[LastResort]

I've always been fascinated by the engineering and design that went into the FN P90. The compacts bull pup design, long magazine and rotating feed seems like very innovative packaging considering the limitations that handling, reliability and physics put on weapons design. Now apparently the P90 is available in a civilian packaging with a longer barrel as the PS90.

http://www.impactguns.com/store/fn_p90.html

Does anyone have reviews or personal commentary on this gun and it's performance?

 

[Janq]

LR,

I've spent an extended amount of time with the P90 as per a LEO & military only exposition several years ago featuring FN marketing it's wares to govt. & paramilitary buyers. I was there for work reasons with another vendor client of ours.
I could fire it in FA one handed and easily stay on target out to 50' (max distance of backstop). It feel like shooting a .22 only with a little more kick and roughly the same noise report. The mfr. rep did a demo firing two P90s in either hand and was able to stay on target with two targets simultaneously without much in the way of visible difficulty.
The ammo for it is tiny and the loadign sytstem is pretty easy. The whole thing breaks down with no tools to IIRC 4 or 5 basic components.

Long story short I fell in love with the thign that day and have wanted one ever since.
Only problem is the ammo is non-standard and very expensive.
On the other hand though for govt. and LEO buyers each magazine fully loaded weighs lesst han a single loaded AR mag and can holdup to 50 rounds per mag as I recall. Loading the mags is easy but tedious because the round is so small.

Nothing much else to say other than it's an ergonomic designmore comfortable to hold than any other rifle I've tried and it's lightweight too.

CN: It's badass.

- Janq

 

[LastResort]

Janq
Thats pretty much what I've heard. The level of praise of this weapon seems to be at almost the drooling fanboi level, yet it truly deserves it and not many(if any at all) have contrary opinions. It seems like the perfect package and is very flexible in application. The only thing I have heard is that the spring in the magazine does not hold the rounds under a high tension so that it is easy to load. The side affect being that when dropped or jarred a partial full magazine can cause a feed problem, but I'm not sure of the credibility there.

I should note the civilian model comes with 'only' a 30 round magazine vs the restricted 50 round unit.

As far as the spendy ammunition, I have hopes that eventually some cheap surplus ammunition will hit the shelves eventually. But I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Janq]

FN contracted last fall with Fiocchi (Italy) to mass product the ammo for it and the complimentary FiveSeven pistol with intention of increasing supplies and reducing ammo costs.
I really hope that happens.

Thing is though about the P90 is that it's a bullpup design whihc make s it so handy and easy to transport.
The civilian PS90 version with it's long barrel will be less so much as I imagine from the pics (see my Shot '06 thread).

There are lots of good & interesting combat rifles and carbines hitting the market these days.

- Janq

 

[LastResort]

I was under the impression that this gun was practically designed around what was supposed to be the "new NATO standard round", if there ever could be called one. But who else chambers a 5.7x28mm SS190?

Edit: Finally found a comment regarding the jamming magazine, but they feel that it's unsubstantiated as well.

http://www.defensereview.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=441

 

[Jeremy]

FN contracted last fall with Fiocchi (Italy) to mass product the ammo for it and the complimentary FiveSeven pistol with intention of increasing supplies and reducing ammo costs.
I really hope that happens.
- Janq

It's already happened. the ss197 (with harnady V-max bullet) ammo is made by Fiocchi in the U.S, Missouri I believe. IF you can find it in stock it runs 16-20$ a box of 50 compared to the previous ss192, 193 195 ammo that ran 60-80$ for 50. Cheaper than dirt, midway and nanchtez all carry it, when they can keep it in stock.

The civvy gun is longer but still shorter than an M4. But the added barrel lenfth will increase volocity alot making it a faster, flatter and more powerful gun.

No 1 else has chambered for the 5 7 yet and the ss190 rounds are LEO only armor piercing there for not legal for US civvy sales.

 

[fatcat]

Woah... thats one of the few guns made with a short barrel thats been extended to 16 inches that looks good. Most sub guns with a 16 inch barrel look ugly... like an MP5 or tompson with 16 inch barrels are ugly as hell.

