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AmbGun skipped KelTec's P15 because they went with a button mag release on the 9mm pistol. Our primary concern being accidental magazine disengagement. Well the PR57 bypasses that concern by eliminating the magazine release altogether. And it scores the highest of any pistol on our Rounds Per Size and Weight spreadsheet...significantly higher. The PR57 looks to be a true game changer in the CCW space.
KelTec PR57 Clip Distraction and Magazine Disengagements
KelTec PR57 Clip Distraction and Magazine Disengagements
KelTec’s PR57 stunned the industry. An extremely lightweight and thin 5.7mm pistol, 20 round internal magazine, rotary barrel, and DA only trigger.
Twenty rounds in a pistol that weighs a mere 393 grams makes it the highest rounds per size and weight pistol in the AmbGun spreadsheet. Higher even than the P17 or CP33. It’s actually slightly shorter and narrower than the P17. Astonishing for a centerfire cartridge.
And it’s manufactured in KelTec’s Rock Springs, WY plant.
Twenty rounds. I rarely carry an extra magazine with my P17 or LCP II, so that’s more on tap than I normally have with me. But unloading, well I’m not a fan of having to cycle the slide 20 times to empty the pistol. But its effort endured at home to make carry easier and self defense “out there” more efficacious. Or just leave it loaded, but secured in a gun safe when not carried.
The benefit of an internal magazine? Internal, non-detachable magazine is what makes such high capacity in such a small footprint possible. Mag feed pistols have the grip material thickness and the mag material thickness plus some space to allow the mag to fall free. Duplication of space.
Without a magazine release button, there is no possibility of accidental disengagement of the magazine…an especially common problem for button releases. I’ve been a long time advocate of the paddle magazine as a means of reducing the risk of accidental mag disengagement. The PR57 totally eliminates the risk.
In a self defense situation, those first four rounds are crucial…not the 21st round or the 30th. Eliminating the risk of accidental disengagement is far more valuable than a sub 2 second reload of round number 21.
Loading with the clips. Everyone seems to focus on those clips. I regard the clips as just a step above those mag loader sleeves that are included with other pistols. I experimented with the clips enough to be competent, but ultimately stowed them away in the nice plastic pistol case just like I do with those mag loaders. If I felt the need to carry additional ammo, I might use them otherwise I prefer loading directly into the pistol. The clips are just a duplication of effort…load the clip and then load the clip into the pistol.
More AmbGun content on the PR57 is forthcoming, but so far I’ll say I’m supremely impressed.
Twenty rounds in a pistol that weighs a mere 393 grams makes it the highest rounds per size and weight pistol in the AmbGun spreadsheet. Higher even than the P17 or CP33. It’s actually slightly shorter and narrower than the P17. Astonishing for a centerfire cartridge.
And it’s manufactured in KelTec’s Rock Springs, WY plant.
Twenty rounds. I rarely carry an extra magazine with my P17 or LCP II, so that’s more on tap than I normally have with me. But unloading, well I’m not a fan of having to cycle the slide 20 times to empty the pistol. But its effort endured at home to make carry easier and self defense “out there” more efficacious. Or just leave it loaded, but secured in a gun safe when not carried.
The benefit of an internal magazine? Internal, non-detachable magazine is what makes such high capacity in such a small footprint possible. Mag feed pistols have the grip material thickness and the mag material thickness plus some space to allow the mag to fall free. Duplication of space.
Without a magazine release button, there is no possibility of accidental disengagement of the magazine…an especially common problem for button releases. I’ve been a long time advocate of the paddle magazine as a means of reducing the risk of accidental mag disengagement. The PR57 totally eliminates the risk.
In a self defense situation, those first four rounds are crucial…not the 21st round or the 30th. Eliminating the risk of accidental disengagement is far more valuable than a sub 2 second reload of round number 21.
