FN HERSTAL

5.7x28mm

NATO cartridges

5.7x28mm: the new NATO calibre pistols and submachine guns

FN Herstal started the design of the 5.7x28mm cartridge in the late 1980s when body armour was becoming standard combat equipment and the modern-day missions required a more appropriate and more effective cartridge.

Simultaneously, the Company designed the FN P90® Personal Defence Weapon (PDW), then later the FN Five-seveN® pistol, two weapons firing 5.7x28mm ammunition that are currently in service with a large number of police and security forces across the globe.

The 5.7x28mm calibre is now a NATO standard (STANAG 4509).

Ammunition types

• SS190 (Ball), also available with environment-friendly primer
• L191 (Tracer)
• Sb193 (Subsonic)
• SS192 (Soft), also available with environment-friendly primer
• FR199 (Frangible), only available with environment-friendly primer
• Blank

Uses
• FN Five-seveN® pistols
• FN P90® submachine guns

Key benefits

  • Flat trajectory

  • Penetrates soft body armour and helmet up to 200m

  • Greater incapacitation effect than 9mm

  • Does not go through a 40cm gelatine block

  • Rapidly loses energy at over 200m

  • Calibre standardized by NATO