Das Nemesis
Member
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2009
- Messages
- 6
i see this round gets a very bad rap. and personally i think that the bad rap comes from a large misunderstanding and ignorance regarding what exactly qualifies a round as "lethal".
the 5.7x28 is a small, compact round...that has yet to commercially be put to its full potential. i have spoken to people who hand load their own 5.7s which have broken the 3000fps range out of their ps90s, bringing it to almost the same level as 5.56s.
most often people seem to get lost in figures and numbers, and seem to forget what is most important when it comes to a firearm, the bullet.
now, when you consider that a .308 can generate almost 3000 foot pounds of impact that seems great, on paper. how much of that 3000 do you think is really transferred to a soft target? not a whole lot, the round most commonly goes straight through leaving a large hole, but not causing a lot of damage throughout the entire area. a shoot to the abdomen by a .308 would be painful, traumatizing...but most likely not immediately lethal.
one advantage to the 5.7 is the light recoil, high velocity and high ammo capacity. the 5.7 varmint grenade round would be ideal for personally defense, as well as military operations against unarmored foes. for those who do not know about this round, when it enters the target it basically explodes, sending shards of metal through out the area of impact. one shot to the chest or sternum could be instantly fatal, causing damage to the lungs, heart, liver and kidneys in just 2 shots. shots to the legs or arms have a high chance of cutting arteries and causing the foe to bleed to death internally, if it does not cut the skin.
now look at the armor penetrating abilities of the rounds, which is what they were made for. the small, fast round can easily make cheese of your typical forms of body armor, though this is easy for many other rounds, the 5.7 is more practical due to its lower recoil, allowing you to put more rounds in vital areas quickly...again...being shot by a armor penetrating round falls into the category of dangerous, but not likely lethal from a single body shot, depending on shot placement.
in my honest opinion a 5.7x28 round could be used out to ranges of 500 yards, the same as a 5.56. with the right powder, primer and round this is not far fetched. this however, is not where the round would be practical to be used, as you would figure. the 5.7 could be easily one of the best rounds for 10-250 yard engagements.
honestly i believe that the best, and most versatile caliber is yet to be made...a 10mm caliber round with many types of rounds and shell sizes would be ideal. a 10x30mm round for handgun/sub machine gun, 10x50mm rifle round, and 10x70 sniper rifle round...what is the advantage of this?
the rounds themselves would have a standard 5 gram weight (77.16 grains), with some rounds reaching up to 150 grams (231.49 grains).
with standard 5 gram loads the rounds ballistic chars would look like this: zeroed for 100 yards
10mm x 30mm
5gram@3250fps=1806ft/lb of impact with 10 inches of drop at 200 yards
10mm x 50mm
5gram@3750=2404ft/lb of impact with 7 inches of drop at 200 yards, and 88 at 500 yards.
10mm x 70mm (this would not be using the 5 gram load, but a standard 10 gram)
10gram@3500=4200ft/lb of impact with 55 inches of drop at 500 yards, and 406 inches of drop at 1000 yards.
the advantage here to this is for round universality. one caliber can chamber a wide range of rounds, completing tasks that are required where other rounds would falter. allowing for 4 base weapons, all chambered for one caliber, however different shell lengths, could accomplish the tasks of our very wide range of weapons today.
the 5.7x28 is a small, compact round...that has yet to commercially be put to its full potential. i have spoken to people who hand load their own 5.7s which have broken the 3000fps range out of their ps90s, bringing it to almost the same level as 5.56s.
most often people seem to get lost in figures and numbers, and seem to forget what is most important when it comes to a firearm, the bullet.
now, when you consider that a .308 can generate almost 3000 foot pounds of impact that seems great, on paper. how much of that 3000 do you think is really transferred to a soft target? not a whole lot, the round most commonly goes straight through leaving a large hole, but not causing a lot of damage throughout the entire area. a shoot to the abdomen by a .308 would be painful, traumatizing...but most likely not immediately lethal.
one advantage to the 5.7 is the light recoil, high velocity and high ammo capacity. the 5.7 varmint grenade round would be ideal for personally defense, as well as military operations against unarmored foes. for those who do not know about this round, when it enters the target it basically explodes, sending shards of metal through out the area of impact. one shot to the chest or sternum could be instantly fatal, causing damage to the lungs, heart, liver and kidneys in just 2 shots. shots to the legs or arms have a high chance of cutting arteries and causing the foe to bleed to death internally, if it does not cut the skin.
now look at the armor penetrating abilities of the rounds, which is what they were made for. the small, fast round can easily make cheese of your typical forms of body armor, though this is easy for many other rounds, the 5.7 is more practical due to its lower recoil, allowing you to put more rounds in vital areas quickly...again...being shot by a armor penetrating round falls into the category of dangerous, but not likely lethal from a single body shot, depending on shot placement.
in my honest opinion a 5.7x28 round could be used out to ranges of 500 yards, the same as a 5.56. with the right powder, primer and round this is not far fetched. this however, is not where the round would be practical to be used, as you would figure. the 5.7 could be easily one of the best rounds for 10-250 yard engagements.
honestly i believe that the best, and most versatile caliber is yet to be made...a 10mm caliber round with many types of rounds and shell sizes would be ideal. a 10x30mm round for handgun/sub machine gun, 10x50mm rifle round, and 10x70 sniper rifle round...what is the advantage of this?
the rounds themselves would have a standard 5 gram weight (77.16 grains), with some rounds reaching up to 150 grams (231.49 grains).
with standard 5 gram loads the rounds ballistic chars would look like this: zeroed for 100 yards
10mm x 30mm
5gram@3250fps=1806ft/lb of impact with 10 inches of drop at 200 yards
10mm x 50mm
5gram@3750=2404ft/lb of impact with 7 inches of drop at 200 yards, and 88 at 500 yards.
10mm x 70mm (this would not be using the 5 gram load, but a standard 10 gram)
10gram@3500=4200ft/lb of impact with 55 inches of drop at 500 yards, and 406 inches of drop at 1000 yards.
the advantage here to this is for round universality. one caliber can chamber a wide range of rounds, completing tasks that are required where other rounds would falter. allowing for 4 base weapons, all chambered for one caliber, however different shell lengths, could accomplish the tasks of our very wide range of weapons today.