5.7x28mm Performance Summary

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Terminal performance of the

5.7x28mm cartridge

in 10% ballistic gelatin blocks

Brass Fetcher Ballistic Testing

26 February 2011



Introduction

The 5.7x28mm cartridge was initially designed for NATO Personal Defense Weapon (PDW) trials in the

1980s. It gives the appearance of a bottleneck rifle cartridge, scaled down to fire in a handgun. Benefits

offered by this cartridge include a large number of ‘stowed kills’ – that is, the conceptual combination of the

number of cartridges held by a weapon with the effectiveness of each cartridge. Additionally, the cartridges

available to the civilian market offer outstanding terminal performance against targets not wearing bodyarmor, with minimal recoil. Ammunition capable of defeating NIJ Level III-A soft body armor (the SS-190

cartridge) is available legally to civilians living in the United States, as of this writing, but it is somewhat

difficult to obtain. The ammunition for the 5.7x28mm found through normal commercial channels cannot be

expected to defeat Level III-A soft body armor and cause a significant wound to the wearer.

This cartridge has few drawbacks, aside from being somewhat scarce on the shelves of chain sporting

goods stores and being more expensive than traditional handgun cartridges. Fired from a handgun or a rifle,

this cartridge is ballistically similar to a 22 Magnum cartridge fired from a rifle-length barrel.

In order to get an idea for the terminal performance of this cartridge, three different projectiles were

tested, to include the SS-195 (often mistakenly referred to as a “hollowpoint” bullet but which is in fact a

reverse-drawn FMJ that happens to have a hole in the nose area) and SS-190, a 31gr bullet with a penetrator

made of steel which aids in penetration of soft body armor. Barnes 53gr TSX bullets were also tested, having

been lathe-turned to a 40gr weight by cutting off material from the bullet base. This was done in the interest

of evaluating the terminal performance of a ‘deep-penetrating’, controlled-expansion hollowpoint from a

5.7x28mm platform.

Raw Data

Cartridge

Type

Block

calibration

velocity

(ft/sec)

Block

calibration

depth

(inch)

Block

calibration

temperature

(degrees

Fahrenheit)

Gelatin block

core

temperature

(degrees

Fahrenheit)

Impact

velocity

(ft/sec)

Frontal

Surface

Area

(inch2)

Deepest

penetration

depth

(inch)

Non-

cavitation

depth

(inch)

Largest

crack

diameter

(inch)

Largest

crack

diameter

location

(inch)

SS-195 596 3.5 42.6 41.9 2416 0.153 8.5 8.0 3.1 4.3

SS-195 588 3.4 37.1 36.6 2404 0.161 9.0 8.1 2.8 2.5

SS-195 595 3.5 36.5 36.1 2271 0.290 7.1 7.1 4.1 5.2

40gr TSX 582 3.4 43.4 42.8 2033 0.088 15.1 11.5 2.3 4.4

40gr TSX 588 3.4 36.7 37.5 2140 0.192 14.4 9.3 3.0 2.5

40gr TSX 563 3.5 36.9 37.6 2226 0.115 13.9 10.1 2.9 4.3

SS-190 578 3.4 39.7 40.1 1981 0.148 9.0 5.5 2.6 2.4

Notes :

Weapon – Fabrique Nationale PS90 (5.7x28mm) serial number FN040621; with 16.1” barrel length

Fabrique Nationale Five-seveN (5.7x28mm) serial number 386125903; with 4.8” barrel length

Load # SS-190, SS-195, SS-197, Handloaded Barnes 40gr TSX

Distance – 10ft from muzzle to gelatin block



Results

Figure 1. Expansion versus Impact Velocity for Barnes 40gr TSX

Figure 2. Penetration Depth versus Impact Velocity for Barnes 40gr TSX



Armor Penetration

The 5.7x28mm cartridge is generally similar to conventional handgun cartridges in its soft-armor

penetration capability. Three physical attributes play into the ability of a projectile to penetrate armor

materials: sectional density, yield strength and impact velocity. For simplicity, let us assume that the

penetrator core of the SS-190 projectile is the full diameter of the bullet, in this case 0.224” and assume the

core of the SS-195 to be 0.224” in diameter as well. Below, we look at the sectional densities of other

handgun cartridges (again making the assumption that the nose of the bullet will easily flatten down upon

impact with soft and hard armor material).

