FN FiveseveN goes BOOM.

dwarven1

Lonely Mountain Arms
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FiveseveN blows up in shooter's hand

A gun exploded in a customer's hands and the manufacturer doesn't seem to care, according to a graphic post by f3rr37 in the FivesevenForums. He wrote, "On the 2nd round I realigned my sights, slowly pulled the trigger, and all hell broke loose. I saw bits and pieces of the top of the slide cover blow. My first reaction was, "Oh crap what just happened." My second reaction was, how are my hands?" F3rr37 sough medical attention and two days later contacted Five-seveN customer support. After a series of followup calls, Five-seveN said they were sending out a pre-paid packing slip for the gun and would inspect it, destroy it, and give f3rr37 a "deep discount" on a new gun. A month later, none of these promises have materialized. F3rr37 thinks the problem with the gun is that it fired "out of battery," and that the problem with Five-seveN is that they just wish he would go away. Which is odd, considering that they are supposed to have a great reputation for being customer friendly. F3rr37 pledges, "Until they make this right, I will never buy another FN product again and will continue to share my experience with what happens when a FiveseveN fires out-of-battery."

lots of comments at the above link.
 
That's an interesting KB!. I've never even seen a Glock blow up that
badly. It looks like it blew away the trigger and everything around
it.

Here's a better URL: (Warning GORY/Graphic pics, maybe be NSFW)

http://fivesevenforum.net/showthread.php?t=17426

Even the damage to his hand seems a lot worse than normal for a typical
KB!.

He also stated that he has observed that with the FiveseveN the hammer will drop at up to 1/4inch out-of-battery

Not even Glocks are THAT bad.... [laugh]

-Mike
 
I would like to know all the information regarding it, like the above said if he used reloaded ammo... because knowing how expensive 5.7s it is a possibility... we just don't know enough although i still want a FN57...
 
testing some ammunition that I had reloaded

FN being a more than reputable company would back up there defective product. But every manufacturer plainly states that they will not warranty damage when using reloads. As far as a double charge, everyone screws up at least once when reloading. I've had zero experience with that cartridge so I don't know if ten grain could fit without overflowing? Depending on the powder, could a jammed flack cause a blockage of a partial dump of powder causing a light load and a heavy load?
 
I am a reloader. If a gun blows up while shooting my reloads, I realize that I'll be replacing it on my dime. End of story.

A while back a member of our gun club was shooting a J-frame with ammo that he had reloaded. Apparently he was less than fastidious about reloading and had at least a double charge. The top strap of the gun was severed.

He sent it to S&W. They sent it back as-is, with a piece of paper and a smiley face drawn on it.

I think FN is being more than fair with him. Odds are his reload was overcharged.
 
It appears that the cartridge separated at the shoulder.
Any reloader should know that the more you work brass, the more brittle it becomes.

IIRC, are bottle necked rifle cases annealed just for this reason?

In my uninformed opinion, it appear that the brass may have been reloaded more than once or twice and possibly caused the separation.

From what I can see of the brass, it does not appear similar to any "out of battery" firing failures I have seen.
 
They sent it back as-is, with a piece of paper and a smiley face drawn on it.

Someone has a sense of humor...

I had no idea people were still reloading using a hand press with powder loads measured one at at time.


Some just can't afford to go for a Dillon or similar setup. While they are great, they aren't that cheap.
 
I looked at the load data on the Ramshot web site here: http://www.ramshot.com/powders/

Their guide has load data for 35, 40, and 45 grain bullets for the 5.7 cartridge using the True Blue powder. They do not show any load data for 55gr. In addition, they have the following special note for the 5.7 caliber:
1) This is an extremely sensitive caliber. Please adhere closely to indicated loads and COL guidelines.

2) Always begin loading at the MINUMUM start load and increase only in increments of 0.1 grains.

He was reloading "an extremely sensitive" caliber, with a bullet/powder combination for which there is no data, blew up his gun, and now he goes far and wide on the internet blaming FN for his problems. How's that for accepting personal responsibility [rolleyes]
 
I looked at the load data on the Ramshot web site here: http://www.ramshot.com/powders/

Their guide has load data for 35, 40, and 45 grain bullets for the 5.7 cartridge using the True Blue powder. They do not show any load data for 55gr. In addition, they have the following special note for the 5.7 caliber:


He was reloading "an extremely sensitive" caliber, with a bullet/powder combination for which there is no data, blew up his gun, and now he goes far and wide on the internet blaming FN for his problems. How's that for accepting personal responsibility [rolleyes]

Can I get an Amen?

I'm not a reloader and I don't play one on TV, but that was my initial thought as well. Several moons ago there was a guy bitching about Springfield Armory's customer service not treating him well and refusing to fix his M1A. When the story really came out, it turned out he was shooting large hunting loads, ( I can't remember grain but they were over 180gr .308) - beyond recommended by Springfield Armory which clearly states 7.62x51 NATO. People screw up and look to blame everyone but the person staring at them in the mirror.
 
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