FN 57 for self defense?

D

Deja vu

New member
so the wife and I went to a local indoor range and there was a FN57 to rent. Long story short the wife loves it. Is the 57X28 round good enough for self defense (she currently carries a 380)? I feel almost like its a fun round but more for pinking.

She would likely still use the 380 for deep carry but use the 57 when wearing clothing that would allow a larger gun.
Your thoughts?
 
It'll do the job, especially since she'll probably be able to put the entire mag into the BG...
recoil is not one of its issues ;)

Teach her the Mozambique Drill...two to the chest, one to the head, in quick succession.
Should solve any nagging "He Ain't Down Yet" issues...
 
There will always be a lively debate over big bullets at modest velocity, versus small bullets at high velocity. The 5.7 is the extreme expression of the latter school of thought. It has worked quite well in the limited number of shootings it has been involved in, including an embassy rescue in...I think it was Argentina, this in submachine guns.

As a civilian SD cartridge I actually think it probably has as much or even slightly better stopping power than the standard 9/40/45. It's light recoil and the high capacity of the Five-Seven are great, and were it not for the high price I think we would see a lot more of them in police and civilian holsters.
 
A very well made and reliable gun with bullet having characteristics tailor made for civilian self defense. No reason not to trust either pistol or ammo.
 
first of all there is no such thing as "stopping power".

Second, the 5.7mm FN cartridge has energy levels similar to the typical 9mm, 40sw, and 45acp, however that's where the similarities end.

The 5.7mm FN has a terrible length to width ratio in addition to it's unfavorable sectional density of around 0.09 for a SS195 31gr bullet.

Basically, this means if anything causes the bullet to yaw too early (ie: striking an obstacle in its path to the target), the bullet will not be able to penetrate sufficiently. At least not to FBI standards.

If you must carry a FiveSeven Pistol, the SS197 40gr round seems to perform the best.
 
The most important aspect of any carry gun is your proficiency with it. And a very large part of establishing and maintaining proficiency with a carry gun is shooting it often. Unfortunately, 5.7mm ammo is a little bit higher priced than most other service calibers, making practice more expensive. So if your budget dictates how much ammo you have for practice, 5.7mm may not be the best choice.
 
Evil Monkey,
Then I guess the .32acp should be adequate for your purposes.:D

Seriously though, nothing has changed except the currently in vogue terminology. "Stopping Power" while technically misleading WAS the term. Now they praddle on about "energy transfer" and "tissue disruption" and what have you.

In the 90's all the hot new snot nosed kid instructors had to make sure they embarrassed frequently far more knowledgable people for saying "clip" instead of "magazines", even though that WAS the term for a sheet metal clip AND a box magazine since WWII.

Fine, I retract my comment about "Stopping Power". In it's place I will use the term "damage your guts".

It is my belief that the 5.7x28 will "damage your guts" about as much as a 9/40/45, and possibly a bit more, while providing less recoil, and more chances to hit the target.

There Argue Monkey, does that make you feel better?
 
5.7 is extremely loud, especially when fired in close quarters. if you want to use it to save your life, be sure you're willing to risk the hearing loss that may come along with it.
 
I retract my comment about "Stopping Power". In it's place I will use the term "damage your guts".
Click to expand...

There Argue Monkey, does that make you feel better?
Click to expand...

Not quite. :D

See these major blood vessels? If you're not hitting these, you are not rapidly incapacitating anybody, unless they choose to give up the fight or get shot in the head/neck. Got nothing to do with guts, liver, kidneys, smaller capillaries, etc, none of those regions are as efficient as striking the big vessels.
h9991261_001_1.jpg
 
In the tests I've seen, 5.7 deals more damage to ballistics gelatin than the 9/40/45 service rounds. It really is a great combat pistol round. Yes, it's loud, but so are the others.
 
Those would all be on the INSIDE of the human body, ergo they are "guts". Thanks for playing.


Deja vu,
Your wife will love it. Bad guys will hate it. Nobody wants to get shot, regardless of caliber, but this one seems to be doing the job well.
 
Deja vu, the 5.7x28mm is relatively new, fairly exclusive, and does its job in a different way than some other popular choices. So there will be no shortage of naysayers. If your wife likes it and will reliably carry such a large pistol, then go for it! Concealment considerations aside, I'd trust it over a .380 any day of the week. Heck, I might even choose it over 9mm.

The only reason I don't own one is the price tag. Whenever the tide gets that high in our gun fund, rifles or revolvers usually wash up on the shore... :rolleyes:
 
While there is no definitive description nor quantitative measure of "stopping power", the fact that the military is requiring a minimum cal. .40 -.45 for the new service pistol rather than a .22 or .380 due to the inadequacy of terminating threats of aggression is indicative that "more is better". The army simply has more opportunity to demonstrate this concept and is thus telling. Which is why I prefer to carry a major caliber.
 
True MDVickery, but the military often is limited to non-expanding ammo where civilians have the option.
If limited to hardball, and not really worried about concealment, a .45 would probably be the first thing I looked at.
 
Would you two give it a rest, go PM each other if you want to contuine.

Back to the OP's question, I do know a number of people who like and carry the 5.7 pistol. They love the weight and lack of recoil and with 20 rounds on tap there is no shortage of ammo to send down range if needed. I myself would love to get one but I just cant spend that much money on one right now. That and ammo is a little steep for me, I would want to shoot it to often and would be broke.
 
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