5.7 x 28 mm cartridge
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The 5.7 x 28 mm cartridge is a small caliber cartridge for pistols, submachine guns/personal defense weapons and carbines developed by Fabrique Nationale de Herstal (FN Herstal).
The 5.7 x 28 mm rounds are bottlenecked cartridges with .224 inch (5.7 mm) bullets and come in several versions. The 5.7 x 28 mm cartridges have high muzzle velocity and low recoil, and were designed to be more effective against modern body armor when used in pistols, submachine guns, or carbines.
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[edit] Overview
The SS190, the de facto 5.7 x 28 mm standard cartridge for military and law enforcement, was originally designed for the modern battlefield where troops may be wearing body armor and conventional pistol or submachine gun rounds may be ineffective. Currently the only firearms chambered for this cartridge are the Five-seveN pistol, the FN P90 personal defense weapon and the FN PS90 carbine. Singapore Technologies Kinetics, using the cartridge in the kinetic component of their Squad Support Weapon, is developing a third-party weapon system.
Some military and police personnel view the 5.7 x 28 mm SS190 skeptically, although it is touted as a solution to defeating modern body armor. Many regard the SS190 as having insufficient "stopping power" for law enforcement use and this topic has seen much debate. A brief controversy ensued in the United States in 2004 when it was claimed by the Brady Campaign that the civilian-legal SS192 cartridges are able to pierce Level IIA body armor when fired from the Five-seveN pistol. All civilian-legal game hunting cartridges, and even several pistol cartridges, are capable of such penetration. The ability of SS192 to pierce body armor as claimed by the Brady Campaign was not confirmed with facts or data by any authoritative agencies or sources. The ammunition was not restricted for civilian sales, since it is not legally recognized as armor piercing by the BATFE. Nonetheless, FN chose to withdraw the SS192 from the market and replace it with the SS196SR. The SS196SR's performance against armor is diminished due to a heavier varmint bullet (leading to lower muzzle velocity) and a polycarbonate tip that promotes expansion and fragmentation upon impact.
FN's 5.7 x 28 mm brass cases are covered with a special polymer coating for easier extraction on the Five-seveN pistol and PS90 carbine due to the high chamber pressures and lack of case tapering. In addition, the coating insures proper feeding and function in the P90 magazines.
[edit] Loadouts
[edit] SS90 ball
An early prototype round. It used a lightweight 23-grain (1.5 g) full metal jacket bullet with a polymer core. It was abandoned in 1994 in favor of the heavier SS190 projectile, which has greater potential for accuracy and penetration, as well as being shorter and thus easier to fit in FN's then-upcoming Five-seveN pistol.
[edit] SS190 Duty Round
The SS190 AP ball FMJ is designated as Armor Piercing (AP) ammunition, designed to penetrate body armor. Its sale to civilians is restricted. The SS190 bullet has a steel penetrator and an aluminum core. It is interesting to note that the SS109 FMJ bullet is essentially of the same design, except it uses a lead core with a steel penetrator. The SS109 is frequently found in civilian-legal M855 loads sold as surplus or contract-overrun ammunition. FN Herstal has stated that the SS190 round will easily penetrate protections that stop normal pistol rounds, but will not penetrate protections that stop the 5.56 x 45 mm NATO round such as Level III armor. The SS190 has demonstrated varying penetration depths of about 10 to 13 inches in gelatin testing by various agencies. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police Academy forensics laboratory tested SS190 fired out of a P90 into 10% ordnance gelatin, 10% gelatin covered with heavy clothing, and 10% gelatin covered with Level II soft armor. The average penetration depth in all test events was approximately 10.4 inches; the temporal wound cavity did not exceed 3.75 inches. Testing of the P90 done by Dr. Gary K. Roberts DDS showed an average of 12 inches penetration in 10% ballistic gelatin. Houston, TX SWAT has also done testing with similar results. Many have asserted that these figures are not deep enough, as the current FBI minimum penetration depth is 12 inches in 10% ballistic gelatin.
[edit] SS191 Tracer
Combustible chemicals packed in the rear of the projectile create a contrail visible up to 200 meters. The SS191's ballistics are almost identical to those of the SS190. SS191 tracer ammunition has a red tip. It was previously designated "L191". Its sale to civilians is restricted.
[edit] SS192 Hollow Point
Features a hollow point bullet. SS192 ammunition uses a 28-grain (1.8 g) unmarked hollow tip, with an aluminum core. SS192 can be differentiated from SS195LF (lead-free; see below) by the brass-colored primer. Production of this round has been discontinued, and it has been replaced by SS195LF.
[edit] SS193 Sub Sonic
The SS193 cartridge features a 55-grain (3.6 g) Sierra Game King FMJBT (Full Metal Jacket Boat Tail) projectile. The SS193's low muzzle velocity eliminates the distinctive "crack" created by supersonic rounds when used in conjunction with the P90 Gemtech sound suppressor. The SS193 suffers from greatly reduced penetration and range, but benefits from slightly lower recoil. The white colored bullet tip can identify SS193 subsonic ammunition. It was previously designated "Sb193." Its sale to civilians is restricted.
