FN Five-seveN

FN’s Five-seveN pistol is one strange handgun. The exterior of the pistol is all polymer, including the slide. The gun is very light with a balance that makes it feel like some sort of toy. The safety strange too, like an AR-15’s safety, but reversed. The 5.7x28mm cartridge it fires is also odd, like a little bottle-necked rifle cartridge.

But as strange as it is, the gun works very well. It’s accurate and reliable. And it hits like a .22 Magnum from a rifle. Which is impressive from a handgun. And with a full 20 rounds in the magazine, that’s a good amount of firepower on tap. And with the proper ammo selection, it’s armor piercing.

The gun is odd feeling in the hand. The long narrow profile of the grip frame is different. It’s 1911 Government Model in size, so it points well, and handles the recoil quite well too. What recoil there is. It’s low. And the trigger is different too. But it’s not bad. Not bad at all. But the oddities all mix together into something unique and pretty damn cool. Making hits with the Five-seveN is easy.

If there is any downside to the Five-seveN, its that it’s $1,435.00 MSRP makes it an expensive novelty with a proprietary cartridge that needs to be chambered in a small light bolt action rifle that would then equal a .22 Hornet. Instead of a nice little bolty, the option is the FN P90 series of carbines which is even stranger than this pistol. Which is pretty dang good. The options for holsters and ammo is limited, but they’re out there. Overall, I like these weird little pistols and shooting them is a blast.

3 thoughts on “FN Five-seveN”

  1. I owned one right after the AWB sunsetted so that I could get it with the 20rd magazines. I think I paid around 800.00 for it. I did remove the magazine disconnect safety as it gave the trigger a funky feel, removed it was much smoother. The slide isn’t polymer, it’s actually a polymer cover over a thin steel slide. There also was an AR57 conversion that was an upper for an AR that used P90 magazines and ejected the empties down through the magazine well. I almost bought one of those, but it was the cost & availability of ammo that stopped me.

  2. I’m thrilled to see two gun reviews. Thanks and keep up the good work. I really respect your opinion on all things firearm related.

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