Gun Talk

[busdriver]

5.7 is a stupid cartridge.  The PR57 is stupid like a fox though.

[Lord Ratner]

14 minutes ago, busdriver said:

5.7 is a stupid cartridge.  The PR57 is stupid like a fox though.

Yeah I'm breaking my rule about new calibers, because this is such an intriguing gun. It's a pure CCW gun, no other purpose, so 5.7 makes sense if you want to cram the maximum number of rounds in it. And once you're proficient with it, you only need to keep a single box of carry ammo for it, and you can just buy a box at the range when you pop in to stay current. 

I dunno, it might suck, but it might also be genius. I'll let y'all know when I get it.

 

If it was $800-1k I'd laugh and move on. But at $400, if I don't like it I'll sell it for $200 and call it a day, or just keep it in the safe to confuse people 🤣. 

[M2]

20+1 rounds in a top-loading auto pistol is intriguing, and at that price point it well may be worth trying; but I have never been a fan of the 5.7x28mm round. 

Sure, it will penetrate soft body armor than most handgun rounds; but what really are the odds of that being a factor in a self-defense situation?   Plus, my house pistols are only to get me to my Mossberg 500!

It can get decent penetration and expansion if you use ammo such as the Federal Personal Defense 40g JHP; but there are much better self-defense calibers out there which are easier and cheaper to find.  

As LR stated, it does have velocity, recoil and capacity in its favor; but the potential drawbacks such as over-penetration and cost would never replace the .45 or 9mm in my opinion.   

But at four hundred bucks (MSRP), it certainly is interesting enough to try if I ever see one available. 

My safes are full of firearms I bought just for the opportunity to shoot them!   

I am glad a buddy had a S&W Model 500 that he let me shoot, it saved me a lot of money realizing that particular revolver just wasn't for me!   There's not a huge moose threat here in southcentral Texas!

[Smokin]

I get the California thing (screw them) and I'm all for companies figuring out ways to expose California gun control laws for the absurdity that they are.  I also like that they are actually innovative rather than just trying to improve the same basic product that they've had on the market for 20 years.

But I don't and won't live in the Peoples Republic of California, so I don't really see the advantages of this outside that commune.

[AirGuardianC141747]

5.7 originally designed to meet NATO specs as we know to include the body armor parameters. Makes sense when those caught behind enemy lines could have a better chance of slowing down/keeping the heads down of the advancing party with AKs perhaps while their air chariot egg beater arrived. It was a decent theory and a good choice, but as said before there are so many choices of home defense, etc rounds it’s mind boggling.

*If you have access to the premier rounds to defeat body armor than it is undeniably a game changer if required. Extremely accurate, light weight, high round count, extended range and velocity have their merits and many have mentioned situation dependent. Fun is up there as well.

 

[Lord Ratner]

4 minutes ago, AirGuardianC141747 said:

5.7 originally designed to meet NATO specs as we know to include the body armor parameters. Makes sense when those caught behind enemy lines could have a better chance of slowing down/keeping the heads down of the advancing party with AKs perhaps while their air chariot egg beater arrived. It was a decent theory and a good choice, but as said before there are so many choices of home defense, etc rounds it’s mind boggling.

*If you have access to the premier rounds to defeat body armor than it is undeniably a game changer if required. Extremely accurate, light weight, high round count, extended range and velocity have their merits and many have mentioned situation dependent. Fun is up there as well.

 

The obvious counterpoint is that the average self-defense posture doesn't include planning for body armor. And 5.7 doesn't have great ballistics. It doesn't have bad ballistics, but for the higher price you probably want better performance.

 

Against armor it's the only option for compact concealability. But I'm not sure how much I care. Personally, one of the reasons I carry is because I have kids, and the places that kids congregate have become (rare, admittedly) targets for the social-reject-mass-shooters. That's probably the most likely bad guy to have body armor in a self-defense situation... short of a Heat-style bank robbery, and I ain't getting involved in that 🤣😂.

 

If one can consider the ballistics of 5.7 "good enough" for CCW purposes (verdict pending), and we don't care about body armor, then we still have the issue of capacity. 21 rounds is a *lot* of lead to throw at a problem, and like I said, I don't carry spare magazines, and neither do most others. Going from 13 to 21 for a sub compact (and 13 rounds is a recent development thanks to the P365X) is a huge upgrade. And the ammo cost is mostly irrelevant since this isn't a gun to take to the range for a full day of shooting. 1k-2k rounds to get comfortable, then 100 rounds every few months to stay proficient. Some high-dollar personal defence ammo for when you are carrying, but that's (hopefully) a one-time charge.

So I'm gonna get it and see. I've got to do more research on the ballistics. I might just buy a pork butt and see for myself. I know the round will zip through bone, but will it just zip through the bad guy entirely? Not ideal. 

Then it has to feel and carry like the P365x which I absolutely love. With KelTec, who knows?