[edit] T194 training/duty
The T194 training round is an early version of the SS192. Visually, it is the same as the SS192 but has a green tip and silver-colored primer. The bullet weight/velocity of the T194 are identical to the SS192 and the newer SS195. The T194 round was discontinued in 2002.
[edit] SS195LF Lead Free Round
The SS195LF cartridge features a lead-free primer, and lead-free bullet with similar ballistics to the SS192 round. It features a .224 inch (5.7 mm) 28-grain (1.77 g) copper jacketed aluminum core bullet. The SS195LF cartridge may be identified by the unmarked, hollow void at the tip and the silver-colored lead-free primer. SS195LF is available to civilians. Note: Some PS90 operators may experience intermittent problems with SS195LF lot FNB06C971-016 [1].
[edit] SS196SR Sporting Round
The discontinued SS196SR cartridge was replaced with SS197SR. Civilians can still purchase remaining lots of SS196SR. The SS196SR cartridge features a 40-grain (2.6 g), .224 inch (5.7 mm) diameter Hornady V-Max bullet. The polycarbonate tip in the V-Max bullet enhances expansion of the bullet. The red colored tip differentiates the SS196SR from the blue colored tip of SS197SR.
[edit] SS197SR Sporting Round
Fiocchi currently manufactures SS197SR under contract for FN Herstal. The SS197SR cartridge uses the same 40-grain (2.6 g) .224 inch (5.7 mm) Hornady V-Max projectile as the SS196SR, but it is loaded for a slightly higher muzzle velocity. The bullets have a blue-colored polycarbonate tip. The first SS197SR boxes exhibit the modern FN blue and black colored packaging as shown in the photographs. Newer SS197SR boxes have a similar exterior appearance to the SS196SR and SS195LF boxes. These white cardboard boxes have an adhesive label, marked "Made in Italy”, which helps prevent cartridges from falling out of the box during shipment. The colored boxes rely solely on the flaps and do not use an adhesive label. SS197SR is available to civilians.
[edit] Photographs
 From left to right: 9 mm Luger Parabellum, .40 S&W, .45 ACP, 5.7x28mm, 5.56x45mm NATO, .300 Winchester Magnum, and a 2.75-inch and 3-inch 12 gauge. |
 5.7 x 28 mm SS197SR (left) and 5.56 x 45 mm XM193 (right) size comparison. Note that both bullets are .224 inch (5.69 mm) in diameter]] |
 SS195LF cartridge and box |
 SS196SR cartridge and box |
 SS197SR cartridge and box |
[edit] Specifications
| SS190 | SS191 | SS193 | SS195LF | SS196SR | SS197SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bullet weight | 32 gr (2.1 g) | 32 gr (2.1 g) | 55 gr (3.6 g) | 28 gr (1.8 g) | 40 gr (2.6 g) | 40 gr (2.6 g) |
| P90 muzzle velocity | 2,350 ft/s (716 m/s) | 2,350 ft/s (716 m/s) | 1,000 ft/s (305 m/s) | 2,300 ft/s (701 m/s) | 1,800 ft/s (549 m/s) | 1,950 ft/s (594 m/s) |
| P90 muzzle energy | 390 ft•lbf (529 J) | 390 ft•lbf (529 J) | 120 ft•lbf (163 J) | 330 ft•lbf (447 J) | 290 ft•lbf (393 J) | 340 ft•lbf (461 J) |
| Bullet type | FMJ "AP" | Tracer FMJ | FMJBT | JHP | V-Max | V-Max |
| Effective range | 200 m | 200 m | 100 m | 200 m | 150 m | 150 m |
| Color code | Plain or black | Red or red/black | White/grey tip | Plain JHP w/ silver primer | Red tip V-Max | Blue tip V-max |
| Availability | Class III | Class III | Class III | Civilian-Legal | Civilian-Legal (discontinued) | Civilian-Legal |
Note: Due to the longer barrel, the muzzle velocities of these cartridges are approximately 150 ft/s (~45 m/s) faster when fired from the PS90.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Canadian Police Research Center, Lead-free projectiles and lead-free primers
- American Handgunner Five-seveN/P90 Article
- SS190 gel and ballistics reports, courtesy of Dr. Roberts
- Sandy Wall's experience with the P90 - Houston PD
- FNH USA — 5.7 x 28 mm Weapon System
- Steve's (Latest) Firearms Interest: The FN 5.7 x 28 mm Weapon System
- Cross-sections of the SS190 and SS193 rounds
- Cross-section of the SS196SR round
- FN PS90 Discussion Forum
- FN Five-seveN Discussion Forum
[edit] References
- "5.7x28mm Bad Ammo Lot" Five-seveN forums.
