5.7 x 28 mm

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The 5.7 x 28 mm cartridge is a small caliber round for pistols and submachine guns developed by Fabrique Nationale.

It was designed for the modern battlefield where troops may be wearing body armor and conventional pistol or submachine gun rounds may be ineffective. The only commercially sold firearms that utilize this cartridge are the Five-seveN pistol and the FN P90 personal defense weapon. A third-party weapon system is being developed by Singapore Technologies Kinetics, using the cartridge as an integral defense weapon for a programmable, tube-fed, 40 mm grenade launcher.

1 Overview
2 Variants
3 Specifications
4 Weapons
5 Links
6 External links

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Overview

The 5.7 x 28 mm rounds are bottle-necked cartridges which come in several versions. They have a relatively high muzzle velocity and low recoil. Armor piercing versions of this round are highly effective at piercing body armor.

A brief controversy ensued in the United States when it was claimed by the Brady Campaign that certain variants (namely the SS192) are able to pierce body armor worn by most police officers even when fired from the Five-seveN pistol. The claimed ability of SS192 to pierce body armor was not confirmed 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 ATF. Nonetheless, FN quickly chose to withdraw the SS192 from the market and replace it with the SS196. SS196's anti-armor performance is diminished due to greater bullet weight (hence lower muzzle velocity) and a much softer tip that 'squishes' on impact against armor.

The SS190 ball FMJ cartridge has also been labeled by the media as "armor piercing", and was in fact designed to penetrate CRISAT body armor. However, almost any rifle cartridge (which the 5.7 x 28mm ballistically resembles) will penetrate Level IIIA armor. Hard-plate Level III or IV armor will stop rifle fire; however, trauma plates are bulky, heavy, and restrictive of movement. True armor piercing bullets will have a tungsten carbide core or similar hard metal core designed to penetrate ceramic and titanium plates as well as vehicle armor. The SS190 has a steel and aluminum core.

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Variants

SS90 ball – an early prototype round. It used a lightweight 23-grain full metal jacket bullet with a polymer core. It was abandoned in favor of the heavier SS190 projectile, which has greater potential for accuracy and penetration.

SS190 ball – the bullet is comprised of a steel penetrator followed by an aluminum core that will defeat 48 layers of kevlar at 200 meters, when fired from the P90 submachine gun. The SS190 bullet's core is heavier than the tip, which causes the bullet to tumble on impact without deforming or fragmenting. This prevents overpenetration and unintended secondary damage, while increasing the lethality of the round. Older versions of the SS190 ammunition have an unmarked tip; however, newer versions are identified by a black tip.

SS191 tracer – combustible chemicals packed in the rear of the projectile create a contrail visible up to 200 m. The SS191's ballistics are almost identical to those of the SS190. SS191 tracer ammunition has a red tip. It was previously designated "L191".

SS192 hollow point – features a hollow point bullet designed to collapse on impact, inflicting greater damage to unarmored soft targets. Production of this round has been discontinued. SS192 ammunition has an unmarked, hollow tip. SS192 can be differentiated from SS195LF by the brass colored primer.

Sb193 subsonic – features a 55-grain (3.6 g) Sierra Game King FMJ projectile. The Sb193's low muzzle velocity eliminates the distinctive crack created by supersonic rounds — when used in conjunction with a sound and flash suppressor, the muzzle report becomes negligible. The Sb193 suffers from greatly reduced penetration, but benefits from slightly lower recoil. Sb193 subsonic ammunition has a white tip.

T194 training/duty – early version of the SS192. The T194 round has also been discontinued. It has a green tip.

SS195LF lead-free – features a lead free primer, with similar ballistics to the SS192 round. The SS195 may be identified by the unmarked, hollow tip. The SS195LF can be differentiated from SS192 by the silver colored primer.

SS196SR "sporting" – features a 40-grain (2.6 g) Hornady V-Max projectile. The V-Max bullet is a standard jacketed hollow point bullet with a copper jacket, lead core, and a polymer tip that squishes on impact. The SS196SR is designed to replace the discontinued SS192 and T194 rounds and travels at a slower velocity. The SS196 may be identified by the red plastic V-Max projectile.

SS197SR – a new round, not yet available, the SS197 will use the same 40-grain V-max projectile as the SS196, but at increased velocity. It will use a blue plastic tip.

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Specifications

	SS190	SS191	SS192	Sb193	T194	SS195LF	SS196SR	SS197SR
Cartridge length	40.5 mm	40.5 mm	40.5 mm	40.5 mm	40.5 mm	40.5 mm	40.5 mm	40.5 mm
Projectile weight	2.02 g	2.02 g	1.80 g	3.56 g	1.80 g	1.80 g	2.59 g	2.59 g
Muzzle velocity	715 m/s	715 m/s	705 m/s	300 m/s	705 m/s	705 m/s	500 m/s	n/a
Effective range¹	200 m	200 m	n/a	50 m	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Color code	none or black	red	none	white	green	none	red polymer	blue polymer