Ammolabs' FN 5.7x28mm FAQ

FN 5.7x28mm FAQ
The FN 5.7x28mm cartridge and the FN 5.7 USG and IOM handguns have recently become the new "evil" weapon to become the focus of extremist anti-2nd amendment groups in the US.

One group the Brady Campaign has also been circulating and posting erroneous information to further their own objectives under the promotion of Law Enforcement Officer Safety.

Since the AmmoLab Staff are comprised of former and current Law Enforcement personnel and we have tested the 5.7x28mm cartridge in the FN P90 and the Five SeveN IOM and USG pistols we decided to examine the email notices and the information as posted by the Brady Campaign.

Members are advised that 5.7 and 9mm Barrier Penetration Tests are now online in the members only sections.

Here is the Q&A as posted and distributed directly from the Brady Campaign with the exception that we have also responded with correct information so that all LEOs reading this information have access to correct and accurate information and can form their own opinions. This information is taken directly from their website posted under the title of "LE Relations".

Would the FN Five SeveN handgun have helped here:

Citizen Hero Dies While Saving Lives

The correct answers are posted as AL-A (AmmoLab Answers) in Red.







Frequently Asked Questions
about the FN Herstal Five-Seven Pistol
Q: What is the Five-SeveN?

A: The Five-seveN is a 5.7 x 28 mm pistol manufactured by FN Herstal of Belgium. It is a small, lightweight (1.5 lbs fully loaded), easily-concealable handgun which is marketed for its ability to penetrate body armor.

AL-A: The FN Five SeveN is a 22 caliber foreign made handgun subject to strict importation regulations which require it to have the features of a target or competition class handgun, these same features make it much more difficult to conceal and much less comfortable to carry concealed. The FN Five SeveN is chambered to fire the 5.7x28mm SS192 cartridge which closely replicates the wound profile and wounding capability of the .22 Magnum cartridge when used in a long barreled target handgun. It was imported from 2001 to 2004 as a voluntarily restricted product sold and delivered only to Law Enforcement Agencies when purchased on LE letterhead/PO as the IOM, Individual Officer Model. The IOM was distributed with three 20rd magazines and was until the expiration of the Assault Weapons Ban a prohibited product for civilian sales. As of the expiration of the ban FN advised their stocking distributors that the remaining stock of IOM and the newly introduced 5.7 USG pistol may be sold to all persons not legally prohibited from owning a firearm subject to State and Federal firearms regulations.


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Q: What is it that makes this weapon so dangerous? The gun itself, the ammunition, or a combination of the two?

A: The combination. This gun is designed to shoot only 5.7 x 28 mm bullets. Several varieties of these bullets have been proven in tests to pierce body armor - such as typical police vests - when fired from this handgun. The design of the gun allows it to accept this ammunition and fire it at around 2100 feet per second. The manufacturer advertises that with one variety of 5.7 x 28 mm bullets, the Five-seveN "will perforate 48 layers of Kevlar up to 200 meters." The gun is sold with high-capacity 20 round magazines, adding to its lethality.

AL-A: All firearms are dangerous and the FN 5.7x28mm is one of the modern varmint class cartridge designs. It provides .22 Magnum level wounding and lethality in a large frame service size handgun that is difficult to conceal and is sized very closely to the Glock G21 service pistol which is widely used as a uniform duty pistol by Police personnel nationwide. The answer above is completely misleading and is grossly exaggerated in context. The SS190 ammunition which is explained above is produced by FN under very strict controls & has been since day one classified as Armor Piercing and cannot be imported, distributed, or sold to any persons other than Law Enforcement Agencies and possession of SS190 & SS193 ammunition by unlicensed personnel is a violation of Federal Law. Armor Piercing ammunition is very tightly restricted by the BATFE. While troubling the ability to penetrate soft aramid fabric/fiber panels which are often irresponsibly referred to as "Body Armor" does not make a product armor piercing and without providing information to the criminal element there are currently just under 3,000 sporting, hunting, and Law Enforcement issue duty ammunition products available in common handgun calibers which will penetrate the level IIa vest panels shown in the Brady video. The now removed SS192 jacketed lead bullets are in fact 50% less effective than the common .357 Sig duty pistol as "body armor" penetrating products and provide 38% of the wound volume of the standard .357 Sig 125gr Speer Gold Dot jhp duty loading.


