Brief FN Five-seveN History
FN Herstal officially unveiled its work on the Five-seveN pistol chambered for 5.7x28mm in 1995. The company created the handgun – along with the 5.7x28mm cartridge and accompanying FN P90 submachine gun – to fulfill a 1989 NATO request for new “personal defense weapons.”
NATO’s main goal was to bridge the gap between traditional handguns and larger shoulder-fired guns for personal defense. Requirements for these PDWs included longer effective ranges, better performance against armored threats, and greater ammunition capacities.
Related: 5.7x28mm – History or Zippy Future?
In short, NATO wanted the best of both worlds, which was a challenging feat. FN was the first to jump on the task and introduced what would become the P90 in 1990. The Five-seveN took a longer road and didn’t enter production until 1998.
The Five-seveN initially met with a fair amount of success with a focus on international military and law enforcement contracts. In 2004, FN made the Five-seveN available on the consumer market. However, it was met with unwarranted scorn and attempted bans by anti-gun groups in the U.S. due to its novel chambering.
The pistol survived these political attacks, but the Five-seveN and 5.7x28mm round remained relatively niche items in the shooting world. This recently changed around the same time NATO standardized the 5.7mm round in 2021, and a wave of new firearms hit the market over just the last five years.
Related: 5.7 Throwdown – Ruger-57 vs FN Five-seveN
Today, we’re spoiled to have options like the PSA 5.7 Rock, M&P 5.7, Diamondback DBX 5.7, Ruger-57, KelTec P50, and even a KelTec Sub2000 in 5.7x28mm. But it was the Five-seveN that kicked it all off in the first place.
Specs & Features
Despite its outward appearance, this Five-seveN MK2 is a hammer-fired gun. A stubby hammer at the rear of the frame is concealed by the slide when the firearm is fully assembled. The semi-auto, single-action design uses a delayed recoil mechanism. Upon firing, both the slide and barrel recoil to the rear.
Unlike a fixed-barrel blowback pistol or a tilting/rotating locking breach, the Five-seveN’s barrel stops its rearward motion as the slide continues to move backward. This draws the empty casing out of the chamber and ejects it. The slide then returns, strips a new cartridge from the magazine, and pushes the barrel forward as it chambers the next round.
Related: Not Your Father's 5.7 – New FN Five-SeveN MK3 MRD Review
Extensive use of polymer makes the Five-seveN good at resisting corrosion in harsh environments. It also lightens the otherwise large pistol to just 1.32 pounds unloaded. That loaded weight jumps to a mere 1.79 pounds when loaded with 20+1 rounds of 40-grain FMJ 5.7x28mm. Even the slide has a polymer lining that wraps around a metal frame.
Here’s a rundown of the basic specs:
- Weight: 1.32 pounds
- Length: 8.2 inches
- Barrel Length: 4.8 inches
- Sight Radius: 7 inches
- Width: 1.18 inches
- Height: 5.8 inches
- Capacity: 20+1
- Trigger Pull: 5.23 pounds
The trigger and sights are two highlights for me on this gun. Here’s a peek at how the trigger works:
There’s just 0.18 inches of positive travel to get to the wall. That’s followed by around 0.07 inches of pull through the wall to the break. It feels short, crisp, and predictable. The reset is fast, positive, tactile, and audible with just 0.22 inches of travel. It’s a trigger you can run quickly right out of the box.
The three-dot sights are raised and adjustable at the rear for windage and elevation. The slide hosts front and rear serrations that are positive but not sharp or grating. Then there’s the grip texture. FN used alternating raised lines at the front and rear of the grip, while the sides are generously covered in raised bumps. These combine for a comfortable but positive grip that’s not abrading to the skin when shooting.
I do have a few petty complaints. The gun is chunky in the hand and large enough to be called oversized. This thing dwarfs my full-size Glock 17. That said, it’s lightweight, easy to wield, accurate, and feels positive and controllable in my larger hands.
My biggest complaint is with the safety. I’m sure you could train to become perfectly comfortable with it. I just personally think trigger fingers should only do two things: pull triggers and wait to pull triggers. The FN Five-seveN uses a forward frame-mounted safety.
This allows you to swipe the safety with your trigger finger. However, it goes against almost every other handgun safety design on the market. I found myself fumbling to use it early in testing. It works fine, it’s ambidextrous, and it’s easy enough to use. I just dislike the ergonomics of it and the fact my trigger finger is now pulling double duty on the range as a safety flicker.
This model also hosts a magazine disconnect safety, which I dislike but is hardly a deal-breaker. On a positive note, the magazine eject button is enlarged, requires a very deliberate push, and spits out empty magazines with plenty of gusto for faster reloading.
Range Testing + Video
For those who are interested, here’s some gratuitous shooting video with the FN Five-seveN so you can see how fast this gun can actually run. We bounced it around on a variety of paper and steel targets at various ranges to get a better feel for the platform:
I wasn’t sure I was really going to like this gun when I first took it out to the range, and I was wrong. The gun is bulky in size, but it’s lightweight, surprisingly nimble in the hand, and easy to shoot accurately. There’s little recoil or muzzle climb, which makes follow-up shots fast and more accurate.
After test firing 700 rounds of 5.7x28mm ammo that included plenty of barrier shooting, shooting on the move, and strings of rapid fire, I have not had a single malfunction. That shooting included 550 rounds of 40-grain FMJ FN SS201 target ammo and 150 rounds of 40-grain polymer-tipped Hornady FN SS197SR sporting ammo.
Related: 5.7x 28mm as a Defensive Round?
Double taps flowed with ease on the range thanks to the gun’s flat-shooting characteristics, and I found it plenty accurate even beyond my normal self-defense shooting distances. Here’s what I pulled off at 25 feet shooting as fast as I felt I could bring the gun accurately back on target:
And here’s what I got when I slowed down and pushed it out to 35 feet:
I also had the gun on the range shooting at 10, 7.5, and 5-inch steel targets at 25 yards. The Five-seveN was more than capable of ringing even the 5-inch steel predictably from various shooting positions. Thanks to the nice trigger, the same was true when moving to close the distance on targets.
The only thing I fumbled with when shooting a few times was the forward safety. I have to alternate my shooting time between lots of guns for most range visits, so the forward safety placement is, well, annoying. You can train to overcome that issue easily enough.
Pros & Cons
Here’s my short list of the pros and cons for the FN Five-seveN:
Pros:
- Reliable
- Accurate
- Easy to control
- Fast shooting
- Flat-shooting 5.7x28mm round
- Great capacity at 20+1
- Lightweight
- Nice sights
- Good grip and slide texture
- Lots of Picatinny rail space
Cons:
- Large size
- Unique forward safety
- 5.7x28mm ammo is a bit pricey
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Magazine disconnect safety
Final Thoughts
Some argue that FN’s Five-seveN pistol is a bit of a niche firearm even today. Yet, there are more and more handguns chambered for the 5.7x28mm round, and the Five-seveN itself has a lot to offer that takes it beyond your run-of-the-mill self-defense pistol.
It’s large but makes up for it by bringing a 20+1 capacity packed into a lightweight design. It’s accurate and can reach out with its flat-shooting bullet trajectories. It’s had decades to prove itself as both a tactical, target, and self-defense firearm. Plus, it’s a joy to shoot if you don’t mind paying a bit more for 5.7mm ammo.
Newer models like the Five-seveN MK3 MRD bring this now-classic design into the age of optics-ready pistols. Fortunately, that means there’s often a lower price tag for the older MK2 models.
