FN's Five-seveNŽ Pistol

[ms]

 

   

 

FN's Five-seveNŽ Pistol
The First of a New Generation
In 1935, the FN-made Browning Hi Power was revolutionary. The market quickly adopted this high-capacity 9mm pistol accordingly, and it has since been fielded by over 100 countries.
FN's newest contribution the handgun's evolution is named the Five-seveNŽ. This 20-round pistol fires a 5.7mm bullet that will defeat most body armor in military service around the world today. Essentially, the Five-seveNŽ represents a quantum leap forward in the handgun's suitablity for close engagements by delivering the type of performance that was previously confined to rifles or carbines. Elements of this performance include:

 High magazine capacity: The Five-seveNŽ comes standard with 20-round magazine.

High stopping power: The Five-seveNŽ fires the 5.7x28mm SS190 Ball round which reliably penetrates Kevlar helmets and vests as well as CRISAT protection.

High hit probability: The Five-seveN'sŽ extremely low recoil impulse results in virtually no muzzle climb, thereby facilitating fast and controllable follow-up shots.

Yet, the Five-seveNŽ is:

Light and ergonomic: Weighing 30% less than most 9mm pistols, the smoothly-contoured Five-seveNŽ is comfortable to carry and quick to deploy.

Fully safe: Due to its double-action firing mechanism, the Five-seveNŽ offers no inherent risk of accidental discharge during transportation. Furthermore, all of its safety devices are automatically reengaged following each firing cycle.

The Five-seveNŽ fires the SS190 5.7x28mm ball round. This projectile will perforate any individual protection on today's battlefield including the PASGT kevlar helmet, 48 layers of kevlar body armor and the CRISAT target (titanium and kevlar). The SS190's conventional design allows it to be manufactured on existing production lines, and its lead-free composition eliminates range contamination.
 


Five-seveNŽ Technical Specifications

Caliber 5.7x28mm
Operating principle Delayed blowback
Trigger mechanism Double action only
Magazine capacity 20 rounds
Overall length 208mm (8.2 in)
Barrel length 122.5mm (4.82 in)
Weight, unloaded 618g (1.36 lb)
Weight, loaded 744g (1.64 lb)


 
 

[Old Griz]

My understanding is that the AP ammo is only available to law enforcement and military. There are two civilian rounds with Hornady V-Max HP bullets.

[williamlayton]

I own one and I like to shoot it.
Ammunition is not hard to come by but the ball IS nad if you can get it, it is not legal--like it is illegal to get shot with it or sumthin  .
I can find many uses for the weapon but there ARE better choices for urban self protection.
Blessings 

[Savage]

I think it would be fun to play with, but can't think of any pratical application for one.

Savage

[rockbilly]

I played with one that a friend brought to the range a while back.  It was a good shooter, and fun to shoot, but like Savage said, I can't think of any practical application for it.  There are too many more effective calibers in smaller guns to even consider it as a concealed carry weapon, it wouldn't be practical for hunting, and as I understand, ammo is on the costly side.

I wouldn't mind putting one in the safe to play with, but I can't justify the cost for a toy.

[williamlayton]

I did not explain my thoughts completely.
The weapon has much too flat of a trajectory and far too much range to be considered in an urban enviroment.
Now in the open spaces and, for some uses, the weapon does carry some amount of excitment.
There is no doubt of penetration ability, with the right ammo, too distances that most/many handguns are incapable of, with accuracy that cannot be expected of them.
Now, I am not advocating a pistola over a rifle but, at say a 100 yds and need to shoot---well, this little thing could be the answer, with the right ammo. the ammo available to the average Joe is good enough, butttt, it does not carry the penetration of the ball.
Blessings

[PaulS]

There is no question about the ammunition used in the Five-seveN is a remarkable developement.
It was designed for urban police work because it is so good at defeating soft body armor.
The bullet it uses was design to be unstable to prevent over-penetration in soft tissue.
It all seems to be a great combination.
There is some discussion on how well it works after penetrating armor.
Lets look at this 22 caliber(ok I rounded it off). Take a 22 with a muzzle velocity of 1970 fps from a pistol and a full metal jacket bullet that is unstable enough to tumble in soft tissue. This sounds remarkably like a military research project that was done by Dr. Fackler more than a few years ago. He demonstrated that a 220 grain bullet fired from a 3006 would tumble when impacting soft tissue. There were experiments done on dead pigs and live pigs. More were done in ballistics gellatin and in water. The results all said he was right - but can you imagine carrying all that lead around while trying to just stay alive? So they tried with the 223 but the bullet was too stable. It was just a matter of time before someone developed the right form for the bullet and coupled it with the right twist to make it work.
I take nothing away from the round or the two weapons developed with / for it. For use as a military round it is a good round. It may even have some use as a personal defense weapon but it probably will never be a good target ammunition or a good hunting round. It is the first military ammunition that may have no future outside the military field. To make it a hunting round you would have to take away all that makes it unique among all the other 22's. Hunting arms must use an expanding bullet. without that bullet it is just anothe 220 Swift.