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Q: Other types of guns penetrate body armor - why is this one any more dangerous to police?

A: What makes this gun so dangerous is the fact that it is a lightweight, easily concealable handgun designed and marketed to shoot armor piercing bullets. Some other types of ammunition, when fired from rifles, may penetrate body armor. That's why police alerts on the gun have urged officers who encounter an adversary armed with the Five-Seven to react as if the assailant is armed with a rifle.

AL-A: The Five SeveN USG is a large framed service/duty pistol suitable for uniform Police personnel for patrol use. It is difficult to conceal and the pistol was never designed nor was it marketed to shoot armor piercing ammunition and it does not in fact provide rifle level performance from a handgun sized package. The very small 28 & 31 grain (SS192) projectiles offered provide soft tissue wounding that very closely approximates the performance of the .22 Magnum soft point target and small game varmint load. It is well suited for use where lawful for the taking of rabbits, squirrels, and ground hogs. The wounding capability in comparison of the SS192 when fired from the Five SeveN USG to the standard 124gr 9mm Speer jhp+p loading as issued to the NYPD and fired from the Glock G19 duty pistol is roughly 40% with a large reduction in overall wound size, depth, diameter, and soft tissue volume. The SS192 ammunition provides for much faster energy loss and provides a significantly lower risk of target over penetration and secondary target contact/over penetration while also providing for a significant reduction in risk of ricochet thus making it statistically a safer pistol in many aspects for the civilian end user.


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Q: What types of bullets were used when the gun was test fired by the Brady Center? Are those bullets legal?

A: The Brady Center recently purchased the Five-seveN from a Virginia retail gun dealer, along with 5.7 x 28 mm SS192 rounds of ammunition. The Brady Center test fired the weapon with these rounds and found it easily penetrated typical threat level IIA, Kevlar police body armor. This ammunition is legal to be sold to civilians.

AL-A: Unless the Brady Center is a licensed LE Agency or Federally Licensed Firearms Dealer; an individual employee or volunteer of the Brady Center purchased the firearm and then provided it to the Brady Center and quite possibly committed a criminal action by purchasing the firearm for another person or party as listed on the BATFE Form 4473.

Legal issues not withstanding, the SS192 will like the common kitchen knife or the compound bow and over 10,000+ commercially made and commonly available products for sporting, hunting, Police use, target shooting, and collecting penetrate a level IIa soft aramid fabric/fiber panel.

This is the primary reason that the US Department of Defense no longer issues or uses fragmentation vests which when tested provide comparative performance to the US NIJ Level IIa standard for "soft body armor". Penetration of these panels is relatively meaningless as Law Enforcement Agencies have long been made aware that Level IIa while being thin and comfortable is not the product that Level II or Level IIIa :soft body armor" is and the SS192 will not penetrate properly constructed Level II & IIIa panels. Although some panels that do not truly meet the NIJ Level II standard using a substandard construction and manufacturing process can be penetrated.


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Q: Did the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives say that this gun won't pierce armor?

A: No - the ATF said the ammunition did not constitute armor piercing ammunition under existing Federal law. The Brady Center agrees - and that's why it believes Congressional action is called for. The current law on armor piercing ammunition is very weak. It states that ammunition made of certain materials is illegal and it doesn't mandate testing of specific ammunition fired out of specific firearms.