Loading with the clips. Everyone seems to focus on those clips. I regard the clips as just a step above those mag loader sleeves that are included with other pistols. I experimented with the clips enough to be competent, but ultimately stowed them away in the nice plastic pistol case just like I do with those mag loaders. If I felt the need to carry additional ammo, I might use them otherwise I prefer loading directly into the pistol. The clips are just a duplication of effort…load the clip and then load the clip into the pistol.
More AmbGun content on the PR57 is forthcoming, but so far I’ll say I’m supremely impressed.
KelTec PR57 - Barrel, Velocity, True Rifled Barrel Length, vs 22LR
KelTec PR57 - Barrel, Velocity, True Rifled Barrel Length, vs 22LR
According to KelTec, the PR57 has a 4” barrel. Well it's a fucked up measuring system (not KelTec’s fault) that includes the chamber in the measurement…subtracting for the 5.7 cartridge, the PR57 has a true Rifled barrel length of 2.9”.
That's pretty short for the 5.7 cartridge. In contrast the P17’s 3.8” barrel, when adjusted for 22LR cartridge length is about 3.1” And my Ruger MK III has a true Rifled barrel 4.7’ long. The Walther P22Q, 2.8”. The Ruger LCP II lite rack, 2.1”. And since revolver barrel lengths are measured “properly”, the NAA Mini Revolver is true to factory specs at 1.125.
I thought, aha, maybe a longer barrel 22LR Pistol makes up for the 5.7’s powder advantage. So I headed to the range determined to prove that there was no benefit to running 5.7 out of such a short barrel when compared to 22LR. Thinking Lots of powder spent creating that muzzle flash.
Using a Garmin Xero Chrono I found…
The velocity of 40gr Mini-Mag out the P17’s barrel is 1017 fps, the Ruger kind of shocked me with a lower velocity of 995 fps, the Walther P22Q came in at 923, the Ruger LCP2 was 822 but if I ran 29 gr Punch it was 1094 fps. The tiny NAA Mini Revolver delivered 724 fps.
whereas the KelTec PR57 exits the muzzle at 1625 fps. Not exactly armor defeating but it is light cover piercing velocity. While I do not have a 22 magnum for comparison, I understand that I can expect 1300-1500 fps from that cartridge out of pistol length barrels.
In years past when 5.7 ammo was generally over $1 round, I might conclude the difference vs 22LR was not worth the price, but now that 5.7 can regularly be purchased for just 2-3 times the cost of 22LR or about the same as 9mm, things are more competitive.
5.7 was not tabulated in Greg Ellifritz’s research and was not available back when the “Handbook on Human Vulnerability” live animal tests were done. However, based upon the other pistol calibers tested, I doubt the 5.7 delivers significant real world human lethality differences over 22LR….or that it suffers in comparison to other calibers like 9mm and 45 ACP. Probably more of the “no discernible difference” as reported in “Handbook”.
5.7 benefits? Capacity. Velocity for flat shooting. Mild recoil. Reloadable and a bit more reliable than Rimfire. But you're not going to get those 5.7 touted 2,000+ fps “armor piercing” velocities out of a pistol…the PR57 or any other.
That's pretty short for the 5.7 cartridge. In contrast the P17’s 3.8” barrel, when adjusted for 22LR cartridge length is about 3.1” And my Ruger MK III has a true Rifled barrel 4.7’ long. The Walther P22Q, 2.8”. The Ruger LCP II lite rack, 2.1”. And since revolver barrel lengths are measured “properly”, the NAA Mini Revolver is true to factory specs at 1.125.
I thought, aha, maybe a longer barrel 22LR Pistol makes up for the 5.7’s powder advantage. So I headed to the range determined to prove that there was no benefit to running 5.7 out of such a short barrel when compared to 22LR. Thinking Lots of powder spent creating that muzzle flash.
