AR57 upper is just hilarious to shoot.

[AbitNutz]

I received a Wolf AR57 upper from a knowledgeable gift giver. It shoots 5.7x28 and uses the funky 50-round PE90 magazines. When I first saw it I was convinced it was going to be a jam-O matic. I was so wrong. It wasn't bad to load either. I filled it full of 5.7x28, strapped it to a KE-Arms KP15 polymer lower, and went to the range.
I was stunned when it emptied the magazine without a hiccup. It ejects the spent cases out of the magwell. Which I also find hilarious. I saw this trick online. Gut an old 30-round polymer magazine, cut the feed lips off, and locked it in place, and use it to catch the empty cases. I caught all 50 of those tiny little cases. I'm definitely going to start reloading these expensive little jewells.
The thing weighs nothing. It's like holding a magic wand. It's reasonably accurate with the red dot I have and it has absolutely zero recoil. So little in fact, that my G/F actually agreed to shoot it.
I also found some machined Delrin magazine rollers FNSpecualties that really ease loading the magazine. It wasn't bad before but now it's pretty much nothing.
I was worried that this upper would be pretty much unusable. I was so, so wrong. It's really a neat piece of work. The only thing I don't like about it is cleaning it. Of course, cleaning rifles is not high on my list but it seems that 5.7x28 is a bit dirtier than most, or I shot more than I thought or maybe the barrel isn't as smooth as a Bartlein....or maybe all of the above.

 

[alamo5000]

Pretty much the only reason I have not gotten into this cartridge is because of the cost of ammo and a related lack of reloading support.

Add a suppressor and those 50 round mags and you have yourself an excellent time.

 

[roostercogburn98]

Pretty much the only reason I have not gotten into this cartridge is because of the cost of ammo and a related lack of reloading support.

Plenty of reloading support for the 5.7

 

[AbitNutz]

I'm going to try and reload the little bas%*$#rd. Maybe I can use a cleaner powder. With the gutted magazine catching the empties it's just begging for it.

 

[roostercogburn98]

I'm going to try and reload the little bas%*$#rd. Maybe I can use a cleaner powder. With the gutted magazine catching the empties it's just begging for it.

Autocomp is your friend with this caliber

 

[AbitNutz]

Autocomp is your friend with this caliber

I will definitely have to try it. I pound should last a lifetime. It uses so little it's almost silly.

 

[alamo5000]

Plenty of reloading support for the 5.7

Now. But not back when when I was looking at it closely.

A buddy has pistols and a PS90 that we used to shoot all the time. Back then I decided against it because of ammo cost and availability at the time.

 

[AbitNutz]

This just cracks me up...

45	Sierra SPT	Accurate	AAC-5	5.6 gr	1746 FPS

This is the velocity for a pistol. I imagine it's a bit more for a 16" rifle barrel. But after dropping gigantic amounts of powder into 300 RUM cases seeing 5.6 gr is more than I spill on each load.

 

[Conqueror]

I have shot 5.7 for years and never reloaded it. My understanding from all my research when I started is that you have to kinda baby the cases to protect the dry film lubricant they are coated in to help them extract properly, and that the cartridge has a very thin safety margin between “just right” and “kaboom your gun.”

 

[AbitNutz]

I've heard that too. There's a complete video from Handloader magazine about it I just watched. It pretty much tells you everything you need to know. They discuss the film a bit as well. It's not like one of those guys who puts a pineapple on his head and says "Hey, watch this!". These folks actually know what's what. I've read their magazine forever. Here's the link:

 

[roostercogburn98]

I will definitely have to try it. I pound should last a lifetime. It uses so little it's almost silly.

I get 1458 rounds per pound with my powder charge

 

[roostercogburn98]

This just cracks me up...

45	Sierra SPT	Accurate	AAC-5	5.6 gr	1746 FPS

This is the velocity for a pistol. I imagine it's a bit more for a 16" rifle barrel. But after dropping gigantic amounts of powder into 300 RUM cases seeing 5.6 gr is more than I spill on each load.

Im seeing 2200 ish in a 16 inch barrel

 

[sirhrmechanic]

5.7 is a fun cartridge and definitely can be reloaded. I think there is a thread here in the reloading section.

A couple of tips... do not remove the varnish/coatings from the rounds. Ie tumbling or other processes that might strip the coating.

And be very careful trying to handload for FN pistols. Rifles are robust enough to handle a 'tolerance' on the loads (as thrown by a standard powder 'drum' measure.) The pistols are not. A bit of overage and boom, no pistol. If you measure each charge... you can load for pistol, but that's tedious. Rifle is more forgiving and I am betting that the AR platform is very robust.

