[Justin Bove]

I did some testing on three 5.7 rounds I could pretty easily. The SS197 Standard blue tip, the SS195 Lead Free, and the SS198 Green Tip. I used frozen milk jugs, a steel plate, and plywood nailed together. I shot 50 rounds of each from my PS90 SBR with a Gemtech G5 suppressor. I was actually pretty surprised by the results. The round that I thought would penetrate the most didn't (SS198) The SS198GT hit the first ice jug and basically exploded. Same thing when it hit the plywood. It penetrated and basically exposed. Fragmentation was close to 100%. Though it would not pierce the steel plate. The standard SS197 acted like I though it would and went through 1-2 frozen milk jugs and recover rounds either mushroomed or pretty much stayed solid. The plywood test made them either tumble or expand. Same penetration as a FMJ 9mm round. Surprisingly the dented the steal plate more then the SS198GT's did. Lastly the white box SS195 round was tested. Same penetration as the blue tips in the plywood and frozen milk jugs..(Maybe a little more) but statistically the same. The huge surprise was that the SS195 lead free hollow pointed rounds went right through the steel plate. That really through me for a loop. I thought if the green tips couldn't penetrate the plate nothing would. My take away was interesting. If shot by the green tip ammo you are F'd! It basically explodes and fragments dumping a tremendous amount of energy on impact. I can't see how a doctor could remove the bullet or all the fragments. The blue tip ammo was like if a FMJ 9mm luger NATO round and a Hornady V-Max 17 HMR had had a kid and called it SS197. Lastly the white box SS195 lead free ammo performed surprising like a 35-40gr 223 round. Sadly a year a two ago when 5.7 ammo was basically a collectors item CTD has the lead free HP ammo for around $30 a box OTD if you selected warehouse (I forget).

 

[jhs27275]

I've shot a lot of 198 and never seen it explode or even seriously fragment. The 198 and 195 are basically the same exact round with the 198 being a little faster, so when I've shot them they have performed the same way. The 197 should fragment and usually does. As for going through a steel plate, none of the rounds are AP and really should not be expected to do that.