[SHOT Show 2020] Shooting the Ruger-57 at SHOT Show Range Day

The Ruger-57 pistol has been in gun news of late, providing a more-affordable handgun platform for the FN 5.7×28mm bottlenecked pistol cartridge. I stopped by the Ruger area at the 2020 SHOT Show Range Day, to check it out for myself.

Dry firing the pistol revealed a trigger I classified in my notes as “creepy but not terrible.” When I fired it, I found the first trigger pull to be noticeably worse than subsequent rounds from the same magazine. The trigger pull is anything but great, but I’ve surely felt worse semi-auto pistol triggers.

The 57 is nice and light, and it feels good in the hand. Controls were easy to reach and operate… but I’m not a fan of the safety. Although it’s ambi — and that’s a good thing — it hangs out away from the pistol in such a way that it seems bound to snag on things… for instance, when holstering it.

Shooting it was fun, and I enjoyed the two five-round strings I shot. (The range guys were loading the mags light, apparently to conserve ammo.) The pistol was accurate and operation was easy.

Comparing a Ruger with an FN product is tough to do, so I won’t even bother, but if you want a nice-feeling pistol in which to shoot 5.7×28mm, be aware that Ruger’s $799 MSRP is a full $636 lower than FN’s whopping $1,435 for their Five-seveN model.

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.