FN has updated their popular, powerful FN Five-seveN 5.7×28 pistol. The new Five-Seven MRD is now optics-ready and ships with a series of plates for virtually any optic you’ll want to mount.
I got to spend some range time with the upgraded Five-seveN MK3 MRD a few months ago. The ergonomic changes make a big noticeable difference in the pistol’s shootability and FN’s out-of-the-box optics mounting plate system make adding a red dot quick, easy and simple. Full review to follow.
Here’s FN’s press release . . .
“The FN Five-seveN pistol has been immensely popular since its introduction. Its original design capturing the performance of the FN-designed 5.7x28mm cartridge made it an instant success, and it’s positioned to do it yet again with the dramatic redesign of the FN Five-seveN MRD,” said Chris Cole, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for FN America, LLC. “With the addition of an integral optics mounting system on the slide, an already accurate pistol now redefines what handgun accuracy means. We’re truly excited to bring this new pistol to market with features our customers want in their favorite FN caliber.”
The FN Five-seveN MRD, like its predecessor, is a 5.7x28mm-chambered, delayed blowback-operated pistol. The internal, single-action-only hammer produces a clean and consistent trigger pull that breaks at approximately 6 pounds, with minimal take-up and a short reset. FN’s 4.8-inch cold hammer-forged barrel combined with the inherent benefits of the design and high velocity bottleneck cartridge produces a flat-shooting pistol with extremely low felt-recoil. Users can stay on target with accuracy and precision at extended ranges, unmatched by any other semi-auto handguns.
“When we embarked on this design update for the Five-seveN MRD, we focused on the core benefits our user base wants in a modern pistol,” said John Ryan, Director of Product Management for FN America, LLC. “The Five-seveN pistol was already extremely accurate and reliable, although there was untapped performance in the design and cartridge to bring forward. Milling the slide in the factory allows for immediate mounting of almost any MRD on the market, with improved ergonomics and controls, the Five-seveN MRD delivers more precision and versatility for the modern handgunner.”
Following FN’s optics-ready pistol tradition, the Five-seveN MRD’s optic mount consists of a series of plates that mate the optic to the slide. Just like FN’s 509 optics-ready pistols, users are able to mount a miniature red dot sight within minutes using the corresponding plates and screws provided with the pistol. The system is compatible with most common miniature red dot sights including the Leupold DeltaPoint Pro, Trijicon RMR, Vortex Optics, Burris FastFire series, Docter Optics and more. The three-dot photo luminescent sights glow in low light conditions, are adjustable for elevation and windage and co-witness with certain optics.
With newly enhanced slide serrations and extended cocking ridges at the rear of the slide, the Five-seveN MRD’s overall operability and user manipulations are vastly improved while the ergonomic changes to the frame’s backstrap allow for a more natural point of aim and better fit. A new stippled texturing on the grip frame along with more extensive front strap serrations improve grip consistency for complete control. The magazine release has also been enlarged and reshaped for intuitive control and rapid reloads. Carrying over from the original design are the 20-round standard magazine, safety selector located directly above the trigger, serrated trigger shoe and trigger guard.
The FN Five-seveN MRD is available in matte black or FN-signature flat dark earth (FDE) and ships in a zippered pistol case with two 20-round magazines and optics-mounting hardware required to mount an optic. To learn more about the FN Five-seveN MRD, please visit www.fnamerica.com.
MSRP = $1,449
The “…ergonomic changes to the frame’s backstrap allow for a more natural point of aim and better fit” is a very useful upgrade. Some will find the optics-ready slide nice, too.
Now, the price of 5.7×28 ammo needs to drop…
back down into Earth’s upper atmosphere.
A LGS (Murdoch’s) had a couple of cases of American Eagle 5.7 last week for $31.99 / bx. Not too bad by today’s pricing…but, $10 / bx more than 2.5 years ago. Bought a couple of boxes so that I can shoot a friend’s 5.7 on range day. Don’t see myself getting a 5.7 anytime soon.
Back in the Summer of 2020, during the
riotsmostly peaceful protests, the demand for gunns was just starting to ramp up. By the time my brother-in-law finally got around to making his decision to buy his first ever gunn at the height of theriotsprotests, he was late to the game. The only piece in the LGS that day was an FN57 and 200 rounds of 5.7x28mm ammo. The FFL sold him the ammo at cost in order to get rid of that gun, because nobody else wanted it.A couple of weeks later, and my BIL asked me to join him at the range to test it out. Boutique gun, at best. Felt way oversized in my hand (and I prefer full size G17s and 1911s) and “plastic”.
IMHO, you’re better off getting just about anything else than an FN57, unless you have money to blow and just want to have some range fun.
It’s because it’s a PSD weapon and always has been. Without access to the ammo it was made for—the armor piercing stuff—it’s just a .22 Magnum +P. Sure, that a-hole on Ft. Hood all those years ago used one, but against a huge crowd of defenseless people, just about any gun will be effective.
But with AP and especially a giggle switch, this would be a very effective defensive gun.
What is the ammo production capacity for this gun caliber??? And are the bullets available now???
Because the last 5.7 caliber gun that came out had no ammuniation available for over a year.
Come on FN release the SCAR SC already …
I’d like to see a side by side comparison with Ruger’s 57 pistol.
Moderation?? Really???
Me Want!!!!!
Since our beloved gov is restricting emu nition I’m not buying any more gunms.
I won’t be buying anymore at least until I move out of CA. I’ve given a few away since the lockdowns. But I still have enough for my needs.
When the .gov made it illegal to buy ammo through the mail here in CA I went on a buying binge before the law took effect. I should be good for years to come.
To me, the cool thing about 5.7 is you can use a super lightweight .22 suppressor, most are rated for 5.7. I have no idea how effective/quiet such a setup is, but I bet you don’t need a neilson device.
I believe the 5.7 is fixed barrel, lever delayed blowback anyway, so suppression is easy except for the damn near hypersonic bullet speeds.
Does “Carrying over from the original design are the 20-round standard magazine” mean my same mk2 mags will work?
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The optic plate does not fit the slide very well. There are gaps between the bottom of the plate and the top of the slide that will allow crud into the internals. The sights are also cheapo luminescent paint dots instead of tritium. Not up to the quality expectations of a $1,200 pistol.
Overall I like the pistol, but luminescent paint dots have no place on the sights of a $1,250 pistol. At that price point they should be tritium. Also, the optic adapter plate fit is terrible. Hold the pistol up to the light with a MRD installed and you will see what I mean. There are visible gaps between the plate and slide when installed that no doubt will let crud and moisture in.
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