AL-A: The BATFE like the citizens it serves is bound by the same laws and does not legislate products or determine legal issues, it proudly and honorably serves to enforce the existing laws as relating to it's areas of responsibilities and investigates criminal infractions of those laws. The BATFE has never been weak on enforcement of the law and has a long history of aggressive action to protect the public and the law enforcement community. As stated previously soft fabric panels are not armor and armor piercing products as defined relate to the ability to penetrate standard armor products which are not made of aramid fabrics or fibers. Any instrument or tool can potentially be used as a weapon and if the intent is to widen the definition of the an illegal armor pricing product as one which can penetrate soft aramid fabric or fiber panels than potentially the law will become unenforceable as the average Home Depot store contains tens of thousands of products which can penetrate hundreds of layers of aramid fabrics of fibers.


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Q: I've heard that FN Herstal claims that ammunition it sells to civilians for this gun does not penetrate body armor. FN Herstal clams that they no longer sell 5.7 x 28 mm SS192 cartridges to the public. However, staff from the Brady Center just obtained 5.7 x 28 mm SS192 cartridges at retail in mid-January. FN Herstal has taken no steps to recall these cartridges from the civilian market.

FN Herstal also claims that 5.7 x 28 mm SS192 cartridges do not penetrate level IIIA body armor. The tests that the Brady Center completed show that 5.7 x 28 mm SS192 cartridges penetrate level IIA body armor, which is soft body armor that most law enforcement officers use.

AL-A: This is once again a gross exaggeration and is entirely misleading. The SS192 product does not provide armor piercing performance and is no longer imported for sale to the non-Law Enforcement market in any form. As with the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban ownership of a now removed or prohibited product which was purchased prior to the removal of the product is not a criminal action and as history has demonstrated the Brady Campaign are the single largest sellers and promoters of firearms products. The three largest distributors for FN here in the US reported less than 4% sales of the 5.7 product until the Brady Campaign began promoting it. Sales have now exceeded 100% of capacity due to the Brady Campaign email, the Brady Campaign website, and the national press the issue has garnered.


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Q: When did the Five-SeveN first become available to civilians in the US?

A: FN Herstal debuted the gun and ammunition for sale to civilians in 2004.

AL-A: Under Federal Law the Five SeveN USG and IOM became legal for civilian sales and possession upon the expiration of the Assault Weapons Ban in September 2004.


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Q: Is the gun legal? Under federal law, this gun, and its ammunition, is legal.

AL-A: The Five SeveN is a serial numbered and regulated firearm, it can legally be sold or transferred to any person who passes the criminal background check, provides valid state issued photo ID, and is not prohibited by State, Federal, or Local laws from taking possession of the firearm. At current the only legal ammunition for civilian purchase was the existing stock of SS192 non-armor piercing ammunition. FN has announced plans to offer a 40gr Vmax jhp varmint bullet loading for the firearm which cannot penetrate any Level IIA, Level II, or Level IIIa soft aramid fabric or fiber panels which conform to NIJ standards.


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Q: Does the availability of this gun have anything to do with the expiration of the AWB?

A: No. The Five-seveN was available to civilians before the AWB expired. High capacity magazines are now available for use with this gun, which were banned under the AWB.

AL-A: The FN Five SeveN was previously sold only through the Individual Officer Model program where the distributor was required to obtain proof of Law Enforcement status prior to delivery of the firearm to the officer and was distributed with magazines with greater than 10rd capacity as a direct ship to the LE Agency. It could be purchased in accordance with Federal Law. The IOM was available with 10rd capacity magazines for individual officer purchase for LE Officers who were residents in states where the state legally prohibits magazine capacities greater than 10rds.


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Q: Are there states where this gun and ammunition are already illegal?

A: This gun and its ammunition are not legal to be sold in California under Title 2.6 of the Penal Code, Section 12320, which forbids handgun ammunition designed primarily to penetrate metal or armor.

AL-A: You will need to contact each states Attorney Generals office for specific legal issues with regards to the Five SeveN pistol.



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