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| As always, the RMR made ringing plates at 25 yards super easy. |
The KelTec PR57 is the smallest of the current crop of pistols chambered in 5.7x28mm, part of which comes from the fact that it has a four inch barrel, as opposed to the 5" and longer tubes on the others.
With velocity being the cartridge's stock in trade, what effect does lopping an inch off the barrel have on the speed of the most common defensive loading, the 40gr SS197 loaded with the Hornady V-Max projectile?
At Marion County Fish & Game yesterday, with temps in the low eighties there on the banks of Eagle Creek, I busted out the Garmin Xero C1 Pro and compared the velocities from the PR57 to those from the Five-SeveN Mk.3.
From the larger pistol, the average velocity over ten shots was 1,715 feet per second, while from the compact KelTec, that number dropped to 1,611 fps. More noticeably, the extreme spread really opened up, with the fastest and slowest rounds from the 5" barrel being only 26.4 fps apart, while the 4" barrel opened the extreme spread to ninety-five feet per second. That extra inch for the powder to burn helped velocity and consistency.
Incidentally, that Garmin is handier than a pocket on a shirt. Just reading the numbers off the little box right there on the bench beats trudging downrange to my old Shooting Chrony Beta, notebook in hand, at the end of each string. Plus I can do my chronograph work indoors at Indy Arms Company in bad weather! Recommend.
