# Need some opinions on FN Five seveN vs. HK VP9 (9mm vs 5.7x28mm)



## rterrhalt (Jan 7, 2017)

Hey folks. Apologies in advance, I ramble. A lot. I've put a TL;DR at the bottom just in case though.

Before I go into my actual question, I think it'd be prudent to give a little bit of a background story.

I've owned a few handguns and shot a fair amount of them too. I wouldn't say I'm terribly experienced, but I'm safe, I'm pretty accurate, and I know my way around a pistol. I had tried a 9mm Shield for a while as a carry gun, and while I was able to use it well, it just didn't seem to be quite what I was looking for. 

I traded up to a nice HK VP9 in a grey-ish color and fell in love, and most of that love was for the grip. Anybody who has held a VP9 ought to know exactly what I'm talking about. However, life was unkind for a while and a few months back I had to sell my beloved VP9 for some extra cash.

Skip to recent times and all the crises I was having seem to have calmed down, and I've got some spare money to pick up a handgun for concealed carry again. But in the time I've spent not having my VP9, I've been doing some research and I became pretty interested in the FN Five seveN.

My dilemma here is that numbers are usually good at giving me peace of mind when it comes to handguns, but I wasn't able to find a solid comparison between a 9mm handgun and the Five seveN. I've found plenty of threads on plenty of sites that turn into the typical "this sucks because I say so", "no you're wrong", "no you're wrong" thing without any real info behind the arguments. I was hoping some of the more seasoned shooters around here could give me a little more data.

Here's what I know. Or at least what I think I know:

VP9 is (obviously) chambered in 9mm. 15+1 rounds, amazing grip, no external safety, and the LE version (that is available to civilians) comes stock with night sights. Retails for around $600-$700

Five seveN fires the 5.7x28mm round, which is also used by the PS90. Compared to a 9mm it has higher velocity but lower mass, but I still don't quite understand what that means in terms of comparing terminal ballistics between the two. 20+1 rounds (30+1 with extended mags), standard grip, external safety, quite a bit less recoil than even a 9mm, and I'm not sure about night sights for it. Retails for around $1100-$1300.

The main reason I was looking at the Five seveN was the recoil difference. I've always been pretty accurate with my VP9, even up to around 20 yards. But there would always be those days where I thought the recoil was getting to me just a little too much. That said, I wasn't sure if the change in terminal ballistics between the two was drastic enough to make the bonus of reduced recoil a moot point.

TL;DR - What are the main differences between the rounds? Will both weapons work as CCWs? How drastic is the difference in terminal ballistics between the 9mm and the 5.7x28mm? And finally, what do you prefer/would you prefer and why?


----------



## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

*1.* Five seveN pistols may be a good bargain, but the ammunition for them is scarce and expensive.

*2.* Although a very light bullet travelling at high velocity may show terminal ballistics which equal the figures for a heavier bullet travelling slowly, the fight-stopping damage that the two different bullets will do will be quite different. The light, fast bullet will seem a bit like a needle, as it "inserts itself"; but a heavy, slow bullet will do damage like a hammer instead. If you think about it, you can answer for yourself the question, "Which of the two will be more effective?"

*3.* If you learn the proper skills, and _practice_ them to shoot effectively and well, recoil will never be a problem. Choosing a pistol because its felt recoil seems to affect your hand less will lead you to defending yourself with an ineffective weapon.

Until arthritis (and a few other old-age issues) set in, I carried...and was very effective with...a .45 ACP pistol. I believe that a good .45 and a well-practiced technique are the very best self-defense weapons.
However, if you _practice_ (there's that word again) to build and maintain your skills, and can shoot accurately on demand (which isn't as easy as it sounds), a 9mm pistol will be just as effective as a .45 ACP gun.
In my old age, I now carry a .380 ACP pistol. Because my skills are strong and well-_practice_d (there it is again), I am confident that I am still competent to defend myself. My wife is also competent, and properly skilled with her own .380 ACP pistol.
The moral of the story is that with _practice_, any reasonably powerful pistol will be an effective self-defense weapon. (But that does not include 22-caliber bullets, at any speed.)


----------



## rterrhalt (Jan 7, 2017)

Thanks for the words of wisdom about training. I hope I wasn't making it sound like I can't handle the recoil on a 9mm, I was just worried that even the small amount a 9mm puts out would be the damning factor in a self defense scenario.

I should have added that getting ammo and the cost of both the gun and the ammo aren't an issue, this was more of a "will 5.7mm perform similarly to 9mm in self defense situation?" sort of thing. The reduced recoil is a bonus, but I was curious as to projectile performance mostly. 

I've heard billions of different things ranging from "why would you carry it? It's useless." to "it's one of the best rounds for concealed carry", but neither having any data or factual explanation behind it.

I can't take the people who say it's useless very seriously, as something that is good enough for the USA Secret Service to use to protect our president can't be 'useless', and logically should be a sound choice for close quarters personal defense.

But at the same time, with no supporting data i'm not completely sold on having one myself. I'd like to know what my bullets are expected to do when they make contact with an attacker.


----------



## Morgo (Dec 6, 2010)

The Five seven is a big gun if your main reason is concealed carry.

The round works like every other round, shot placement matters more than what your cal is.

The secret service are likely using ammo you won't be so I wouldn't use the fact they use it to justify your reason for wanting one.

Not to mention the louder report from the five seven.


I have a five seven, I wouldn't pick it for your intended use. Stick it the smaller gun, cheaper and easier to find ammo VP9.


----------



## jtguns (Sep 25, 2011)

What Steve said, the 5.7x28 is a fun round and reasonably easy to shoot. I personally don't have one, but I have a good friend who does and a few years back 5.7x28 was an orphan round and very hard to come by and when you did they were over a $1.00 a round and most of the time even more. I would stay with the 9MM, as it is everywhere and reasonably cheap. Just food for thought, why have a firearm that you cannot find ammo for if we have another ammo scare.

But hay what do I know.


----------

