Five years ago, I decided to pick up the PS90 carbine from Fabrique Nationale Herstal, along with the FiveSeven handgun.  I had been wanting to get a carbine/handgun combo in the same ammunition in case of political unrest, robot or zombie apocalypse…or just to have.

I had fired the full-auto version of the P90 a few years back and was impressed with the weapon’s reliability and accuracy.  Stopping power was a questionable issue to a lot of the US shooting commnunity, but the record of the P90 in the field was solid, despite the whinging of the “if it don’t start with a 4 and end in a 5, it ain’t good enough” crowd.

I got my PS90 for $1100 in 2004 and the FiveSeven for $800.  (Can’t do that now!)  Since I’ve had it, I have put 5000-6000 rounds through the carbine with only a few jams (FTF), mostly due to a bad ammo lot.  It likes the 40-grain SS197 blue-tips, especially, whereas the pistol (mine, at least) prefers the 28-grain SS195 rounds.

The weapon is ambidextrous, with charging handles on either side of the weapon and a rotary safety under the trigger.  The magazine sits on the top of the weapon, inside the frame for the optics, and civilian mags hold 30 rounds (10 if you’re unlucky enough to still live in California.)  the guts can be swapped for the standard military 50-round magazine, or you can buy them straight out.  FN mags run about $70, but there are other companies making the magazines, now that there are AR uppers for the 5.7x28mm.  They run about $40.  Spent casings eject out of the bottom.  The weapon is small, even with the 16″ barrel, and the original 10″ makes this the perfect urban house gun.  (you don’t even have to dip the muzzle going through a door; they’re lovely!)

Accuracy is superb in the FN, both in the 10 and 16″ barrel.  Stock PS90s have a black reticle sight that, frankly, sucks.  They also have iron sights on either side of the sight that are solid out to 25 yards.  I was able to group sub-2″ groups out to 25 yards with a bit of deliberation, and could rapid fire a 4″ group at 15 yards without a problem.  Since the stock sight is awful, I installed an equipment rail (simple unscrew the sight, drop in a rail [they can be had from gunbroker or CMMGinc.com] and throw on a sight) and a cheap $40 BSA red dot scope, no magnification, and have managed to hit a wine bottle at 300 yards.  That’s a bit outside of the intended operational range of a personal defense weapon (50-100 yards.)  At the intended self-defense range of 25-100 yards, the weapon will group sub 2″ groups with ease.  Iron sights are good out to about 50 yards, but require the shooter to really hunker over the gun.

Operation is a simple blowback bolt on dual rails with lightweight springs.  The gun, like the FiveSeven, runs incredibly clean and a trip to the range with 200 rounds through it looked like it hadn’t been used at all.  Takedown is accomplished with a push of a button, then pulling off the barrel assembly.  Slide out the bolt and take off the buttplate.  Then remove the trigger pack.  Done.  the gun runs so clean, I rarely clean the trigger pack.  One pass with a boresnake and a few Q-tips, and the weapon is clean in under two minutes.

The 5.7x28mm round is a cut down 5.56mm.  Factory ammo velocities are in the 2300fps range for the PS90.  The round has little recoil and is designed on impact to yaw and cavitate; the effects are disproportionate to the muzzle energy and size of the round (.224 diameter.) SS195s in ballistic gel open a larger temporary wound track than a .45.  Penetration is comparable to a 9mm hollow-point:  about 11-12 inches.  The SS195 yaw and cavitate as designed, where as the SS197s fragment.  Muzzle energy on the SS197s is on par with the 9mm 115 grain round, but I’ve got anecdotal evidence the SS195 are more effective in dropping a two-legged target.  (Thanks to my Little Rock forensics hookup!)

The rounds are easily stopped by hard cover beyond 25 yards, but they do a number on soft tissue out to 100 yards.  They’ll drop a nutria (it’s a souped up groundhog) with a shot, where a 9mm will just piss them off; I’ve heard of guys taking down small deer with the PS90.

Reliability of this weapon is top-notch, as is accuracy.  Recoil is negligible, making it an excellent starter rifle for kids or casual shooters, and an excellent self-defense weapon.  The round is effective on small game and for defense purposes.  Maintenance is incredibly easy.  FN’s customer service is great, as well; I managed to break a magazine and they replaced it, no questions asked.  (The magazines were a problem for a while, but their plastic quality as improved dramatically.)

It’s worth the money up to about $1500.  After that, look for a used one.