5.7 FN for carry?

[shaman]

I've been trying to think outside of the box for my next carry gun.
We have lots of gang stuff around here and a lot of those guys wear vests.
I've been considering the 5.7 as a carry weapon.

What do you folks think?

[steve2267]

To be blunt, I think it is a lousy choice. The terminal effects of the 5.7 cartridge leaves a LOT to be desired. If you are truly worried about armor, I suggest tactics rather than a magic bullet (out of a handgun anyway) to be the better route to solving any potential problem.

Learn and practice the zipper, head shots, multiple low belly shots then a headshot. Actually... the zipper, started below the belly button is probably the best one-size-fits-all technique (if there is one)... if you have the round count for it. Of course, doubles or triples to the chest followed up by headshots would probably also work. Only unless your adversary is armored up like the guys in the North Hollywood shootout will your rounds likely have no effect -- getting hit in a vest still hurts. Hitting someone 2-3 times rapidly will possibly give you the opening to then target the head.

Lastly, as to caliber, I'd look at 9mm or .357SIG. 9mm in high capacity gives you plenty of rounds for zippering multiples. .357SIG may offer better SBA performance, but you may have slower shot-to-shot times.

Quick access to a decent long gun wouldn't hurt either.

[Brownie]

shaman,

The FN 5.7 pistol ammo thats available to the public is not armor piercing capable. The original intent and design parameters of the pistol/cartridge combo were to defeat commonly seen body armor in a military scenario on the battlefields.

With the original ammo, it was capable of penetrating armored vests, but that ammo is currently verboten on the US market and not available due to BATF regulations/restrictions placed on it's further importation.

Mils and LE's can still purchase that original loading, but I'd not want to get caught with the restricted ammo even if I could obtain it somehow. I've got one [ bought it used ], haven't shot it, and probably won't shoot it in the near future.

I think in it's present ammo restrictions, it's a neat piece of engineering and the cartridge is still capable of blowing up small critters of all kinds, not to mention the fun factor [ a pricey fun factor that includes some pricey ammo to go with it :eek: ].

For your stated intentions of purchasing one, I think Steve pretty much covered using this one for SD, at least out of a pistol [ the PS90's another story though ]:D

[shaman]

Well, right now I'm carrying a 357 magnum sixgun loaded and practiced with full house magnum loads.

I agree that the whole issue should be about skill, but I'm just in the phase of thinking about the tool for the job right now since I'm about to go out and buy some new hardware.

9mm or 357 sig would both be adequate if the proper tactics were used. The FN is a neat weapon. If it weren't for the ammo issue, it might be the right tool for the job.
But, yeah, the available civvie rounds are really not great. And, defeating the vest is only a part of the job.

[David Williams]

No matter what else I think is wrong with the weapon, the ammo is still cost-prohibitive.

[Dave James]

I have joined both forums dedicated to this and the FN venues,and have done allot of research on the 5.7, due to a hand injury which causes problems for me with recoil.

All I can say for now is its a large weapon that carries a lot of bullets,and just from what I can find and see it will take damn near all of them to stop a dedicated threat.

Which seems to be what the boys whom love them spout off about.

I'm not willing right now to go that route, I just can't get my head around the need to use 10-20 rounds to stop some one let alone the legal after math it may cause

[JMusic]

I'm staying with traditional calibers. If that don't work try hitting them with your car!:D


Jim

[DocH]

Me too. It's a specialized weapon and I'm sure it has it's place and uses but I'll stick with RA9T and RA45T for soft targets.

[Brownie]

DJ,

The gun has no real SD purposes now that the original design parameters are not met with the armor piercing ammo the gun was designed to use initially with the think tank people at FN

I look forward to the day they get banned for what the libs think they are and go up 300% ;)

[shaman]

If that don't work try hitting them with your car!

LOL!

Once the secondaries on the holley open up, they know you're serious.

Yeah, I'll just stick with traditional calibers. Maybe a 9mm. Never had one of those.

[Robert Desrosiers]

Nothing much more to add seeing that this ground is pretty much covered. But I would recommend against rounds like the .357 sig or anything too much out of the mainstream. That is unless you just like collecting.

If you plan on putting any significant time in with a particular weapon system, make sure that the ammunition that is required is not too cost prohibitive. I've known too many a folk who had gone out and purchased a weapon chambered for the latest and greatest vunder-bullet(think .45gap) only to find out later that training with said round was so cost prohibitive to make training with it wholly unrealistic.


Nothing wrong with 9mm. It, like .45 or .40 are sound choices.

[guerrilla.inc]

You can buy a cz52 and 900 rounds of surplus ammo for under three hundred bucks and it will penetrate walls, buicks and kevlar army helmets as shown on theboxoftruth.com. give it a nine hundred round trigger job and stick it in your pants. it is a thin gun with a five inch barrel so it doesn't print as badly as most full size pistols. you will have a pistol that will have the penetration you are looking for, you will have saved a lot of money , and you will have the trigger time to become confident in you and your weapon.
plus its a lot of fun!

[Brownie]

Welcome to the forum guerrilla.