Gun Tests staffers are currently testing a Ruger-57 chambered in the 5.7x28mm round for the October 2020 issue of the magazine. The 57 is pitted against two other 22-caliber handguns, a Rock Island 1911 chambered in 22 TCM and a KelTec PMR30 in 22 WMR.
The Ruger-57 covered in this First Look video:
Our First Look at the Ruger-57 showed it had good accuracy and speed overall. Also, our test team’s notebooks listed a few specifics about this newish semi-auto handgun:
- Ruger may have broken the logjam of firearms produced in the 5.7×28 chambering. We have anecdotal information from some of the ammunition companies that say sales of 5.7×28 ammo sales are up about 1000% prior to the Ruger’s appearance this year.
- The Ruger 57 is a hammer-fired, delayed-blowback, semi-auto pistol. When the trigger is pressed, the pistol fires essentially single-action with the barely-visible, internal hammer having been cocked by the reciprocating alloy-steel slide.
- In contrast to a tilting barrel lockup with its mechanical connection to the slide for a short time, the Ruger 57 relies on slide mass/weight and spring pressure to keep the chamber sealed while pressure drops. Because of that, spring pressure is a bit heavy and the weight of the slide is critical.
- The top of the forward end of the slide has been milled out and about 50% of the length of the slide sports a scalloped area that further reduces weight. The smaller mass of the slide not only helps reliability for the 57, it also allows for less muzzle flip.
- The slide also has curved grooves cut fore and aft as cocking serrations. The internal hammer is visible through a port in the rear of the slide.
- The 57 arrived with a great set of sights. The rear is a fixture, mounted in a dovetail, that is adjustable for elevation and windage. The front sight is a well-protected fiber-optic tube also in a dovetail. The front is big enough to see without totally filling the rear sight notch.
- The top of the slide is drilled and tapped for adapter plates that can be used with most of the current crop of red dot sights.
- The 57 magazine holds twenty rounds of 5.7×28 in a shell that reminds of us more of an AR magazine than a standard pistol. Two mags ship with the pistol.
- The 57 comes drilled and tapped for a red dot base.
- Reliability was 100% through our testing. As with the other two pistols, recoil was minimal.
To read more about how the Ruger-57 pistol performed, check out the full article here (subscriber-only) from our October 2020 issue.
Do you own a Ruger-57? If so, please tell us about your experience with it in the comments section below.
I liked the old format where you compared like firearms so I could make my own decision based on my own preferences. I prefer pistols with visible hammers and tend to eschew striker fired ones. Personal idiosyncrasies. I’m sure it’s probably because a 1911 was my first and I learned to shoot it very well.