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 body
armor, 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
Block Gelatin block Largest Largest
Block Block Frontal Deepest Non-
calibration core Impact crack crack
Cartridge calibration calibration Surface penetration cavitation
temperature temperature velocity diameter diameter
Type velocity depth Area depth depth
(degrees (degrees (ft/sec) (inch) location
(ft/sec) (inch) (inch2) (inch) (inch)
Fahrenheit) Fahrenheit) (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 penetration
include 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 the
target 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 13. Side View of SS-195 shot 2 gelatin block

Figure 14. Top View of SS-195 shot 2 gelatin block

Figure 15. Fragment View of SS-195 shot 2 projectile

Figure 16. Side View of SS-195 shot 3 gelatin block

Figure 17. Top View of SS-195 shot 3 gelatin block

Figure 18. Fragment View of SS-195 shot 3 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

Figure 22. Side View of 40gr TSX shot 2 gelatin block

Figure 23. Top View of 40gr TSX shot 2 gelatin block

Figure 24. Fragment View of 40gr TSX shot 2 projectile

Figure 25. Side View of 40gr TSX shot 3 gelatin block

Figure 26. Top View of 40gr TSX shot 3 gelatin block

Figure 27. Fragment View of 40gr TSX shot 3 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.