Guns.com reports that S&W have debuted a 22+1 round, 5.7mm caliber, M&P pistol at Shot Show. The article relates that the new pistol has a polymer frame with one of the thinnest grips for a 5.7, and used a "5-inch barrel featuring Smith's patented rotary-locked new Tempo barrel system – a lock-breech two-part barrel with a proprietary gas system – the M&P 5.7 uses flush-fitting magazines with a standard 22+1 round capacity." MSRP is $699 according to the article.
The problem with buying a 5.7 pistol is...THE COST OF THE AMMO! Don't make the same mistake as me...which is go out and buy a 5.7 pistol...and then discover later on that the ammunition is ridiculously expensive and that there are very few choices. What ammo is available on the market is mostly "dumbed down" so it cannot penetrate soft body armor. Federals 40 grain has had the bullet noses deliberately blunted to reduce penetration...and anything 40 grain is going to be slow coming out of a pistol length barrel, anyway. It is possible to find SS198LF which is high velocity 27 grain aluminum core ammo...but it too is over a dollar a round and I've heard tell that the primers it uses have a shelf life of 10 years or less. Honestly, had I looked into the ammo situation first, I probably would not have bought my 5.7 pistol. Some company out there could corner the market and make a fortune by creating decent ammo that performs like the 5.7x28 was originally intended to.
ReplyDeleteHopefully the growing popularity of 5.7 will result in more ammo manufacturers offering 5.7 ammo which could force down prices.
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