suwannee County, FL
The ammo only has it's media-routsing effect when fired from the PS90. Out of the Five seveN handgun, it is roughly equivalent t the .22 magnum.

That's why Kel Tec invented this: http://www.keltecweapons.com/our-guns/pistols/pmr-30/

Gun is cheaper, ammo is cheaper. Same downrange outcome...

If you're buying it because you thin it's cool, well... whatever. It's cool to send me $1000 for no reason, too!
 
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StoicMaverick

Regular Member
Joined
Nov 5, 2011
Messages
24
Location
Norfolk, Virginia
I knew there would be some haters out there about the calibre. My views of the current administration asside though, if its good enough for the secret service it must be doing something right. Thanks for the thoughts though.
 

SovereignAxe

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2011
Messages
791
Location
Elizabethton, TN
The ammo only has it's media-routsing effect when fired from the PS90. Out of the Five seveN handgun, it is roughly equivalent t the .22 magnum.

That's why Kel Tec invented this: http://www.keltecweapons.com/our-guns/pistols/pmr-30/

Gun is cheaper, ammo is cheaper. Same downrange outcome...

If you're buying it because you thin it's cool, well... whatever. It's cool to send me $1000 for no reason, too!

This fact piqued my interest, and from what data I can find, this is true if you double the length of the barrel for .22 Magnum.

Just gathering the numbers from wikipedia, .22 WMR manages 439 Joules from a 24" barrel. 5.7mm manages 534 Joules from a 10" barrel. All things being equal (and by things I mean barrels), 5.7mm is still going to have more than double the muzzle energy.

I knew there would be some haters out there about the calibre. My views of the current administration asside though, if its good enough for the secret service it must be doing something right. Thanks for the thoughts though.

No one is saying that the caliber isn't any good. Just that the properties that make it popular for LEO or military applications don't really carry over into the civilian world. Yes, it's powerful enough to take down someone, yes it'll penetrate BA with the right load, and yeah it's got light recoil. But when you bring the civilian round to civilian applications, the only advantage you're left with (besides maybe capacity, but there are some good sized 9mms that have about the same capacity) is the light recoil. And unless you're just really sensitive to recoil, I couldn't justify the price premium on that alone.

Now, if we're bringing coolness factor to the table, that's another story. The gun is pretty rare, and pretty cool looking (or unique), and that makes it a conversation piece. If that and the low recoil are worth the price premium, I say go for it.
 

Felid`Maximus

Activist Member
Joined
Nov 12, 2007
Messages
1,711
Location
Reno, Nevada, USA
I think it is terrible that we are restricted in the type of ammo that we can use. There is increasing use of body armor by criminals. If we were allowed to use the ammunition intended for the Five-seveN, then I think it would be a great self-defense gun. As it is, the main advantage the FiveseveN has is the flat trajectory. To me, a disadvantage is that the FiveseveN is going to generate a lot of noise, increasing the amount of hearing loss. Many 9mm handguns hold 20 rounds flush fit.
 

CO-Joe

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2009
Messages
184
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, ,
First thing you should ask yourself is: is 5.7mm available in the stores in your area, and if not, are you really willing to not only pay the price premium, but pay to have it shipped to you?

5.7mm to me is the answer to a question no one in the civilian world was asking. Kinda like the .338 Lapua round. Nobody has a need for either of these rounds, but they would be ohhhhh so sweet to have-if you can afford to shoot them.

Actually, 5.7 ammo can be had vastly cheaper online if you seek to buy it in case quantity, in which instance shipping cost is spread out substantially. It can be had at about the cost of .40 S&W practice ammo if you look around... But, keep in mind that the couple of loads which are available are also effectively your SD ammo of choice--premium 9mm, .40 and .45 defensive loads often cost about a buck a shot at retail price. Many retail shops are also stocking it, at that price premium.

I'd really like a Five Seven to play with, but the damn things are too expensive for my current handgun budget.

As for .338 Lapua, I kind of take issue.... Disclaimer, I own a .338 LM rifle, and roll my own ammo to keep it affordable. :) Lots of people want big boomers, and .338 LM has found a niche amongst long range practical shooters. Heck, both Remington and Weatherby (wanna talk expensive?) followed Lapua's lead and made comparable .338 super-magnum class rifles of their own--but about 10 years later... Though, as I've heard, neither has the inherit consistency with heavy bullets of the .338 LM.

As for 'need'...what? I might only need a pointy stick, but where's the fun in that :D
 

ixtow

Founder's Club Member
Joined
Nov 25, 2006
Messages
5,038
Location
Suwannee County, FL
I think it is terrible that we are restricted in the type of ammo that we can use. There is increasing use of body armor by criminals.

I'm only suggesting that you restrict ammo to what might actually help... No, I'm not even suggesting a restriction.

The armor penetrating ammo for the P90 is only armor penetrating when fired from the P90. If you can even get it... If you have that much money...

I'm suggesting that you not kid yourself about the hype... I'm not 'hating' on it; I just prefer Science and Math over being a fanboy....

You'd be better off with 357sig or 10mm. And you can buy 1 of each in Glock flavor and still have money left over.... Polymer frame and all... That is an apples to apples comparison if there ever was one. You can even get those 30rd mags for the G31....
 