Sounds like a neat little upper and thanks for the review!

Sirhr

 

[AbitNutz]

One caveat about the AR57. It doesn't come with any magazines. The FN PE90 mags are about 80ish bucks a piece, so they're not cheap. They hold 50-freakin' rounds so there is that. The Delrin rollers that make them so nice and easy to load are something like $6 a pair and you need a pair per magazine.
Again, it always makes me happy when I expect crap and I get rainbows.

 

[pinch45]

As for cleaning, it's always a necessary but not always enjoyable part of owning a firearm. It's great to hear that you're enjoying your new addition to your firearm collection and exploring new shooting experiences.

 

[skyrep]

One caveat about the AR57. It doesn't come with any magazines. The FN PE90 mags are about 80ish bucks a piece, so they're not cheap. They hold 50-freakin' rounds so there is that. The Delrin rollers that make them so nice and easy to load are something like $6 a pair and you need a pair per magazine.
Again, it always makes me happy when I expect crap and I get rainbows.

I bought one (FN PS90, P90 5.7x28mm 50-Round Factory Magazine) for my AR-57 and it cost me $43.17 (tax & shipping). Got it thru Gun Mag Warehouse. When i got my AR-57 it did come with one magazine. I recorded a avg velocity of 2017 fps with the Federal FMJ out of my AR-57.

 

[AbitNutz]

Man that was a deal for that mag! Now they are twice that. They're good mags though despite the fact they're all plastic. What am I saying...almost all magazines are now plastic, good and bad.

 

[skyrep]

 

[AbitNutz]

As for cleaning, it's always a necessary but not always enjoyable part of owning a firearm. It's great to hear that you're enjoying your new addition to your firearm collection and exploring new shooting experiences.

I made the mistake of cleaning it right after I cleaned a SIG P90. Despite the fact I shot well over 200 rounds of very filthy Tula 223 through it it just took a few wet patches of Hoppes #9 and it was coming out clean. The AR57 took quite a bit more scrubbing. In fact, it took a lot more scrubbing. I find it hard to believe the ammo I was shooting was that much dirtier than Tula. It's not that it was worse than most barrels to clean. It was more that the SIG's was that much easier.

 

[AbitNutz]

View attachment 8136912

That's even funnier. That little round picking up 500 fps over most pistol loads and with just 5 or 6 grains of powder.

 

[skyrep]

DON'T Clean the 5.7 with the normal cleaning solvents. All chamber cleaning for ANY 5.7 you should use carb cleaner. Not parts cleaner, not gun solvent, but carb cleaner that can remove the lacquer in the chamber.

 

[roostercogburn98]

@sirhrmechanic hit the broad strokes. This cartridge takes complete focus. For such a small case, it has little room for powder error and will do some nasty damage to a gun it KBs in.

The hogdgon reloading data only lists a couple powders. Do yourself a favor and creat a fiveseven account and dig up Ifires data. He has about 5-6 pages worth of powders and bullets to use. He has tested this little round very meticulously. His data was out and about before FN released it to SAAMI for public use.

I have reloaded thousands of rounds ao far. The delayed blowback guns do some rough handling of the brass. You will lose some cases in the process. Mostly they will look like this one below. Take your time and enjoy.

 

[roostercogburn98]

And enjoy shooting it. I’ve stretched it out to 400 yards. It gets real wishy at that distance and wind plays hell on it. I’m getting a hair over 2200 fps with 4.8 grains of powder.

 

[AbitNutz]

@sirhrmechanic hit the broad strokes. This cartridge takes complete focus. For such a small case, it has little room for powder error and will do some nasty damage to a gun it KBs in.

The hogdgon reloading data only lists a couple powders. Do yourself a favor and creat a fiveseven account and dig up Ifires data. He has about 5-6 pages worth of powders and bullets to use. He has tested this little round very meticulously. His data was out and about before FN released it to SAAMI for public use.

I have reloaded thousands of rounds ao far. The delayed blowback guns do some rough handling of the brass. You will lose some cases in the process. Mostly they will look like this one below. Take your time and enjoy. View attachment 8136929

Wow! Maybe you could trim it up and make a new Wildcat cartridge out of that? How about the 32-Rooster?

 

[AbitNutz]

As a side note. I have one of those new S&W M&P 57s. It's a locked breech. The empty cases seem to come out looking a bit better than the ones that are ejected out of my Ruger 57 or AR57. Yeah, I know. I have too many 5.7x28...
What's a nice load to shoot? What powder do you recommend?

