FROM SARGE & GUNOWNER:
The 5.7 x 26 pistoll cartridge is one of the new bottle neck pistol cartridges that begs a question "Why" I can not figure out what this cartridge does that no other cartridge does not do better and more efficiently. The cartridge is made to be shot from a semi-auto and the size is odd to say the least. My calculator shows the standard NATO 5.56 round as .219 which I would guess is the bore diameter not the bullet dia. The 5.7 round figures out to .224 in good old American inches. That makes this new round only .001 different from the standard .223 bullet. The .223 bullet is probably the most common and plentiful bullet being made in the world, so why go .001 different? Again "Why?"
The cartridge is just barely longer than our Winchester WMR .22 mag case and looks like a shrunken Rem .223 round. The bullet weighs 27.6 grains and the article I read stated that the bullet was .223 dia. (not by my calculater) so you have a minature .223 or 4 dia bullet and a minature .223 case and you put them into a semi-auto pistol. This gets you muzzle velocity of 2,125 fps and an effective range of only 55 yards. "Why?" The groups at 25 yards had some bullet yawing showing and were making a group of an average 3-5/16". Remember that was an average, meaning some groups were larger than 3-5/6 inches in dia. not exactly my idea of good accuracy.
This cartridge was developed by in Belgium by FN Herstal for their Personal Defense Weapon. The military model cartridge had a steel jacketed bullet with a strange aluminum/steel core. but the civilian model will have only a copper jacket boattail bullet with some kind of aluminum core. I still don't get what FN wants us civilians to do with this cartridge.
Sarge |
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