CO-Joe

Regular Member
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Oct 14, 2009
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The armor penetrating ammo for the P90 is only armor penetrating when fired from the P90....

I'm suggesting that you not kid yourself about the hype... I'm not 'hating' on it; I just prefer Science and Math over being a fanboy....

The MV difference with the SS190 ammo out of the P90 vs the 5-7 is reported to be something on the order of 200fps, and they say it can penetrate a level 3 vest at 200m out of the P90. 2150fps for the pistol, and 2350 for the P90. I'd say it could certianly penetrate the same vest at 25m out of the pistol.

Anyway, it doesn't matter, because although it would be legal to fire the AP cartridge out of the carbine, it would be way illegal to fire it out of the handgun due to the steel core, even if you could find it and buy it.
 

SovereignAxe

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2011
Messages
791
Location
Elizabethton, TN
Actually, 5.7 ammo can be had vastly cheaper online if you seek to buy it in case quantity, in which instance shipping cost is spread out substantially. It can be had at about the cost of .40 S&W practice ammo if you look around... But, keep in mind that the couple of loads which are available are also effectively your SD ammo of choice--premium 9mm, .40 and .45 defensive loads often cost about a buck a shot at retail price. Many retail shops are also stocking it, at that price premium.

I'd really like a Five Seven to play with, but the damn things are too expensive for my current handgun budget.

As for .338 Lapua, I kind of take issue.... Disclaimer, I own a .338 LM rifle, and roll my own ammo to keep it affordable. :) Lots of people want big boomers, and .338 LM has found a niche amongst long range practical shooters. Heck, both Remington and Weatherby (wanna talk expensive?) followed Lapua's lead and made comparable .338 super-magnum class rifles of their own--but about 10 years later... Though, as I've heard, neither has the inherit consistency with heavy bullets of the .338 LM.

As for 'need'...what? I might only need a pointy stick, but where's the fun in that :D

I was not aware of the online deals. But like you said, those are your SD shots. Plinking for cheap with FMJ is not an option.

As for .338, I didn't mean to slight the round at all. It has its usefulness-extreme distance hunting. But here in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, you'd have to be in JUST the right geography to be able to see and safely shoot at anything farther away than a few hundred yards. The mountains and trees simply block your view of anything farther away. Same goes for rifle ranges. I've never seen one, even on private property, that goes for more than 300 yards before you either run into trees or someone else's property. So for us, anything more than .308 or .300 WSM is overkill.

For those of you lucky enough to have the geography to take advatange of .338's extreme range, or to travel to those places, I am extremely jealous. I am not, however, jealous of your ammo expense, which is why I'd happily take a .50 BMG rifle if I were so lucky.
 

CO-Joe

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Oct 14, 2009
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I was not aware of the online deals. But like you said, those are your SD shots. Plinking for cheap with FMJ is not an option.

As for .338, I didn't mean to slight the round at all. It has its usefulness-extreme distance hunting. But here in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, you'd have to be in JUST the right geography to be able to see and safely shoot at anything farther away than a few hundred yards. The mountains and trees simply block your view of anything farther away. Same goes for rifle ranges. I've never seen one, even on private property, that goes for more than 300 yards before you either run into trees or someone else's property. So for us, anything more than .308 or .300 WSM is overkill.

For those of you lucky enough to have the geography to take advatange of .338's extreme range, or to travel to those places, I am extremely jealous. I am not, however, jealous of your ammo expense, which is why I'd happily take a .50 BMG rifle if I were so lucky.

I was just yankin your crank a bit :D... But yeah, even here there's only a few member-supported ranges in my area which have out to 1000 yards, and while it requires some marksmanship, honestly, it's barely stretching its legs at that distance. I have to go to BLM land out in the desert to go further.

Anyway, my .338 LM match grade load only costs about $0.80/shot if you don't count brass, without buying in quantity. If I only loaded virgin brass, it would be about $3.50/shot. Most factory .300 Win Mag loads are $30/20, or about $1.50/round, and a lot of people don't seem to worry about burning those up--so I don't think it's too bad in the grand scheme of things.
 

carsontech

Activist Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2011
Messages
529
Location
Anderson, SC
I would carry the shizznit out of a five-seven. I would even carry the shizznit out the Keltec PMR-30. Yes, I would carry the PMR-30, regardless of all the crap that's spewed about .22 mag in a pistol.

Like I said, I would carry the Five-Seven... if I had the money. I am really probably going to get a PMR-30 early next year, if I can find one. I would rock it for SD purposes, but not all the time. I'm still partial to the mainstream SD calibers, but I think .22 mag can get the job done, especially because of the low recoil helping out with better shot placement...




atffyea.jpg
 
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carsontech

Activist Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2011
Messages
529
Location
Anderson, SC
I guess if I already owned a G31, and a G20, I would... but I can't see it being high on the list of priorities... There are dozens of other guns that make more sense and cost less.

Truff. To calrify, I guess I should have said, "If I was a rich B$&ch, and I had all the other guns on my wishlist..." That was my original thought. I just fail at transposing my thoughts and ideas to "writing".
 
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