I have been lucky in certain aspects regarding the reloading of the 5.7 and I will explain further after touching on points that panaceabeachbum and the others mention.
Of the equipment needed here are the four most important items to begin with.....they cost the most, but you will recoup the cash after reloading a few hundred rounds.
1- Press...go with either RCBS, Dillon or Hornady- Dillon are the best which means the price will be higher. I- here is one of the ucky parts...I already had a single stage RCBS press and later upgraded it to a progressive one. Actually I went with RCBS with all my components, you do not have to- I just did because I wanted to make sure I had no issues with compatibility from one item to the next.
2- Dies...only two Mfg. that I know right now that offer them in the 5.7 are RCBS and Hornady. I picked up the RCBS ones, DO NOT get or use the small base die- this die is designed to size the body of cases somewhat smaller and set the shoulder back slightly more than a regular full-length sizer die- this small base die kept crushing the brass and will not work!! Get the full-length 2 die set or the Neck sizer die set only if you want to form fire. Here is the link to the dies on Midwayusa. I go to them for all my items.
http://www.midwayusa.com/ebrowse.ex...egorystring=9315***731***702***8344***9261***
3- Powder dispenser (measure).....you have a crap load to choose from, again I went with RCBS.... I have also spent tons of time on the phone with RCBS…regarding their powder dispensers-providing suggestions, pointing out compatibility issues and etc. When it comes to powder dispensers....I highly highly recommend the Little Dandy Powder Measure. The Uniflow sucks- at least it did for me. The Uniflow has to many factors that can and will contribute to throwing inaccurate charges each time. The Little Dandy is EXCELLENT- the use of the rotors is a much better design than their Uniflow and regardless of what RCBS tells you it does fit on the Piggy back system.
4- Scale...do not skimp out with the funds regarding scales, I did and ended up having to buy 4 scales all together. Again- a crap load to choose from…and again I went with RCBS. I like the electronic ones better than the manual type.
The next items are also needed but are not set in any order-and again a crap load to choose from.
5-Caliper
6-Tumbler & media
7-Case Trimmer
The following are lower in priority- but still need at some point...
8-case lube
9-reloading trays
10-primer,de-primer tools
Now on to the specific data for the 5.7, of three things...projectile, powder and primer. The most important is the powder; at least I think it is. I know for sure the projectiles and what powder type and charge weight that FN used/uses.
I have this info with photos posted already under the "5.7 AMMO DESIGNATIONS AND VELOCITIES FROM FN-STYLE WEAPONS" that was posted initially by Lord Skeletor
When I started reloading the 5.7 in 04' there was not even a whisper of what type or what was used to reload this round. I thought it best to use the exact powder and amounts that FN used, since they had done all the pressure tests and etc. So I made it a personal quest to get FN's data for myself- I had more than an interest in the 5.7 round since first finding out about the P90 in 93' after picking up the 3rd Edition of the Gun Digest book of Assault Weapons. So, I called, I emailed, I surfed, and called many more times..even talk to two ballistic techs at FN in Belgium!!!!
FN used and uses a Powder Manufacture for all of their 5.7 rounds called PB Clermont site:
http://www.pb-clermont.be/ which is a subsidiary of Eurenco groupe SNPE from Belgium. This parent company also controls EURENCO Bofors- which is Alliant Powder in the USA, EURENCO Vihtavuori- which is Vihta Vuori distributed via Kaltron-Pettibone in the USA and EURENCO France- which is PB Clermont. PB Clermont distributes their powder via Western Powders by the brand of RAMSHOT.
Till this day I still do not know what primer that FN uses. I have tried both small rifle, small pistol and small magnum pistol primers. I have tried ALL of the different Winchesters primers, and the same for Federal, I have stuck with Winchester small magnum pistol.
So, here is what powder charged is used for each of their specific rounds......use this as a guide line for the type and weight of the bullet you want to use.
SS190- 32 grn. bullet- 6.0 grains of Silhouette(plain tip) 6.5 grains-True Blue(black tipped)
SS191- 32 grn. bullet- 6.0 grains of Silhouette(plain tip) 6.5 grains-True Blue(red tipped)
SS192- 28 grn. bullet- 6.5 grains of True Blue
SS193- 55 grn. bullet- 2.0 grains of Silhouette
SS195- 28 grn. bullet- 6.5 grains of True Blue
SS196- 40 grn. bullet- 4.0 grains of True Blue
SS197- 40 grn. bullet- 5.5 grains of True Blue
Here is the lucky part for me and you...... DO NOT EXCEED 7.5 grains of either of the Silhouette or True Blue when using a 40 grain bullet. I did- I went up to 8 grains and here is what happened. I had the 8 grains with the V-max loaded into an unfired SS195 case- upon pulling the trigger of my PS90 all at once I received a massive blast of pressure and unignited powder to my face, a sharp pain in my chest and load crack from the rifle. I looked into the breach area and saw the bolt was not all the way closed and that the case was still in the breach-but the back end was completely blown off with the primer missing..actualy it wasn't missing just somewhere else.... I took the PS90 apart and realized that there was little damage to the rifle.. only a small nick/gouge on the plastic door cover of the case ejection area. I had to use a cleaning rod to un jam the case out of the breach/barrel area. I was then told by my fellow shooting partners that I had blood spots on my shirt center of chest area. Guess where the primer "shrap metal" was found. I had expericence in extracting pimples in this same spot while a teenager...so this worked well to get the brass out. I havn't enough nerve to load up past 7.5 grains using a lighter bullet than the 40 grn V-max...........at least yet.
Hope this helped-
Wil