Does anyone have or know anything about these guns? A friend has one and I think I might want one.
May I have y'all s opinion please?

Overpriced as a civilian gun. If you think you're getting the same benefits as a Secret Service, you're not. Commercial ammo doesn't perform like the military only ammo. What you're getting is an overpriced 22wmr and in some cases the 22wmr out performs the commercial 5.7. Military Chanel had a review of the 5.7 side by side with the 22wmr

Arik, Thanks for refreshing my memory on this one as well. I remember when these came out and I was hot to get one, now I remember why I didn't ! There was a lot of controversy with these back then.

Thanks Arik!! That is the kind of info I'm looking for.

Anyone else...

I came across a deal on one that I could not pass up in a trade. It is a blast to shoot. It will be a collectible one day and I like the three 20 round mags that came with it.

This will be my next acquisition. I disagree with the .22wmr comparison. I like how the ammunition tumbles once it hits soft tissue. The video referred to is going through body armor. If you live in an apartment, mobile home or have kids, this might be a good choice for you...

I have one, one of the few in this state, with 10rd magazines. It's an interesting gun, nothing like a .22 magnum at all. As you may know, 5.7mm is a centerfire cartridge that uses a lighter weight .224" (same as .223 Remington) rifle bullet and fast powder. 22 magnum really needs a longer barrel and this round is designed specifically to replace 9mm sub guns. The military round is a 28 grain aluminum core light armor piercing round that moves close to 2000fps depending on whether it's fired out of the 10"bbl ps90 or the 5" bbl five seven pistol. The round is also supposed to be excellent as a suppressed round using 55 grain bullets (just like m193).

The pistol is designed with strategic considerations in mind, the light weight of weapon and ammunition, low cost and ease of production of plastic components, use of 5.56mm ammunition factories. So the round itself is half the weight of the 9mm but delivers about the same energy. The brass case is coated in plastic that melts and works a little like a breech lock, holding the breech closed until pressure drops. Pressure is very high, over 50,000 ft lbs, like a rifle. This allows manufacture of a nearly all plastic gun with a simple blow-back mechanism. Only the slide (covered by plastic) and the barrel itself are steel, everything else plastic. I have read that the 5.7mm round can be produced on the same loading equipment as 5.56mm. It would be an interesting survivalist weapon because the pistol and ammunition are so light. 800 rounds does not weigh much - try toting around that much .45 ball ammo.

I have mixed feelings about it. I wish that the ammo were cheaper or more reloadable, but given the way the round is designed and the high pressures and the difficulty of handling the components, I'm staying away from it for now. It's easy enough to shoot with the FN 40 grain blue box. I shoot a lot of 45 in tuner 1911's, so I'm not impressed with plastic pistols and I collect 44 hand ejector frame S&W's. If I had to sell something, this would be an early candidate, but it holds some interest for me. I guess if one wants light weight and high capacity in an anti-personnel round this would be it. If you get one, stay away from the cheap federal ammo. The bullets come unseated in normal operation.

Isn't this the gun that all the gamers and tacticool kids talk about?

From the research I've done I'd go with the 22 TCM over the 5.7 better ballistics, cheap and fairly easy to reload using the same components as 223 except shortened brass. Just my humble opinion.

It is not for me.

The 22TCM gives similar performance but with a projectile that allows it to be fired in a 1911 size firearm.



I like 1911s and my factory TCM Target holds 17+1 rounds of ammunition. Plus from your survivalist standpoint you can drop in a 9MM barrel and spring and it shoots the most available center fire ammunition in the world.



The 5.7s long projectile keeps it in proprietary firearms.

If you handload, brass and projectiles can be difficult to find for the 5.7. Ammunition is sometimes hard to find and sometimes expensive.

However if you want one for the COOL factor that is another story. The FN P90 rifle is a very cool looking piece of hardware.

A more economical alternative would be the 22TCM (Tuason Craig Micromagnum).

The 22TCM is a bottle necked cartridge referenced as a short 5.56 with performance that exceeds the civilian 5.7x28 FN while being smaller in length and re-loadable.

I have a Rock Island Armory 22TCM

17+1


A 9mm cartridge next to a 22TCM

I agree!!!

Major jihadi Hasan used one to great effect at Fort Hood. Wouldn't have been near as many casualties had he used an M9 with ball ammo. My $.02. Joe

__________________
Wisdom chases me; I'm faster

It is supposed to be an effective cartridge with the still-available ss195lf law enforcement ammo, a 28 grain all copper bullet at about 2000fps. The ss190 is what the gun is designed for, a 31 gr an AP round that runs 2100fps and relies on tumbling instead of expansion for terminal effects. Either way, in the wrong hands it was a devastating weapon, damn him to hell.

