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Ruger-57 Pistol Review
Updated
44 months ago
Sometime back I reviewed the 5.7 millimeter cartridge. The FN, I believe, was the first to produce a pistol in this caliber. Ruger 57 is a much more cost effective alternative to that. Let's take a look and see how it performs.
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The 5.7 millimeter is a very interesting round. It was initially developed, looking for a small, lightweight round that would defeat body armor for the military and law enforcement. A few guns were made by FN. Even though it wasn't adopted widely by military community or law enforcement, it did find some followers in the civilian market. One of the biggest selling points was the low recoil and manageability of shooting it.
The problem was - the FN was a bit pricey for many until Ruger launched the 57 which, you know, brought it down to a price range that was a lot more acceptable and doable for a lot of folks. Let's just take a quick look at the specs and tech and an up-close and see what we're looking at here for the Ruger 57.
Ruger-57 Specs and Features
24.5 oz weight
Fully adjustable sights
Fiber optic front sight
20+1 mag capacity
Comes with 2 STEEL mags
Inspection port for loaded chamber
5-slot Picatinny rail
Drilled and tapped for optics mounting
The sights
Let's just quick run through the basics on this. We've got our rail here on the bottom, we've got a fiber optic front sight, we have a cutaway in the top slide - this decreases weight. We also have a little port here where we can view loaded versus unloaded. We'd see the brass in there. The back sight is fully adjustable for elevation. I really like this, I like it when they put an arrow end up and then we've got the same on the side. A little arrow and direction tells us which way to turn. That's helpful. It saves you a lot of time going back and forth to the manual.
The trigger
The trigger on this is really nice. It got the safety built in. We've got a little bit of travel, little grit creep there, but a very nice crisp break. And then the reset and there it engaged.
The magazine
We've got the mag release here. And this is ambidextrous so we can change this out, we take the slide off, and then we can switch this for lefties. The mag, it is kind of cool. It's really wide, it almost is like a rifle mag with a grip. Those of you that have small hands, this isn't going to be the most comfortable gun, it's a little bit wider than usual it is very narrow. I will say though having really small hands that it is a comfortable gun. Then when we go to take down and I like to take down on this is pretty easy. We just slide back and then right there we push that up. Okay, we lock that into place. Over here, there's a take down button. We use the mag and we just push on that and it can be a hard push and then this little lever here simply goes down. This comes forward and it slides off and then we can take our barrel out.
When it goes back on, it goes down like that. And we have to push it back and lock to slide. You need to read the directions on this. This isn't wanting to go up. Read this direction, see, watch the barrel here. We push it slightly back. Make sure it's all the way back and then that goes up. If this is out, which it will stay out when you take the slide off, you're gonna kill your fingers and your thumb, this isn't going to go up, you have to make sure that that's pushed all the way back and pushed in. And now we're good to go. And that's it, that's the basic features of this. Very nice.
The safety here - ambidextrous as well. It's a nice big paddle. I like that. I almost forgot - it comes with a mounting plate for optics. This is for Burris and Vortex. I don't know about others, such as SIG and this came with a gun. It looks good. Let's just get to shooting, proof's in the pudding. It's nice, got a nice box, comes with all the bells and whistles. Then I did some shooting, and I did some shooting with the federal Full Metal Jacket. And this was a while ago. Check this out.
Shooting at 50 yards
We've started off 50 yards, first shot, second, third, made an adjustment, brought it up to here. Over adjusted. Came over here. Readjusted back, one more adjustment. And that seemed to be pretty good. Then loaded a full mag, went back to 50. And that's what we got - reference size 50 yards, bagging it Ruger 57. That's not bad for a pistol.
Once you get the itch, you can't stop. So I've got a box of the FN, this has got... what was it - 40 gr. Hornady V-MAX, hopefully, we get a little bit better grouping with this, we'll see - 50 yards.
That really sucks. I was aiming here, and then I had one box of the FN. I started on that review, and I didn't finish it. So I'm going to pick up here. And we're going to see what kind of groups we can get with this, see if we can get it dialed in. And, and then we're going to have some fun on some steel once I got it where I want it.
