FN Five-Seven pistol: Long Range Firepower, Part 1

PART 1 of 4:
Nutnfancy's table-top review of this excellent FN sidearm. All indicators point to the innovative FN Five-Seven pistol being an outstanding design. It's the companion pistol to the FN PS/P90 carbine and serves many of its special purpose functions. While more of a rifle caliber than a pistol one, it's advantageous to compare the design against a known and respected standard. Against the Glock 17, the 5-7 stacks up very well indeed. Essentially it has the same incredible light weight, equal firepower, good trigger, good sights (adjustable too!), ruggedness, simplicity, reliability, accuracy, ergonomics, and it's quality-built. But it uses the proprietary FN 5.7x28mm round which brings both good and bad news. The good is it provides laser-like trajectories out to 100 yards, Kevlar penetrating capabilities, amazing velocities (1700 fps for commercial loads), less recoil, and higher magazine capacities due to its small size. The bad news is the ammo is hard to find, it's expensive (compared to pistol ammo), current brass doesn't reload well, and few other guns besides FNs use it. While I don't have trigger time behind either of them at this point, my anecdotal study shows the 5.7x28mm to be a decent manstopper (surprisingly). But other downsides of the 57 is its high cost, wide grip, and limited accessories available at this time. It all others ways I think the design is a hit and would serve well as both a special purpose and all-around full sized defensive (or offensive) handgun. But honestly the jury is still in many ways on both the round and this design. It will have to be proven over time, like the Glock, preferably by adoption by LE and military units for it to gain world acceptance and respect. And for this design to survive, the 5.7x28mm load will have to become more common and popular with other manufacturers chambering for it as well. Sadly, I feel that without that type of support the round is doomed to a marketing failure. Nutnfancy Likeability Scale: 7 out of 10

*** Big thanks goes to ImpactGuns.com for hosting this review. Thanks guys.