The PS90 Rifle from FNH - Image Copyright 2012 Northwest Gun Magazine
Every once and a while you just have to do something completely different. I’m sure that when people first saw and fired the revolutionary AR-15 rifle, it was such a departure from what they were used to, it must have blown their minds. Compared to wood and steel rifles that were traditional in the military, the AR-15 was definately a “different take” on a battle rifle.
The first time I saw a PS90 rifle, I was not sure what to think. The first thought that came to my mind was “science fiction movie”. The FNH PS90 is radically different from other rifles in its class. It was almost as though the engineers were told “whatever is the status quo in rifle design, please to the exact opposite”. The magazine snaps onto the top of the rifle. The bulpup design has different ergonomics and balance compared to other rifles. The magazine rotates cartridges 90 degrees when they are loaded and unloaded. The brass ejects out the bottom of the rifle. Just looking at this thing can be a bit confusing at first. How will I hold that thing? one may ask.
When you pick up the rifle, it’s surprisingly natural. It is quite sound ergonomically. It is very well balanced. It is extremely compact. It looks very rugged- like something you could really toss around without worrying about damaging it.
The author with the FNH PS90 - It's bound to bring a smile to your face - Image Copyright 2012 Northwest Gun Magazine
The first think I noticed when I went to fire the PS90 was that the sighting system is different from anything I’ve used before. This rifle features a non-magnified sight system that is somewhat like a red-dot sight, but features a black circle/dot static sight “reticle”. Once I learned how to center the reticle on the target it was pretty straightforward to use. This rifle does not have much recoil at all (feels like a mild AR-15 type recoil, but a bit less). The trigger is nothing fancy, and feels solid like a tank rather than precise and smooth. This is a battle rifle for sure.
Author Shooting the PS90 - Image Copyright 2012 Northwest Gun Magazine
After shooting the PS90 from a seated position, I was surprised to see a neat and tidy pile of brass on the ground. The ejection “port” on the bottom of the rifle directs the brass downward. As an avid reloader, I’m thinking this would make life really easy – it would not take much effort to rig up a brass catcher that would collect your brass, and the catcher would also be neatly out of the way… Hmmmm.
So what about the chambering for this rifle? Well, this was my first experience with the 5.7x28mm cartridge. These cartridges are very small, but at the same time very potent. I would like to find out what people are using for reloading components, and also the typical applications for reloads (competition, defense, etc). Does anyone hunt with these rifles? 🙂
5.7x28mm Ammunition by the PS90 - Image Copyright 2012 Northwest Gun Magazine
It was really fun to try something completely new! I’m curious to find out more about both the PS90 rifle platform, pistols chambered in 5.7x28mm, and this cartridge. Have experiences you want to share? Please leave a comment.
Thanks,
Gavin
Kudos Gaving for looking into the PS90.
I’m curious to find out more about it’s trigger pull and accuracy.
Video, in additon the pictures, would be nice.
As for Reloading, I’d be concerned it’d be a little tricky with the small bottle neck cases. I’ve crushed more than a few .22 hornet cases, even working on an single-stage press.
Gavin, you’ll want to check out the FiveseveN forum at http://www.fivesevenforum.com/
I can’t wait to see you produce 5.7×28 on the Hornady press. Botach Tactical (as well as others) offer the AR57 upper, for those that want to just change out an upper. http://www.botachtactical.com/pwa57x28upper.html
Brian is dead on, but two additions. Lone Wolf Distribution also sells the AR57 upper; and several companies have brass catchers readily available for both the PS90/P90 and the AR57(which uses the magazine well on the lower as the ejection port).
Very interesting- an AR-15 upper with the PS90 magazine on top!
The biggest issue/problem that I’ve discovered after talking this over with several people is that the 5.7x28mm cartridge does not reload very well (brass splits after a couple reloadings)
Anyone have success with reloading 5.7x28mm?
-Gavin
Check out http://fnforum.net and http://www.fivesevenforum.com for more on this under the appropriate forum section. Great info there.
The PS90 is a great little gun & very fun to shoot I thought, however the ammo is more than a box of .45 ACP and the Lyman book suggests not reloading it more than like three times, so I was discouraged to buy one for myself, then found my salvation in the Kriss Super V .45 cal carbine which is great fun to shoot as well and is way more effective under 100 yards. Though I will probably buy one in the future when I have a crap ton of money to use on ammo purchases, this thing shines as a full auto since even though the round is designed to penetrate type two body armor the transfer of energy is quite low. At least that’s what a friend of mine tells me who is a cop and has the full auto, not to mention all the research I put into looking at them before he told me that.