Using a Garmin Xero Chrono I found…
The velocity of 40gr Mini-Mag out the P17’s barrel is 1017 fps, the Ruger kind of shocked me with a lower velocity of 995 fps, the Walther P22Q came in at 923, the Ruger LCP2 was 822 but if I ran 29 gr Punch it was 1094 fps. The tiny NAA Mini Revolver delivered 724 fps.
whereas the KelTec PR57 exits the muzzle at 1625 fps. Not exactly armor defeating but it is light cover piercing velocity. While I do not have a 22 magnum for comparison, I understand that I can expect 1300-1500 fps from that cartridge out of pistol length barrels.
In years past when 5.7 ammo was generally over $1 round, I might conclude the difference vs 22LR was not worth the price, but now that 5.7 can regularly be purchased for just 2-3 times the cost of 22LR or about the same as 9mm, things are more competitive.
5.7 was not tabulated in Greg Ellifritz’s research and was not available back when the “Handbook on Human Vulnerability” live animal tests were done. However, based upon the other pistol calibers tested, I doubt the 5.7 delivers significant real world human lethality differences over 22LR….or that it suffers in comparison to other calibers like 9mm and 45 ACP. Probably more of the “no discernible difference” as reported in “Handbook”.
5.7 benefits? Capacity. Velocity for flat shooting. Mild recoil. Reloadable and a bit more reliable than Rimfire. But you're not going to get those 5.7 touted 2,000+ fps “armor piercing” velocities out of a pistol…the PR57 or any other.
In the past two PR57 videos I highlighted the often unrecognized benefits of a fixed internal magazine and pointed out the velocity, cover penetrating advantage over 22LR.
But the PR57 has been experiencing a rather peculiar failure to feed issue for which it is taking a trip to Cocoa, FL for therapy. KelTec, great designs, sketchy QC, stellar customer service, so I expect it will return rejuvenated.
I was thinking that the issue would work out with lots of shooting, dry fire, and manipulation of the action. But after nearly 500 rounds of live fire I concluded an intervention was in order.
The feed issues were experienced with dummy rounds, FN 40 gr, and Fiocchi 40gr. And the feed issue was almost only the 2nd and 4th round from slide lock…on the left side of the magazine. My hypothesis is that the magazine follower or mag spring is getting slightly hung up on the edge of the fire control unit…a ledge where the FCU and grip meet. If I were confident in my diagnosis, I’d have pulled the FCU and chamfered things a bit.
I tried different lube. I tried grease on the slide rails. I tried KelTec’s recommended “tap and rack” to seat the cartridges without any improvement.
When running Fiocchi, I also experienced quite a few failures to eject. Use the slide stop to lock the slide, press down on the top round in the magazine and shift it back, then the empty case will easily fall out.
When the PR57 returns home, I’ll do a quick post outlining what was done or if the issue was actually between the trigger and the gun range, i.e., something I was doing wrong.
But the PR57 has been experiencing a rather peculiar failure to feed issue for which it is taking a trip to Cocoa, FL for therapy. KelTec, great designs, sketchy QC, stellar customer service, so I expect it will return rejuvenated.
I was thinking that the issue would work out with lots of shooting, dry fire, and manipulation of the action. But after nearly 500 rounds of live fire I concluded an intervention was in order.
The feed issues were experienced with dummy rounds, FN 40 gr, and Fiocchi 40gr. And the feed issue was almost only the 2nd and 4th round from slide lock…on the left side of the magazine. My hypothesis is that the magazine follower or mag spring is getting slightly hung up on the edge of the fire control unit…a ledge where the FCU and grip meet. If I were confident in my diagnosis, I’d have pulled the FCU and chamfered things a bit.
I tried different lube. I tried grease on the slide rails. I tried KelTec’s recommended “tap and rack” to seat the cartridges without any improvement.
When running Fiocchi, I also experienced quite a few failures to eject. Use the slide stop to lock the slide, press down on the top round in the magazine and shift it back, then the empty case will easily fall out.
When the PR57 returns home, I’ll do a quick post outlining what was done or if the issue was actually between the trigger and the gun range, i.e., something I was doing wrong.
PR57 Tops the AmbGun Rounds per Size and Weight Spreadsheet
PR57 Tops the AmbGun Rounds per Size and Weight Spreadsheet
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