Ruger 5.7
Bought a Ruger 5.7 the other day, nice gun, nice round -- of course not available in California.
~ Aristotle Sabouni
Created: 2022-02-28 |
NATO decided (in the late 80s) that they wanted a cartridge that had greater range, accuracy, and terminal performance than the 9×19mm cartridge. What they got could do all that, plus penetrate body armor, was lighter (could carry more), held more capacity in the same size magazine, and had less recoil (so was easier to shoot/control). Oh, and it worked for light rifles too. Since it outperformed the 9x19 in every way they asked, they ignored it and stuck with the old round instead, screwing FN -- who took it to a few police forces and civilian market.
The round has a little bit of a following... but never took off, since it was mostly available in 2 guns: both were expensive.
Recently, more makers have jumped on board -- and there are actually a 1/2 dozen different guns that are chambered in it. And a lot of people love the round for its ballistics.
| 🗒️ Note: |
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| Naturally, California douchebags make it hard enough to get guns approved, and do things to block as many guns as they can. They want to violate the 2A as much as possible, without getting called on it. So you can't get these guns in California, unless you buy them 2nd hand from a police officer, or some other tricks. E.g. they're off roster. There's no real benefit, as being a full size pistol with expensive ammo, is not going to be what criminals prefer. So as usual, all California does is annoy the law abiding gun owners, and do nothing to stop criminal behavior: but do a lot to encourage it. Glad I'm out and in Free America. |
Ballistics[edit | edit source]
- 9x19mm (Parabellum) is an inexpensive (very common) round that is used by police forces and the military.
- There are lots of cartridges chambers in 9mm or 38, but when someone says, "9mm" they usually mean this one.
- Specs are basically 1200 fps, 115 grain (weight), w/350 ft lbs of energy -- so it's a mid-size, light-powered pistol cartridge.
- 5.7x28mm is basically a redesigned 22 Hornet, in a more pistol-friendly package.
- The .22 caliber family has the most variants of all the cartridge sizes, there are dozens.
- The 5.7 is on the weaker side of the .22 hunting rifle spectrum -- fast but light.
- Specs vary widely, but figure 2x as fast (2400 fps+), 24-40 grain (weight), w/400 ft. lbs of energy, so it outperforms the 9mm in many ways
There's a ton of variants of each round, depending on how you load it, and what you're using it for. But basically, the important things is that a bullet that travels twice as fast, shoots flatter (it doesn't drop as much, or as affected by wind/etc), so it's easier to hit a target at >40'. And thats' where this round shines. If you want to shoot at someone 25-100 yards this round will completely outperform a 9mm.
As for damage, it's mixed. Being lighter but faster, it doesn't penetrate as far in flesh -- but being smaller and faster, it goes through armor MUCH better. It also has a tendency to turn sideways, and higher speeds cause more "hydrostatic shock" (basically slap a waterbed: and the ripples outwards do damage. Faster bullets/ripples do more damage). So it is probably comparable or exceeds 9mm in real world, depending on range and round type.
Usefulness[edit | edit source]
The ballistics are specsmanship -- what mattered to me is more practical.
Advantages
- In the same size gun, I could carry more ammo (since the back of the bullet is smaller diameter) -- 20+1 instead of 18+1
- It shoots much flatter and more accurate at range. I was shooting it much further out, and much happier with the results
- The recoil is less -- so there's no (less) muzzle climb. Follow-up shots are quicker, and it's easier to control -- and it's not as intimidating or as hard to shoot. (The greater the recoil and louder, the more people flinch and don't shoot as well. I like the easy mode). j
Disadvantages
- Each round costs more: 2-3x as much because it isn't as common (commoditized) and harder to get ahold of. That means you don't practice as much.
- Because it is a long round, the grip is long and flat (like a 1911 single stack). My hand first it, and I'm used to shooting that style -- but it's not for everyone, especially those with small hands.
- Because of the longer round, it's hard to reach some controls (Magazine drop) without modifying what you do. It's a tradeoff I'll make, but not everyone wants to. A single stack 9mm for those with small hands may be a much more comfortable weapon for them.