Colt SAA,

Got to get me one of those 22TCM's. Will the magazines fit in a .45 frame? maybe get a slide assembly and a magazine.

I like bottle neck cartridges. Funny how things change and end up the same. .30 Borchardt, Mauser, Tokarev and then no bottle necks for decades, then .357 SIG and 5.7.

Pretty sweet cartridge. Teeny Tiny bottle neck cartridges are always cool, but when the dust settles, I'll take my Model 63 and a couple boxes of .22.
What can I say-I'm an old fart not looking to initiate any mass shootings..

__________________
Forum consigliere

Just take a look online and see what ammo is available. Virtually zero only dumbed down American Eagle FMJ's. Nammo in Sweden make the true 5.7 ammo so it's a pointless exercise. It's the old story of velocity versus momentum. A 9mm +P+ in 115 JHP is the highest velocity round available next to the 5.7 in a pistol round. I believe 9mm armor piercing is manufactured but of course not available to civilians.

I sold one to a friend that just had to have one. We shot it for his ccw class. It was really fun to shoot and accurate as heck. A very different kind of gun. When you get it in your hands and look it over, your first reaction is "what the heck were they thinking?".
Lets talk ammo...wow, expensive...bend over expensive, and when things get tight, almost impossible to fine. And expensive.
So, basically, way fun to shoot, not the same 'ol/same 'ol, but not for everyone. 20 round handgun mags are cool.
BTW, the gun itself is expensive, also.

__________________
Fight socialism. Never stop.

You have the opportunity to shoot your friend's Five-seveN, and that's what I would do if I wanted one. What I think might not be what you think...
Try some of the 195 ammo when you try it. Those can be found and bought.

Gun got a bad rap when they first came out. There are quite a few rounds I would not want to take a direct hit from with a vest, but those are concealable.....why they got the bad rap imo.

The Five-seveN would complement the P90 if carrying a P90. Great pistol and not for everyone.

I carry one, now that I'm retired.

It was designed as a NATO replacement for the 9mm, and won NATO approval. Germany veto'd it for its own economic purposes.

About four or five small companies I'm aware of manufacture defensive ammunition in the caliber. I can't testify to the effectiveness of any of them, but there's information on line.

The weapon points well - when I move into shooting position and bring the firearm up, it naturally points at where I want it. I can only remember a few firearms I've owned doing that so well, which included the Lugers and the Astra 600D.

The rounds designed to pierce the ceramic body armor - the monikered cop killer rounds - are not available to the public.

Just my $.02

I'd be curious about any professional terminal ballistic comparisons between the 5.7 and the .22TCM

Did some research and there's hardly any difference, both have a velocity of around 2050 ft/s. Commercially available .22 TCM will penetrate level 2 body armor easily. As posted above the real winner is the Rock Island 1911 which comes with two barrels and will fire .22 TCM & 9mm using the same mags. The mag is a big issue because hopefully in the near future we will be able to buy .22 TCM barrels for our 9mm's without having to change slides or mags. The great advantage of both the 5.7 and .22 TCM is their very rapid rate of fire and light recoil.

The factory 22TCM is a double stack firearm. The factory supplied magazines are the same 17 round 38Super mags for the Para Ordnance. MecGar makes them

If you were building your one, all you would need is a 9MM/38Super/9x23 slide assembly, a 22TCM barrel, a spring and a single stack 38 Super magazine for your existing 1911.

Are the TCM rounds a boat tail design as well, and do they fracture into smaller pieces?

We're drifting off topic - sorry

Admittedly the 5.7 military ammo is superior to commercial .22 TCM but it's unavailable unless you want to pay over $500.00 a box, if you can get it. 1000 rounds of TCM costs around $360.00
However there is no reason why similar tips couldn't be put in a .22 TCM. Both cartridges in their commercially available form are very similar as far as I can find. YMMV.

I would like to see someone chamber 5.7 or similar cartridge
in a pistol set up like a Ruger Mark or Automag type. I know
this puts out to much juice to be straight blow-back. This round
could make good handgun varment outfit. All this new stuff that
comes out is geared to the black gun crowd. They ought to make
some practical field guns for us old farts who don't spend a lot
of time fantasizing about shooting bad guys.

Don't they call those revolvers?

NEW for 2015