Figure 3. Sectional densities of 5.7x28mm projectiles and common handgun calibers

We see from Figure 3 that the civilian alternative to the SS-190, the SS-195, has the lowest sectional

density, with SS-190 coming in second-to-last. In terms of sectional density, the 230gr 45ACP FMJ has the

highest potential for armor penetration. Sectional density is defined as the weight of the bullet divided by the

cross-sectional area of the bullet.



Figure 4. Yield strength of projectile core materials

Figure 4 illustrates some of the logic behind the writing of the bulk of the legislation that categorizes

bullets as being ‘armor piercing’. It is a chart of the minimum typical values for the yield strengths of various

metals used in projectile manufacturing. The two most-commonly found components in ‘sporting’ bullets is a

lead core and a thin jacket made of copper alloy 220. SS-195 consists of an aluminum core and thin copper

jacket, while SS-190 has an aluminum core with steel penetrator. Compared to more conventional

lead/copper bullets, we can see that both 5.7x28mm cartridges offer modest benefits to armor penetration in

terms of the material ‘toughness’ of the bullet upon impact. Much better materials for armor penetrationinclude the harder steels, any tungsten and of course, depleted uranium – but material cost/manufacture

becomes a major cost driver at this point.



Figure 5. Kinetic energy density of various handgun cartridges

We can see from Figure 5 that the 5.7mm cartridges, as tested, present the highest KE density to thetarget at impact. KE density is defined as the kinetic energy of the projectile at impact divided by the cross

sectional area of the projectile. For a given impact velocity and weight, the smaller diameter projectile will

have a greater kinetic energy density and thus, the greater likelihood of armor penetration.

Figures 3, 4 and 5 reveal that the tested 5.7mm projectiles have inherent advantages for armor

penetration, in two out of the three relevant physical characteristics. In order to ascertain the protective

capability of ballistic armor against the 5.7x28mm round, a preliminary shoot against NIJ III-A soft body armor

was completed.

Utilizing a new, unissued, NIJ III-A Kevlar vest backed by 10-percent ballistic gelatin, SS-190, SS-195 and

SS-197 were evaluated.

Figure 6. Protection of NIJ III-A soft armor vest against 5.7x28mm projectiles

Cartridge Penetration? Impact velocity

(ft/sec)

SS-190 YES 1981

SS-195 NO 1887

SS-195 NO 1943

SS-195 NO 1926

SS-197 NO 1666

SS-197 NO 1665

SS-197 NO 1683



Figure 6 illustrates that the sporting ammunition available for the 5.7x28mm is unlikely to be able to

penetrate a NIJ III-A bullet resistant vest and cause a serious injury to the wearer. As designed, the SS-190

armor piercing cartridge is capable of delivering a severe wound to personnel shielded by NIJ III-A soft body

armor. The behind armor damage of the SS-190 is presented graphically in Figures 7, 8 and 9 below.

Figure 7. Side View of SS-190 impact with NIJ III-A vest and ballistic gelatin

Figure 8. Top View of SS-190 impact with NIJ III-A vest and ballistic gelatin

Figure 9. Fragment View of SS-190 projectile after impact with NIJ III-A vest and ballistic gelatin



Figure 10. Side View of SS-195 shot 1 gelatin block

Figure 11. Top View of SS-195 shot 1 gelatin block

Figure 12. Fragment View of SS-195 shot 1 projectile



Figure 19. Side View of 40gr TSX shot 1 gelatin block

Figure 20. Top View of 40gr TSX shot 1 gelatin block

Figure 21. Fragment View of 40gr TSX shot 1 projectile



Conclusion

As tested, non-armor piercing 5.7x28mm cartridges pose a minimal threat to personnel wearing a NIJ

III-A bullet resistant vest. Due to their higher kinetic energy densities, the SS-195 and SS-190 cartridge offer

greater potential to disable the skeletal system of an attacker when compared to conventional handguns.

This, coupled with a higher magazine capacity than a conventional handgun make the 5.7x28mm cartridge a

very reasonable choice for civilian self-defense.

5.7x28mm Performance Summary

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