This was a surprise. I haven’t had a chance to fire this, but a friend has and gave me the run down on the pistol compared to the venerable FN FiveSeven.
RUGER-57™ 5.7x28mm Pistol
Introduced in 2020, Ruger stepped in to save the 5.7x28mm cartridge, which has been limping along since the early 1990s. The caliber has a small but loyal following, but outside of a few custom offerings for rifles, the round was relegated to the overly expensive FN FiveSeven and the accompanying P90 personal defense weapon and its civilian carbine versions. Adding to the caliber’s troubles was an infamy for being a “cop killing” because of its ability to penetrate soft armor decades ago. The manufacturers of the 5.7mm cut the power of the round, dropping its speed from a blistering 2100fps from the pistol to a mundane 1600fps, placing it on par with .22 magnum. coupled with the expense of the round, this limited the popularity of the 5.7mm.
Ruger has stepped in with a similar pistol to the FiveSeven — a hammer-fired semi-automatic that has a 20 round (metal, not polymer like the FN), and with a thinner, more ergonomic grip. Unlike the FN, the safety is placed at the back of the receiver, like many handguns and is ambidextrous. The slide has a cut in the front, top-side to reduce weight and aid in function. This and the lower bore axis of the Ruger mean faster follow up shot and even less felt recoil than the already very easy shooting FN FiveSeven.
Limited commercial reloaders can reproduce the velocities that made 5.7mm a decent self-defense pistol, and Ruger is pushing manufacturers to offer more 5.7mm offerings.
PM: +2 S/R: 3 AMMO: E CLOS: 0-8 LONG: 15-22 CON: +1 JAM: 99+ DR: 0 RL: 1 COST: $800
GM Information: Most commercial rounds for the 5.7mm have a DC: D and reduce armor effects by one. For military and specialty loads, the round halves armor ratings. Both commercial and military rounds hav a -1WL to inanimate objects.
(I carried a FN FiveSeven for years and loved it. The weight was almost non-existent, like carrying an airsoft gun. Even with an anemic round, 20 in the mag was enough to do the trick. I also had a P-90, which was easily my favorite “long” gun. But the wimping out of the round’s speed and power, and the expense of the bullets led to me abandoning it for the Walther PPQ. I’m hoping to get my grubby wee paws on this thing soon to try it out. SCR)
The Black Campbell 
27 January, 2020 at 20:43
I handled one of these over the weekend and Ruger got it right with the design. It feels much better in the hand and fits the web between the thumb and index finger better and also rides a bit lower. I love my FN 5/7, but when I have the cash I’ll be buying a pair of these.
27 January, 2020 at 20:55
The reviews have been pretty good so far.
28 January, 2020 at 19:41
It lives up to them. I love my FN, but that hump at the top of the backstrap always gave the gun a bias to point down when I presented it. The Ruger doesn’t have that problem. It’s a shame, I had hoped that FN would bring out a striker fired version of the 5/7, but after talking to the FN USA reps at GAOS, I’m convinced that FN has considered the design a developmental dead-end, especially in the US market.
28 January, 2020 at 20:45
Perhaps that will change with others picking up the slack. They lost a lot of folks when they started to cut the velocities on the civilian ammo.
28 January, 2020 at 20:58
I understand why FN did what they did, I also understand that even with the hotter ammo you’re not going to get the same velocity that you would from a P/PS-90, so it didn’t bother me that much. I have some stuff from Elite that is hotter, so if the need arises, I’m good.
I think that a the 5.7 is one of those rounds that is searching for a reason to exist in the Civilian world. One thing I’d like to see is CZ chamber either their 527 or a beefed up 455, or Ruger one of their American Rimfires for the cartridge and present it as a small game/pest control option. It’s more than a .22 Mag, but less than a .222/.223, and fills a sweet spot between not enough and too much. Then again, I also want to see them chamber their PC Carbine in the caliber.
But back to the ammo issue. In the end it’s going to come down to ammo cost to determine whether this will be anything but a boutique or enthusiast’s caliber. I’d like to see what Lehigh Defense/Underwood could do with some of their exotics like the Ultimate Defender.
29 January, 2020 at 06:16
I wouldn’t be surprised if Ruger’s working on a carbine or rifle offering.