I have an M&P 5.7x28. I like it a lot. It’s been a very satisfying shooter. I have a Ruger LC carbine in the same caliber. They are a hoot to shoot. IMHO they are capable for any duty you’re comfortable with. I think it’s a very capable cartridge. I’m waiting for someone to offer it in a bolt action rifle.

 

I saw online somewhere where a guy made a 5.7 bolt gun from a Remington 700 I think it was. I'll look again later and see if I can find the info again.

 

This is my second 5.7 pistol, the first was an M&P 5.7. Shot well enough, but the grip ergo's are subpar. Tried with and WO an optic and just couldn't get it to shoot well for me. Enter the PSA Rock:
View attachment 555535
For about half the price of the M&P 5.7 you can get a PSA Rock 5.7. I basically ordered one pistol and then a second frame and an optic ready slide because I really wanted to give 5.7 a chance. So I tried a few different combo's.
View attachment 555536
Here it is in the optic slide config. Nice blackout tall day sights, and co witness was great with this Holosun 507KX2. But the optic seems too thin with this platform. I just couldn't get a good view through the compact window. But I liked the idea of having a suppressor ready barrel, so I mixed and matched and came up with this.
View attachment 555537
This is what I ended up with. Added grip tape to give more traction on the grip. I have a Yankee hill suppressor on order, can't wait to try it out with this pistol. So let's cover some specs. Trigger pull is measuring 3lb 5oz's after about 100 round break in. It has a very short and tactile reset at 1/16" . This version of the Rock weighs 26.4 oz's with an unloaded magazine and 32.1 oz's with 23+1 of 40 grain FMJ rounds.
View attachment 555538
The magazines insert and drop free, in fact they shoot out of the magwell. My Rock's slide is very easy to rack, has great night sights ( with an orange dot in front ). The shooting experience lands somewhere between shooting 22LR and 22 Mag out of a standard size pistol. Recoil just isn't something to consider with this round. You can see above it is more accurate than I am. So back to my opening question; What is 5.7 really good for? After running both the M&P and the two Rock's, for me it will become an excellent home defense weapon. Adding in a suppressor and having 23+1 rounds of good 5.7 ammo ( FN or AAC 40 grain Vmax ). This pistol can deliver lots of near 9mm power rounds quickly. For folks concerned about recoil and have moved to a 380 or lower calibers, this may be the pistol for you. No recoil and very fast and accurate. Maybe not for folks living in an appt complex since the vmax round has shown a good ability to penetrate Level 3 body armor. But out here in the country it will be perfect.

I have a few 57s. By far my SW is my fave tho. It's barrel design let's me use my 30 cal can on it and a huge AR qd mount for 556 lol. Looks funny but it does the job and is crazy quiet with subs.
Only downside I've found so far the SW is the rail is a little droopy. Hot water may fix that tho. Hopefully they fix that situation asap.
I may get a Rock 57 later tho. The Glock design overall is a good carry choice.

 

Thanks for the review, now you got me thinking I need one too. 🤫

 

So my opinion is that the 5.7x28 is a subgun round that sucks because Americans are not really allowed to own subguns. As a subgun round it's great, as a pistol round I thought is was less great, but as an alternative to 380, my opinion of it just rose.
I wouldn't buy one of these until it's "more standard" but the idea of it as a low recoil alternative to 380 is a great selling point and legitimate use case in my opinion.

 

Formerly classified US government 5.7x28 testing 2019 report.

I prefer the Speer Gold Dot 40 grain bonded JHP 5.7x28. It is precision in my custom CCW EDC FsN. These targets were shot suppressed, offhand, two hand, unsupported at 25 yards, 100 yards, and ten yards respectively. Pistol image is custom by me FsN (retired FFL/SOT gunsmith). The Speer Ammo is equivalent to Underwood Lehigh 90 grain 9mm +P+ shot from custom by me Sig P320C pistol based on my ballistic testing. The last two images shot at ten yards, offhand, unsupported show the first shot (Speer) suppressed FsN and second shot custom P320C +P+ Underwood Lehigh 90 grain shot using the FsN bullet hole as target (full custom hand fit by me match fit Barsto barrel). The original target for the FsN was the Sharpie mark just above the bullet hole. The FsN pistol is sighted for combat hold POI. The big problem with ultra velocity 5.7x28 ammo is ridiculous inaccuracy from FsN pistol. Speer ammo at 1800 FPS is perfect.

 

Nice write up…

I’m just waiting on the ATF stamp for my 5.7 SBR.

 

You may consider Jay Wolf Elite Ammunition for P90 upgrades. Jay is extremely knowledgeable, but can be challenging to know. He is the kind of person who grows on you and you eventually get used to him. I do my own work but he is great.