 

Also it's fucking hideous, but I feel it can get away with that for being truly unique. Besides, M2 proves every day that you can be hideous *and* useful. 🤣🖕😚

[DirkDiggler]

3 hours ago, AirGuardianC141747 said:

5.7 originally designed to meet NATO specs as we know to include the body armor parameters. Makes sense when those caught behind enemy lines could have a better chance of slowing down/keeping the heads down of the advancing party with AKs perhaps while their air chariot egg beater arrived. It was a decent theory and a good choice, but as said before there are so many choices of home defense, etc rounds it’s mind boggling.

*If you have access to the premier rounds to defeat body armor than it is undeniably a game changer if required. Extremely accurate, light weight, high round count, extended range and velocity have their merits and many have mentioned situation dependent. Fun is up there as well.

 

I really enjoy shooting my Ruger 5.7mm PC Carbine.  Just a really fun gun at the range.  I don't like my Ruger 5.7mm pistol (both were impulse buys so I have no regrets, as M2 said above I've got several guns in my collections that I bought and was not impressed with for various reasons).  I don't use either of them for home defense.

  My buddy has the same Ruger PC Carbine chambered in 9mm, it got a tad more recoil but he pays about 50% less than I do per round so if cheap plinking is what you're looking for the 5.7mm probably isn't it.

[AirGuardianC141747]

Agreed, never stated 5.7 was applicable to normal self defense situations as it was derived for military use hence body armor not a normal civil state thought process. Most of the current CCW models are geared towards civilian defense measures and not duty criteria. While several sub-compacts have been derived from full size military versions these concealment versions definitely cater to the civilian defense market. Despite having a 5.7 from the original manufacturer many moons ago it hasn’t been a CCW for myself. With the major improvements with 9mm well over a decade ago I have stayed with it. Round count is your choice and during winter heavy clothing I prefer the compact types with 17/18 rds and my summer carry runs 13/15 rds among my rotations. Either way whatever you choose train with it. Better to have something vs nothing, better to be familiar and capable with it than anything. I always need to train more, unfortunately I get caught up with shooting the latest and greatest addition even though I do bring the carry options and shoot at least a few mags at my neighbors farm. Definitely not enough.

Side note only: Not many events on the blotter of those encountering body armor during a self defense encounter like Lord Ratner said, but if you want to defeat armor speed is king caliber wise. Rifles bring on a whole new level of penetration.

5.7 definitely is pricey, but there was a time when some could be had for $20/50 rds when FN overloaded the market with some now banned steel core. ATF put a stop to that real quick unfortunately. SS190 (restricted) or more likely the SS192 was controversial. Current lots are just sporting rounds for the most part.

 

Edited 19 hours ago by AirGuardianC141747

[Lord Ratner]

13 hours ago, AirGuardianC141747 said:

Agreed, never stated 5.7 was applicable to normal self defense situations as it was derived for military use hence body armor not a normal civil state thought process. Most of the current CCW models are geared towards civilian defense measures and not duty criteria. While several sub-compacts have been derived from full size military versions these concealment versions definitely cater to the civilian defense market. Despite having a 5.7 from the original manufacturer many moons ago it hasn’t been a CCW for myself. With the major improvements with 9mm well over a decade ago I have stayed with it. Round count is your choice and during winter heavy clothing I prefer the compact types with 17/18 rds and my summer carry runs 13/15 rds among my rotations. Either way whatever you choose train with it. Better to have something vs nothing, better to be familiar and capable with it than anything. I always need to train more, unfortunately I get caught up with shooting the latest and greatest addition even though I do bring the carry options and shoot at least a few mags at my neighbors farm. Definitely not enough.

Side note only: Not many events on the blotter of those encountering body armor during a self defense encounter like Lord Ratner said, but if you want to defeat armor speed is king caliber wise. Rifles bring on a whole new level of penetration.

5.7 definitely is pricey, but there was a time when some could be had for $20/50 rds when FN overloaded the market with some now banned steel core. ATF put a stop to that real quick unfortunately. SS190 (restricted) or more likely the SS192 was controversial. Current lots are just sporting rounds for the most part.

 

I'd love to see what 5.7 could do compared to 9 mm through some more plausible self-defense scenarios, such as shooting through a car door or windshield. I remember when 357 Sig was being touted to the police because you could shoot right through a windshield and still neutralize a homicidal driver, but that's just another caliber that ended up sacrificed to the altar of 9 mm.

 

I always liked Paul Harrell's videos, and he has a pretty good one on 5.7 showing that it is still going to fuck your day up if you get hit with it. Certainly to the point that I think it's reasonable to consider for carrying. But I don't think you can extend that argument to say that it is *better* or *as good* as the 9mm... Just like the guys who are carrying 1911s. Yeah, it's a gun and it'll work, but it's pretty hard to make an objective argument that a 45 ACP 1911 is a superior concealed carry weapon, unless you're just such a bad shot that you need the weight of a 1911 and feather trigger to hit the target, in which case, yeah, that would be your best option. I'm sure I'll piss someone off here who carries a 1911 with that statement 🤣😂.

 

 

 

It is truly incredible what has been done with 9mm though.