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One thing before I forget - the windage and elevation screws are very shallow. And they are not particularly easy to turn ahead to try several different screwdrivers to get it and they kind of start to strip easy. Need screws that are a little bit deeper or include the two or something to make this easier.
I think I finally got it dialed in. I'm gonna be honest, it wasn't the most enjoyable sight in, it took me two boxes of ammo to get this right where I want. That was, unfortunately, a hundred rounds. Let's go take a look. Alright, so I started up here which was pretty consistent with several months ago. And then I got it brought down. The clicks are kind of funny. I think I clicked it, but it has to be, it's got to move and pop. And so then I was shooting here and I got this group which is, actually was a tight group, guys, but it was kind of messed up. So then I came down here and I brought it down came down here. And then I came up and then just over a little bit. This is a decent group, you know, sandbagging a pistol at 50 yards. I'm not gonna complain about that.
We got the Ruger 57 dialed in, I think is good as I'm gonna get, at least with the amount of ammo that I have. I want to try now and do some more rapid-fire and check the recoil, you know, one of the selling points of the f5.7 by 28 is the lower recoil.
It's fun. You know, I don't know that...I mean I can't noticeably tell a difference between this and the nine. Let's run through some more. I like it. I mean, it's comfortable. It shoots good. Again, the big question is - is this worth replace in the night? We walked it back to about 50 yards here. Let's see how it does.
Maybe it does have a little less recoil than tonight. It is comfortable shooting. Okay, so now I'm back at my target range and the trees got all these different steel targets at varying distance. Let's see how it does with that.
Here's the thing, guys - As far as the gun itself, the Ruger 57 - five stars, two thumbs up. I love it. It's a great shooter. I like the features, that ergonomics. For me, and for a lot of you, the big question is going to be the caliber - the 5.7 by 28, not the pistol. And that's just really going to depend on you and what you're looking for. Obviously, what this was designed for is, it's not what we have now. It was designed to defeat Kevlar and none of us are buying it or using it for that.
For me, the biggest sticking point is the cost of the ammo. Do I love shooting this? Yes. I like shooting. It is a fun shooter. The big thing is forty, forty some cents around... I'm gonna stick with my nine just because I can shoot it for less than half the cost. That was just too much fun. I've got just a little bit left. Let's finish the box.
That's gonna be the problem, guys. Is this fun to shoot? Like I said, Ruger did a great job. My thing is, it's gonna be the cost of feeding this thing. It's gonna be expensive fun. Too much fun, I got to finish the box back here.
"Ham" er time
It is fun to shoot. Here's where it came out, that's where the first shot came out, the backside. I can't see any fragments through the exit here. Hit bone right there. Boy, that just shattered the heck out of that. Is that a knee?
Kind of looks like it just disintegrated. This one coming in up here, you know, one thing - this might be really good for as a PTW, for somebody that doesn't like or is not used to recoil. It is less recoil than the nine, you know. Self-defense ranges - I think you're gonna have good you know, stopping power comparable to the nine. I definitely, me personally, I would take the nine. But if somebody just doesn't like the recoil of the nine, this is probably the next best thing. One other thing - I think this caliber is inherently going to be far more accurate than the nine with iron sights. I don't know that it didn't really pan out for me, this thing's screaming for a red dot. I think you could get some incredible tight groups with a red dot on this. Just something else to consider.
So guys, what's the bottom line on this - Ruger did a great job. If you are looking for a 5.7 by 28. this is gonna save you half the coin of the FN. I haven't had one single hiccup or issue with it. I think it's a homerun. If you're looking for that caliber, the big question is - do you want the 5.7 by 28? Yes? Then, take a look at this. For me, I think the biggest thing is going to be the hindrance of the cost the ammo. I'm going to stick with my nine.
The ham test? It was interesting. It did have good penetration. It exceeded my expectations. It is not a beefed-up 22 round. This is a whole other animal, it definitely got more punch than a 22 mag or a 22. It's a straight shooter. It's got nice recoil. You know, hopefully, that helps.