 

[brucelee]

How much of the barrel sticks off of the gun?

 

[Shad]

I've actually seen some MP5 clones w/16" barrel that didn't look like shit. They put a fake suppressor over the long barrel. Actually looked like it was supposed to look like that.

 

[Janq]

Thanks for the update Jeremy thats good info to know.

- Janq

 

[Jeremy]

How much of the barrel sticks off of the gun?

6"-8" somewhere around there

 

[brucelee]

So could you actually have the barrel stick out 4" and have a 2" flash suppresor welded on to be CA legal?

 

[brucelee]

I've actually seen some MP5 clones w/16" barrel that didn't look like shit. They put a fake suppressor over the long barrel. Actually looked like it was supposed to look like that.

I wonder what the legality of that is here in CA. I mean, its not a real suppressor, so whats the big deal right?

 

[fatcat]

Yea bobcat arms and a few others have made them and they dont look half bad, hell even the MP5K PDW looks good with the fake supresser welded on it.

 

[Anonymous]

So could you actually have the barrel stick out 4" and have a 2" flash suppresor welded on to be CA legal?

http://www.fnhusa.com/contents/cb_ps90.htm

Only the ps90 is civvy legaland only comes in 16" barrel . The p90 FA versision comes in only the shorter barrel since it's a new gun it's an illegal gun even with a class 3

The ps90 comes with 10-20-30 round mags depending on the state of purchase but the only difference between a 50 rounder and a 30 is a stop in the mag, 20 minutes work and a 30 becomes a 50.[/url]

 

[LastResort]

That Vulcan looks pretty good, but I wonder how long until fake suppressors get lumped in with bayonet lugs, as they look menacing.

For those that asked about how the gun looks:

It's a little gangly looking, but still shorter than the restricted model with suppressor.

I'm curious what the affect will be on muzzle velocity with the longer barrel. as it's something like 55% longer(10.3" vs 16"). We probably can't assume it translates to a linear relationship, but I wonder what the net results are.

I forgot the ss190 were classified as armor piercing in the US. An article I read (same one I linked to before?) seemed to indicate that somehow FN had screwed up and that shouldn't be classified as such.

 

[fatcat]

FN P90/PS90 Magazine, 50rd
$55.00
Item #: 818513001656
Out of stock, accepting orders.
[Add to Cart]
Will fit the new civilian-legal PS-90 as well as the law enforcement-only P-90.


Or just buy a 50 rounder, did someone say they were not legal?

 

[brucelee]

Hmmmm... I wonder what the CA legal version will be like. Limited to 10 rounds, obviously... Hmmmm...

Good info, thanks guys.

 

[Jeremy]

I forgot 2 log in b4 I posted dumbass lol

So could you actually have the barrel stick out 4" and have a 2" flash suppresor welded on to be CA legal?

http://www.fnhusa.com/contents/cb_ps90.htm

Only the ps90 is civvy legaland only comes in 16" barrel . The p90 FA versision comes in only the shorter barrel since it's a new gun it's an illegal gun even with a class 3

The ps90 comes with 10-20-30 round mags depending on the state of purchase but the only difference between a 50 rounder and a 30 is a stop in the mag, 20 minutes work and a 30 becomes a 50.[/url]

ss190 and ss191 are both restricted
ss192 was origionally claimed restricted but isn't and is now legal
ss193,194,195,196,197 are all legal with ss197 being the most available.

50 round mags are legal but can only be bought aftermarket

 

[llamase]

That Vulcan looks pretty good, but I wonder how long until fake suppressors get lumped in with bayonet lugs, as they look menacing.

For those that asked about how the gun looks:

It's a little gangly looking, but still shorter than the restricted model with suppressor.

I'm curious what the affect will be on muzzle velocity with the longer barrel. as it's something like 55% longer(10.3" vs 16"). We probably can't assume it translates to a linear relationship, but I wonder what the net results are.

I forgot the ss190 were classified as armor piercing in the US. An article I read (same one I linked to before?) seemed to indicate that somehow FN had screwed up and that shouldn't be classified as such.

Looks like it wills stab you in the ass if you carry that on your back. Better forget about any baynet.