Early reports from SHOT SHOW 2020 reveal that several manufacturers are releasing new products in 5.7x28:

1. Ruger-57 pistol link
2. Diamondback DBX 5.7 AR pistol link
3. CMMG 5.7x28 AR conversion kit link
4. Speer Gold Dot in 5.7 link
5. I'm sure there will be more before the week is over...


This round has been around for a long time, recently as not much more than a novelty and with FN owning the market almost exclusively. It cannot be a coincidence that all of these vendors suddenly became interested in entering this market at the same time.

So... who orchestrated this? Who stands to gain financially from all of these different companies suddenly getting into the market? FN will almost certainly lose money and market share in the long run, with cheaper and more updated guns and ammo options out there.

From what I know, typically new calibers are developed by ammo manufacturers and they pump it out to vendors to develop products to match (think Federal and the 224 Valkyrie)... but the 5.7x28 isn't new.


I'm not interested in debating the efficacy of the round as that's been done time and time again, I just want to know who decided 2020 was going to be the year 5.7x28 tries to go mainstream.

I knew about #1 and #4. Found out about #2 today. Found myself having the same query.

I have no answers. I wonder if the Speer Gold Dot loading and perhaps a promise of more to come helped drive this. Obviously, they all work together and know something they’re not telling us. The two big bottlenecks to that caliber have been the high expense of the guns that shoot it, and the cost and availability of the ammo they shoot. One of those factors is changing. The other shoe may be about to drop.

quote:

Who orchestrated the 5.7x28 surge?
Who stands to gain financially from all of these different companies suddenly getting into the market? FN will almost certainly lose money and market share in the long run...

So, is it some conspiracy you're implying?

quote:

Originally posted by JBird679:
I just want to know who decided 2020 was going to be the year 5.7x28 tries to go mainstream.

Them.

Y'know... "Them". *points vaguely upwards*

I think it is odd as well. Clearly these guys talk and they coordinate. I think this one will fail though.

However, I just got a WC ad that is trumpeting the .300 HAMR round. Good luck with that. Unless I’m missing something like it works in something else as well. Otherwise who in Gods green earth is switching over to that randomness?

Ruger has helped bring the price down from the prohibitively expensive FN offering.
The Ruger is the driver methinks.
Too bad that it's so dang fugly.

quote:

Originally posted by DirectDrive:
Ruger has helped bring the price down from the prohibitively expensive FN offering.
The Ruger is the driver methinks.
Too bad that it's so dang fugly.

The Ruger or the FN? I think the Ruger looks great. Now, the FN, that's the definition of FN ugly.

Haven’t you heard? 9MM, 40SW, 45AARP, 308, 5.56....they’re all dead calibers.
Nothing but 5.7 and 10mm from here on out.

quote:

Originally posted by JBird679:
FN will almost certainly lose money and market share in the long run ....

Lose market share in terms of percentage? Probably, but their current market share is of a very small market. If the market balloons, though, they stand to make more actual money even if their percentage share declines. A small share of something large can be bigger than a large share of something small.

And if interest in the cartridge grows, they may sell more guns for no other reason than that people will see theirs as the one to get and not “settle” for a cheaper version. I was looking at the SCAR 16 recently and was struck by how few are available for sale and how expensive they are. Is that demand lessened because there are countless other rifles available in 5.56? IMO, it’s probably the opposite. “Anyone can have a plain ol’ AR; I want the best and that stands out from the crowd.”

I agree with Q. I think the Ruger looks good compared to the FN.

Ruger will “un-boutique” the 5.7. Ammo companies know this will sell for no other reason than it has taken the pistol prices out of the stratosphere in to attainable range.

As someone who has been into 5.7x28 for a very long time. I think Ruger added a little bump to the market. CMMG has been there all along and another AR option doesn't seem very interesting. But I think until ammo prices drop dramatically this is still going to be a very,very small non mainstream market. The Speer ammo above does nothing for the real issue of running one of these guns for something reasonable in cost. Even junk 5.7 is expensive.

I really enjoy the 5.7 round, but its expense and watered down available ammo annoy me. I too am confused with this sudden surge in 5.7 life, but I'm happy to see it.

Hopefully it leads to full power loads being available on a regular basis for reasonable dollars.

Ruger is a very savvy company that produces quality firearms at reasonable prices. Their new handgun will create interest and the more 5.7 owners join the parade ammo will become increasingly available. If demand surges price welcome down.

Very interested in the Gold Dot performance. If it hits the magical numbers it will be the next big thing.

If ruger concocts some type of carbine that uses the same mags, people will buy it.

These could all be designs (ideas) that have been basically sitting on the shelf a long time. Why bother when business is booming. Now that things are slow, we need to put out something new to hopefully stir some interest.

quote:

If it hits the magical numbers it will be the next big thing

I've been around 5.7 for a long time. what on earth magical number are we discussing? I don't see how any major ammo mfg. can push the pressure numbers in any new way.

Not just this...but 10mm as well.

I have to ask...is this because of expiring patent or something like that?

If you're in the industry, you generally have industry friends (people move around companies all the time).

"we like 5.7 but not enough people make it. If ______ committed to _____ would your company ______ put R&D budget to make something?"

Look no further than what Samson is doing with Mini-14 folding stocks. They had an idea, were going solo and then Ruger committed some support and BAM, it's being offered not only for the Mini but a variant on the 10/22.

Symbiotic relationships exist. With as much clout as Ruger has compared to others on the list, I'm sure some coordination calls occurred and this resurgence of 5.7 stuff was not wholly organic amongst the companies listed. Everybody knows you need: 1) the gun 2) the mags and 3) the ammo for a product to be successful. A flourishing secondary accessories market helps all those in it's own way.

quote:

Originally posted by hrcjon:
I don't see how any major ammo mfg. can push the pressure numbers in any new way.

Pricepoint. Maybe that's not what the poster intended, but if people are coming out with ammo that equals or even betters the performance of the FN factory loadings at a lower price point for defensive stuff, and comes up with something that zeros similarly at a reduced price point, then his point stands, in my opinion.

If Speer can crank out enough 40gr Gold Dots that perform as well as they seem to to meet demand for defensive ammo, this is a good thing. If it ends up being more available than stuff like SS197LF, this is a good thing. If it's available cheaper than SS197LF, this is a good thing.

If you're so invested in 5.7x28, why wet-blanket every thread about it? We don't need to have our own Hussite wars about this, the caliber is now available to people who couldn't justify buying a $1k+ gun just to try out a caliber that's expensive to shoot. Looks like that's changing. This is a good thing.