Why not? This little rimless cartridge would seem to be the perfect "modern" replacement for the .22 Hornet and K-Hornet. It is just a bit smaller than the .221 Fireball, so it should launch a 40 grain bullet at just over 3000 fps out of a rifle barrel, no?

Where can you get brass, and what actions would this little jewel fit in?

I've fired the FN P-90 bullet hose and it's fun, but not that impressive ballistic wise.

I believe that sales of the round is controlled by FN to law enforcement and military only due to it's announced purpose of defeating soft body armor. We all know that the .221, .222, .223 etc etc would do more damage but that's part of the hype for the FN round...

Paladin is correct, sales of the ammo are restricted to LE and military + submitted to a government license. Another proof that stupidity doesn't kill. No big deal though, I've tested the P90 and the 5,7 pistol and wasn't impressed, the only fun part being that you can fire the P90 full auto singlehandedly.

Paladin used to be correct. There is a commercial loading that is available to the public. Impact arms in Odgen Utah will sell you the old commerially available ammo (aluminum core) and is taking orders for the new commerical ammo (40gr V-max).

Rifles for this little cartridge will be hard to come by. Any regular centerfire bolt action rifle will not work as the cartridge is too small. Hornet type actions should work, as well as semi-auto. I believe Rhineland arms is working on a cool looking auto for that cartridge. I personally would like to play with one as as fast shooting, no recoil rifle would be death on prarie dogs.

Aaron

Yeah, Aaron, those were kinda my thoughts, too. The Ruger 77/22H action should be adaptable, as would most any Hornet action. The specs I've seen indicate that the 5.7 is a tad too small for a .222 bolt face. The bullet diameter is also listed at .220" or .221", but you would want to build a "using" rifle with a .224" bore.

Do you know what velocity the 40 grain V-Max ammunition is listed at (from a rifle-length barrel)?

An interesting variation might be a .204 x 28mm (or 5 x 28mm). How does that wind your clock?

Guess what? Just glanced at eBay and 5.7 x 28 brass is available at $15.95 per 100.

I have thought about this too and I think it would be a great ground squirrel round. I too came up with the conclusion that the Ruger 77/22H action would make a great base for the rifle - as the case head is smaller than the .222 family of cartrides.

Other actions to keep in mind would be the Anschutz and the CZ527. The 527 would probably feed the cartridge with no/minimal work done to a Hornet mag. I think the 20 cal. would be the cream. The limitation I can see though would be the quality of the brass.

Gabe

Saubier.com has some discussions with members shooting a 17 cal wildcat version. They are getting good accuracy and velocity. I am not sure what actions they are using. A contender or 1885 etc would be the easiest.

The Rhineland arms rifle, when completed would be extremely fun to shoot. http://www.rhinelandarms.com/

I don't know the velocity of the V-Max loading, it might be on FN Usa's web site.

Aaron

I just finished ordering a 5mm Craig barrel from On Target Technologies for my contender. This is a centerfire conversion of the 5mm Remington Rimfire. I was looking into the 5.7x28 because I thought I could neck it down to 20 cal and get higher velocities. Opted for the 5mm Craig instead becaues I already had the dies and the 5mm Rem octagon barrels were easy to find. I've been working up loads for about 6 weeks now and pretty happy with the results. Accuracy is in the <1" at 50 yds mark shooting 32gr Hornady Vmax or the 30gr Bergers. Max load for the Rem bolt guns is listed at 6.0gr of Accurate#9, and I'm getting 2155-2185fps out of a 10" barrel. Been going a little higher in my T/C and not seeing any pressure signs. Ordered the OTT because I figure a few more inches of a match grade barrel will get me the accuracy I'm looking for and speed close to 2500.