Not every soldier is slated to go into combat. More and more troops are tasked with support roles, jobs that might not require shooting it out with the bad guys, but which are still vital to getting the mission done.

It has long been realized that these soldiers don’t need to carry around full combat loads everywhere they go, but the chance still exists that the enemy will attack them directly. Weapons traditionally issued to rear echelon troops worked fine in the past, but could very well come up short in this era of cheap and plentiful body armor. Something with better range, accuracy, stopping power and penetration than the standard pistol was required.

The firm of FN developed a tiny rifle cartridge that could be used in the self defense role for support troops, and built a submachine gun around the new ammo. The P90 cartridge had the accuracy, range and penetration to defeat enemy soldiers equipped with body armor put past the 100 yard mark, but still had a light enough recoil that it could be handled by just about anyone.

Did I say it had light recoil? Indeed it does! The 5.7X28mm cartridge produces about 350 ft/lbs of muzzle energy, which is comparable to the .45 ACP pistol cartridge. Compare this to the standard rifle cartridge of the US Armed Forces, the 5.56X45mm, which produces about 1600 ft/lbs of muzzle energy. Better than four times the energy, more wounding potential, but also a harder time controlling the weapon while firing full auto.

So the good people at FN managed to come up with something that fit a very real need. The P90 was everything that it was supposed to be, and yet there were very few buyers even so. One of the reasons why the US government passed was due to a decision to field a smaller and lighter version of the M16 battle rifle, something that could be used by combat units as well as support troops. This was the M4, and it is chambered for the more powerful and capable 5.56mm cartridge.

But what about all the cash FN put in to developing the new weapon? They decided to market a handgun chambered for the new round, something that is only possible due to the extremely small size of the 5.7mm round. This is the FN Five Seven, and it has seen some success in the hands of police and hostage rescue units.

Steven was kind enough to send me this news article. It seems that Maj. Hasan was using a Five Seven during his murder spree at Ft. Hood. He was also equipped with a .357 Magnum revolver, but it appears that the wheel gun was never used.

Steven was wondering how the gun could cause so much damage since the round essentially fires a .22 caliber bullet. While true that the round is itsy, it is also moving at a very fast clip. I’ve heard that the wounds produced are somewhat similar to those produced by the .22 Magnum cartridge in that they are small in diameter yet deep.

Another thing to consider is the ammo capacity of the gun itself. Twenty round magazines are standard, and it is not difficult to purchase thirty round mags. Maj. Hasan had plenty of firepower available, which fits reports that he fired more than 100 rounds during his attack on unarmed soldiers.

Read that news article again, and note how the authors are doing their best to depict the Five Seven as some sort of murder machine. It is a “cop killer” gun, something they say more than once. (“Cop killer! Cop killer!“) They suggest that the gun is a favorite of Mexican drug cartels, guilt by association. The fact that the majority of buyers have been police agencies isn’t mentioned.

Anyone interested in armed self defense has seen this same thing many times before. First they try to demonize one gun, then they try to demonize them all.  Why don’t they just focus on the criminal who commits such foul deeds instead of obsessing about the gear they use?

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 7th, 2009 at 3:32 am and is filed under 2nd Amendment, Gun and Gear Review, Terrorism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.