Transcription
You know, I hate to say it, but the FN 57 is a hipster’s wet dream. Everything about this gun screams hipster because, like most hipsters, it’s different just to say it’s different, even if the differences could be considered flaws. However, those quirky differences come together and make you feel like your gun is cooler than every other handgun on the planet.
For instance, loading the magazine feels cooler because, instead of loading it like other handgun magazines, which require a PhD in physics and make you look like you’ve had a sudden onset of tetanus, the FN magazine loads like an AR and AK magazine, and we all know how cool ARs and AKs are. In true hipster “buck the system” fashion, the FN comes with the 20-round magazine, as if to say, “Take your high-capacity magazine ban and shove it.”
Even the thing I hate the most—the safety—has a cool aspect to it. It’s utterly unintuitive; though, on paper, you think it was, but it’s hard to actuate even if you’re stone cold sober and concentrating. However, its questionable uniqueness gives it a certain level of appeal, kind of like listening to a Kuti album—it’s not supposed to work, and it really doesn’t, but you keep listening.
This gun is completely ambidextrous, but because you have to manually move the magazine release over to the other side if you’re left-handed, it’s sometimes hard to drop the magazine because the magazine release, on the other side, protrudes when pressed, thus hitting your hand, preventing a complete push of the magazine release. Other than that, the magazine release is really [Music] positive. The slide release gets an honorable mention here for simply being really effective. It’s easy to actuate and easy to disengage, all without being a real estate space hog on the gun like they are on HKs. [Laughter]
And last, but not least, how can you forget the arguably anemic yet cool round this gun fires? Sure, it’s basically a .22 on steroids, and the blue tip signifies it’s less-than-lethal, not armor-piercing version, but considering it’s a handgun round that looks like a rifle round, it’s a win on the strength of its coolness alone, much like watching a Michael Bay movie—lacking in depth, plot structure, character development, or theme, but he still makes the coolest movies known to man.
Shooting the FN 57 is fun—not like going to an NBA basketball game fun, but like driving a Lamborghini Aventador fun. It feels exotic; it doesn’t feel like you’re shooting a normal gun. It has a light recoil impulse, but not so light you feel like you’re shooting a .22 Long Rifle. Now that’s courtside fun. Nothing about this gun feels familiar, like you’ve shot it before. Like I said, it’s different just to be different. Even shooting with my offhand, the gun was super manageable without feeling soft. The FN is the perfect step between a .22 Long Rifle and a 9mm; if you’re super anal about a progressive introduction to more powerful calibers for new shooters.
The trigger in this thing is exceptional: predictable takeup, nice break, and the perfect reset without being showy, like the Glock reset is. You know what I’m talking about—the Glock reset is a showoff with its super loud reset and ultra-positive reset. Like, okay, we get it, you have a noticeable reset. The FN doesn’t do that; it simply taps you on the shoulder and says politely, “I’ve reset; now you can shoot me again.” Because the trigger is so good, shooting fast is a breeze; adding the light recoil impulse, it becomes child’s play.
Initially, I struggled in the accuracy department with this gun because of its adjustable sights, but after changing my point of aim, I was able to improve a little bit, but the dots on the front sight were really small, all all throwing my vision a bit. Suffices to say, my group wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t stellar. Oh, and I forgot to get a closer picture of where I actually grouped.
Summing it all up, I’ve really, really grown to like this gun for what it is. The problem is, I don’t know what it’s for. A part of me wants to put it out there in the novelty department because it’s so cool and different, but I can’t help but feel like there’s some real practical application for this thing outside of it being Secret Service and utilizing armor-piercing rounds. I just haven’t figured it out yet. In the meantime, it’s a hipster gun that’s fun to shoot and validates how different you are when people ask you what gun you carry or own, or it just makes you look like a [Music] douchebag.