Anyone know about this cartridge???

peterjc

New member
I thought I knew pretty much about guns and ammo but I never heard of this one. A buddy gave me a single cartridge last night he said somebody else gave him. He didn't know what it was and with our old eyes we could not read the head stamp. That is the smallest head stamp I think I ever saw. Anyway when I got home and used a magnifier on it...it is a 5.7 x 28 FN cartridge made in Belgium. I researched it and below is a link you can read all about it. That (jerk) I have stronger words for him but can't use them here...Nidal Hasan used this cartridge at the Fort Hood murders last year. He had a FN Five-Seven pistol. If you look that up it normally comes with a 20 rd. mag. and can take an aftermarket 30 rd. and with one in the chamber the pistol will hold 31 cartridges.
Anyway....not counting all that bad stuff, I got to thinking that would be a cool fox caliber. It almost reaches 22 Hornet ballistics so it would even be more fur friendly than that.
Here are couple pics I just took side by side with my reloads of .223 and 22-250.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5.7x28mm
IMG_0475.jpg

IMG_0473.jpg

IMG_0474.jpg

 
Last edited:
They talk about it in an issue of handgunner magazine.. july/aug 2010 issue.

Its chambered in the Five-seveN pistol and a PS90 carbine.

Apparently it will drive a 40 grain bullet at 1,850 FPS which isnt bad for a handgun.

The PS90 carbine will push the 40 grain pill at the 2,100 fps mark.

At 100 yards with the carbine 1.75- 2" groups
At 25 yards with the handgun gruops were about 3inches
 
You can get an AR-15 upper in it that uses the same horizontal magazine as the FN carbine.

That would be a neat small game piece.

 
Last edited:
I have shot a pistol in the caliber about 3 years ago and thought it was a neat little cartrige but heard they are kind of pricey to shoot and from what I have read(no personal history) they are a little tricky to reload.
 
Midway Arms has the ammo on sale for $20.06 per 50, but doesn't carry the bullets for reloading...

I couldn't even find the bullets in Hornady's website...

I know a couple of guys that carry the pistols, but rarely shoot them due to the cost, and they are FFL FN dealers that can get the ammo a little cheaper..... I've never met anyone that reloads for them...

About once a year, FN will sponsor a shoot at CMMG and break out both the handguns and PS-90s for 'play time'... It's an interesting round but very few sales of them...
 
I have a friend that had a bolt action rifle chambered into 5.7x28. He wasn't impressed with the final result. He said it was a little more than a 22 magnum. I thought it sounded pretty cool.
 
Yes, it shoots a .224 dia. bullet so you could use any of the ones you load for the 22 calibers. Since the case is so small capacity I would use something like the 32 gr. Bergers or something under 40 gr. After handling this one cartridge I have, I don't know if I would want to reload for it. It is smaller than the hornet and they are tough to handle with big hands like I have. I still think it is a cute little cartridge, and I don't use the word cute that often in gun talk.

EDIT. I just held it up to a .25 Auto cartridge looking at the head stamp and they are exactly the same size so if you have a .25 auto case you'll know how small this thing is. I'm just talking about the back of the cartridge not the whole length or anything.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Smokin250cartrige is used in FN handguns if i am correct. Known as a cop killer because it goes threw a vest i believe

Thats the same story I heard.. This cartridge was designed to defeat body armor.. I believe I saw an automatic assault weapon in that caliber being tested somewhere on the web quite a while back..

21790d1235198047-guns-800px-five-seven_usg.jpg
 
Originally Posted By: Smokin250cartrige is used in FN handguns if i am correct. Known as a cop killer because it goes threw a vest i believe

C'mon now folks...we shouldn't play into the same misinformation that the anti gun people use. The 5.7 CAN punch through armor if a special armor piercing round is used. But this ammo is restricted to LEOs and military use only. Joe regular can't buy it so this whole "cop killer" idea is just more negative spin.
 
Anything can penetrate armor with the right bullet. Also there are about 5 or more different levels of armor.

Penetrating armor is a pointless discussion unless all the details are there.

Jack
 
Last edited:
It is the FMJ rounds that will go threw the BA and that is why you can not find and FMJ for them! But agreed neat little round but way to much for my pocket! And sorry but if I plan on spend a ton of money on rounds and wanna punch BA with it I will go for a .50BMG!
 
A friend of mine has an FN 57 pistol, dropped a bunch of money for it (about $1000.00). Goes though bullets very quickly, I might add.
The idea was to get a high rate of fire with all the energy of the bullet being expended in the target. The bullet has the tenancy to yaw after entry, thus causing a curved wound channel and not exiting. Some SWAT teams are using them for clearing houses and buildings.
The pistol has very little recoil and it does get a lot of lead on target very quickly.
No reloading dies available for it as of yet, cost of rounds is about a buck a piece.

 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: sarco001
No reloading dies available for it as of yet, cost of rounds is about a buck a piece.


Hornady 546203 Series II Die Set - 5.7X28 FN
RCBS 11701 Full Length Die Set for 5.7X28 Fabrique Nationale
Lee Custom FN 5.7x28 FL 2 die Set

Midway has 50rd boxes of ammo for $20
 
Originally Posted By: dmpowderIt is the FMJ rounds that will go threw the BA and that is why you can not find and FMJ for them!

While technically correct I feel like I must add a slight caveat. The SS190 is the standard FMJ ammo for the 5.7, but it has a steel penetrator tip and an aluminum core, so it is hardly your standard FMJ round.
 
I was just reading about the shooting at Fort Hood by Major Hasan, and he expended 214 rounds of this cartridge from his FN Five -Seven.....thats 7 30 round mags and a few more shots. I think they said he had another 117 rounds still on him, plus a 357 mag. which they say he didn't even fire.
 
Back
Top