 

[skyrep]

I've been reloading the 5.7x28 for over three years now and have had only one blown brass (neck separation). My #1 powder is True Blue. I've have used other powders (AA7, AA9 and unique 2400). However, i do a lot of testing at .1 increments to know max pressure and then find a safe load. I use a A&D FX-120i - 122g x 0.001g × 1 scale to ensure my powder weights are within limits. Bullets: I use the Barnes 30 HP Varment Grenades, 32gr Hehigh Defense HP and the Hornady 40gr V-Max. I am now playing around with Nosler 40gr Varmagedden and the 45gr LeHigh Defense rounds. As stated above, get yourself an account with FiveseveNForum.com, lots of good information about the 5.7x28. I own a Ruger 5.7, two PSA 5.7 Rock and just now was able to get the S&W M&P 5.7. The AR5.7 is the latest generation. The attached photo is my latest ROCK that i customized.

 

[roostercogburn98]

I only use Autocomp and 40g V/Z/A max bullets. My gun didn’t like the factory 27 grain witchcraft, and it was mildly accurate with 36g varmint grenades. The 40 grain poly tipped stuff is amazingly accurate and repeatable for me. I have some other bullet types to try out as well. The 62 grain subs didn’t play super nice, but gonna try again with 55 grain. I have been messing with this little terd for quite a few years. Think I reloaded my first round in 15 or 16? As @skyrep said above, make sure you scale is on and reliable.

 

[AbitNutz]

It is sure nice to have this kind of first-hand information.

 

[AbitNutz]

I only use Autocomp and 40g V/Z/A max bullets. My gun didn’t like the factory 27 grain witchcraft, and it was mildly accurate with 36g varmint grenades. The 40 grain poly tipped stuff is amazingly accurate and repeatable for me. I have some other bullet types to try out as well. The 62 grain subs didn’t play super nice, but gonna try again with 55 grain. I have been messing with this little terd for quite a few years. Think I reloaded my first round in 15 or 16? As @skyrep said above, make sure you scale is on and reliable.

What loading manual did you get your info from for loading Autocomp?

 

[b6graham]

a friend has one of these. with a can it's stupid fun. both subs and supers were amusing

 

[roostercogburn98]

What loading manual did you get your info from for loading Autocomp?

That data is firm the user Ifire over on fiveseven forums. He has a ton of data over there. Not sure why some other powders haven’t made it to the reloading places just yet.

 

[Peterpan]

my go to reload for 5.7s is hs-6 and 40 grain hornadys. any of the ballistic tip 40 grain hornadys. i’ve used them all. i find the polymer coating on the brass is good for 3 resizing before i chuck it. i’m sure you could use it more but i don’t. every time you resize the brass it shaves some of the coating off. i’ve read that the polymer coating aids in extraction timing.

i’ve still got a partial box of elite ammo t6 and i’ll be damned if they didn’t go through the level 3a book bag inserts i bought for my wife’s computer bag outa my fn 5.7 and ruger 57.

 

[12Bravo20]

I had one of the original AR57 uppers and it functions reliably and was accurate to boot. I ended up selling it after getting a Kel-Tec CMR30 since the 5.7x28 falls between 22WMR and 223.

I sometimes wished that I would have kept that upper. I never did get into reloading 5.7x28 since it can be very finicky to reload.

And everyone is spot on about not removing the case coating. The coating is needed in order for the rounds to feed properly through the P90 magazines.

The FivesevenForum is an excellent source for information on all things 5.7 related to include a good reloading section.

 

[264win]

Nice to see guys running this in rifles. Has anyone built one to shoot subsonics ?
It seems like it might be an easier option than the solids and reloading for the 22 rf.

 

[AbitNutz]

That's interesting. I really don't feel much of anything when handling them. At some point, I'll run some cases through a vibe case tumbler, load a few and see how badly they jam up. Then maybe spray them with silicone or something. You know, anything worth doing is worth doing to excess.

 

[sharps_74]

That gutted and modified AR magazine idea is one I'll share.

 

[GreenGO Juan]

Gut an old 30-round polymer magazine, cut the feed lips off, and locked it in place, and use it to catch the empty cases. I caught all 50 of those tiny little cases.

Yep, built in brass catcher. They are a blast to shoot.

 

[12Bravo20]

I took an old metal 30 round magazine and took the spring and follower out along with cutting the feed lips off and it worked great as a brass catcher. It would hold 50 empty 5.7 cases.

 

[AbitNutz]

That's another thing that makes me laugh. You can hear every empty cartridge go into the gutted magazine. As a reloader, the idea that I don't have to keep one eye out to see where one of these little pieces of brass flew is such a gift.