- Difficult to reload (having to do with fine tolerance, friction reducing coatings, and easy to overpower a bullet), not easy to reload -- so most don't.
Additions[edit | edit source]
- I put on a magazine extension (25+1), Optic, and a custom "Victory" trigger from TandemKross [1]
- The factory trigger is mushy, and the after market was a HUGE upgrade,
- Note: this is the most painful trigger install I've every had. Not THAT hard, just a lot of steps, and the Ruger is designed to be put back together by people with 3 or 4 hands.
- Then I got to removing a pin from the trigger, and it wouldn't come out, and TandemKross's directions were not helpful -- a little pin I could only get to from the end just wouldn't budge. I tried magnets, dental picks, hammering, even shouting obsenities at it had no effect. Finally, after emailing TandemKross, they were helpful and told me that I could remove the roll pin in the trigger hinge, and get to the other pin from the other side. That worked -- but it took some serious slamming with a punch before the pin came out.
- I seriously recommend the upgrade, and for some, I'm sure it's a lot easier. But just know it's a bit more steps than a Glock/1911/AR-15 trigger replacement.
Conclusion[edit | edit source]
Because it’s smaller, and you can carry more ammo, and it’s still plenty functional for anti-human, it’s a theoretically better round that 9mm or .223 (at least urban). But it’s unlikely to ever take over for it because of chicken and egg -- it's not popular so it's not cheap. And because it's not cheap, it's not popular. And since it's not cheap, you practice less with it, which means it's less cheap (and less varieties). And so on. So the round never got popular enough to get cheap, and it never got cheap enough to get popular.
Strengths:[edit | edit source]
- I love 5.7 as a full-sized sidearm round. Light, flat shooting, fast, anti-body armor, easy to control, it was glorious to shoot. It's a weak rifle round in a pistol, and that makes a great pistol round. You can use it for 0-100 yards, which is far more than a traditional pistol. And in a small package you're carring 50+ rounds with you, with a single spare mag. As a bug-out bag, backpack gun, truck gun, open carry sidearm, it's wonderful.
- It's a brilliant middle of the road swiss army knife round. (Compromises on everything, but gets you something that's pretty good at a lot of things). Anyone that's used a Swiss army knife, knows that there's better tools for each function/tool the Swiss Army Knife has -- but if you only had one tool, the Swiss army knife is a great versatile multi-tool.
Weaknesses:[edit | edit source]
- Because the round is too long, and too powerful, it needs a longer barrel to stabilize (and get speed), which means it doesn't translate to short and concealable pistols well.
- It's also a long bullet, so long grip. Not unmanageable for me (normal hands), but some with dainty handed folks, it's a shape that takes getting used to. I can't eject the mag, without rotating the gun in my hand (or using the other hand).
- As a rifle/hunting round? There’s way too many better options depending on whether you want to go less expensive and most have way more velocity for hitting things at range.
- As a pistol round? A 45ACP, 10MM, and certainly the hand-cannon .357, .44 or 50AE have a lot more pow. But you're not carry 25 rounds in the gun with those either, and they usually require a lot more iron to be controllable.
- As a PDW/PCC (Short Rifle / Carbine style)? It’s more expensive and less powerful than the .223. So convenient to be shooting the same round in both in your sidearm/PDW — so there are cheaper options until 5.7 becomes 10x more popular (and 50% cheaper) than it is today.
So the modern 22 hornet is a good idea. But not good enough to displace the popularity of what’s out there for most roles. But it's versatile, light, high capacity, and the right compromises as an in-between everything round. If I need a holstered sidearm or bug-out gun that I could hunt small game with? Love it. For Conceal and Carry? What can I say? I just can't keister a gun that big.
🔗 More
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🔗 Links
- https://fnamerica.com/
- https://www.ruger.com/products/ruger57/models.html
- Wikipedia:FN_5.7×28mm
- Wikipedia:9×19mm Parabellum
Tags: Guns California Intolerance
