Specs & Overview
At just 0.87 pounds unloaded and 0.98 inches wide at the thickest point, the KelTec PR-5.7 is a featherlight semi-auto, hammer-fired, double-action pistol with an internal magazine. It uses 10-round stripper clips for loading and offers a total capacity of 20+1 rounds of 5.7x28mm.
I’ve already run this gun through its paces for a full review. Without question, the strangest feature is the lack of a removable magazine. However, the internal magazine and rotary action are the two key features that allow this pistol to be so lightweight and thin.
Reloading is a slow affair with the stripper clips, but it’s still faster than most revolvers. Plus, the onboard capacity of 20+1 makes the need for a self-defense reload highly unlikely.
That said, the double-action trigger has a long 0.68-inch travel. The trigger pull itself is light, but you will need to train with that long trigger to get comfortable running it fast and accurately.
Here's a quick breakdown of the relevant specs:
Weight (Unloaded/No Dot): 0.87 pounds
Weight (With Dot): 0.98 pounds
Length: 7.16 inches
Barrel Length: 3.87 inches
Sight Radius: 6.2 inches
Height: 4.99 inches
Width (Grip): 0.98 inches
Width (Slide): 0.93 inches
Chambering: 5.7x28mm
Capacity: 21 rounds
Trigger Pull: 4.3 pounds (10-pull average)
Is Reloading an Issue?
First, let’s address the elephant in the room. The internal magazine and stripper-clip system is strange to see in a modern firearm. Reloading is slow, even awkward, but I think a lot of folks overthink how much that matters.
The vast majority of self-defense incidents with firearms involve well under five shots. Reloading isn’t just rare when it comes to civilian self-defense; it’s almost non-existent. I cannot recall a single specific instance of a necessary reload from the hundreds of actual civilian self-defense situations I have watched, read about, or reviewed with firearms professionals.
Besides, I can reload this PR-5.7 with a 10-round stripper clip faster than I can reload a six-shot revolver with a speed strip. For those who want to carry extra ammo, I have stuffed KelTec’s 10-round stripper clips into my pockets before hitting the range, shoveling snow, working on my car, hiking, etc., and all the rounds stayed in the clip with no problem.
However, there are some potential issues.
The internal magazine can only be unloaded by manually cycling the slide. That also makes clearing any malfunctions trickier, given the fact that you cannot first clear the gun of any extra ammo. You must manually lock the slide back and force the already loaded ammo back down into the magazine while you clear any issues from the chamber.
If you want to carry this gun for self-defense, you need to practice loading and unloading procedures, along with how to properly clear a malfunction with a fixed internal magazine. Malfunctions were rare for me with the right ammo, but they are always possible.
Concealed Carry Holsters
My biggest complaint about the PR-5.7 to date is that holster options are still very limited. There are a handful of semi-custom holster makers with options for the PR-5.7, but the only common branded holster I have seen is the one from Rounded by Concealment.
This Kydex holster gets the job done just fine for me, but I would prefer one from some of my go-to holster makers. I find the clip to be too bulky for such a thin gun. Still, the PR-5.7 in a Rounded holster vanishes under my clothes just fine.
Here are some examples of how it conceals under various color patterns and types of clothing.
Reliability & Accuracy
I can forgive slow reloading in a gun with a 21-round capacity, but only if the gun is also reliable and accurate. Here, again, you must put in some effort as a responsible gun owner and test your gear.
The PR-5.7 has the accuracy certification in the bag from my testing. Here are my groups shot at various distances. Keep in mind, the trigger on this gun is a long but light double-action pull. It’s suboptimal for precision, but it works.
Moving on to reliability, I will stress that you need to test your firearm and find the ammo it likes the most before you carry it. Not sometimes – as a rule.
While some folks have reported reliability issues with some types of ammo on early models, I simply have not had a similar experience. I have put more than 800 rounds through this PR-5.7 over the last eight months, and it has been at least as reliable as most of the popular 9mm carry guns I have tested and carried this year.
Ammo seems to matter quite a bit here. My shooting has all been done with FN Gunr 40-grain FMJ, FN Gunr polymer-tipped 40-grain sporting ammo, and 40-grain Speer Gold Dot hollow-point loads. Other reviewers running 40-grain Federal American Eagle have reported repeated issues.
My advice is the same as it would be with any other carry gun: do not carry a firearm until you have tested the gun, optic, and your ammo at a range to your level of confidence. It’s that simple.
For instance, I put a rather large Vortex Defender-ST red dot on this PR-5.7’s thin slide. That required a lot of testing before I felt confident the gun would run well with that optic. My FN ammo ran like clockwork, and so did my Speer Gold Dot.
5.7mm Ballistic Testing
It’s fair to say 5.7mm isn’t a common self-defense load in this world of 9mm micro carry guns. I ran some velocity testing on my 40-grain Speer Gold Dot hollow-point ammo. I got a five-shot average of 1,591.5 fps out of the PR-5.7’s 3.87-inch barrel.
That gives the 40-grain bullet 224.91 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle. You can compare that to my testing with 124-grain Federal 9mm Punch hollow-point ammo, which offered 354.99 foot-pounds of energy.
That is a bit underwhelming, but 5.7mm ammo shows off better on gel, where you can see it creates a rather dynamic and aggressive wound cavity.
Total penetration for that Gold Dot ammo came to 20-21 inches in 10-percent FBI ballistic gel, and all three of the 5.7mm hollow-point bullets opened well. That total penetration is just over the FBI’s goal of 12 to 18 inches.
Overall, the PR-5.7’s chambering for 5.7mm gives it great mid-to-long-range performance for a handgun, but it can lead to deeper penetration than other self-defense chamberings like 9mm at close ranges.
Pros & Cons
Here’s my short list of the pros and cons of the KelTec PR-5.7 pistol as a concealed carry firearm.
Pros:
- Reliable with the right ammo
- Affordably priced
- Conceals well thanks to the light, thin design
- 20+1 capacity of 5.7x28mm
- Accurate and easy to shoot
- Low felt recoil
- Solid long-range potential
- Fast, flat-shooting 5.7mm ammo
- Clever stripper-clip loading tech
- Optics ready
- Extra stripper clips are cheap
- Stripper clips reliably hold ammo in pockets
Cons:
- Limited holster options so far (Rounded by Concealment has one of the few)
- May be ammo-sensitive, particularly with 40-grain American Eagle 5.7mm
- Long but light trigger pull
- Slower reloads with a non-removable magazine
- Expensive ammo
- Somewhat large grip
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Unloading requires manually cycling the slide
Final Thoughts
I wouldn’t call the PR-5.7 a go-to-war gun by any measure. It is a light and thin gun, but it is not indestructible. Still, it is one of the most accessibly priced 5.7mm handguns on the market, and it is tailor-made for concealed carry.
You will have to learn to live with the stripper-clip feeding system and the unique internal magazine. Those are trade-offs that keep this a slender, light, and affordable carry option. Still, a 20+1 capacity is nothing to scoff at, and my testing has left me impressed with the gun’s overall range performance.
Beyond that, this is one of the funnest and cheapest ways to add a 5.7mm pistol to your collection if you are interested in exploring the caliber further at the range. It can even reach out to 100 yards with surprising accuracy.
