This is Tisas USA's New PX 5.7 Optic Ready Pistol

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Iwas as surprised as anyone by the sudden resurrection of FN Herstal’s 5.7x28mm cartridge. This small bore PDW cartridge had, for all intents and purposes, appeared dead in the water. Today though, there are a number of handgun options from FN America, Ruger, Smith & Wesson and even Palmetto State Armory. The latest company to embrace this small bottle-neck cartridge is TISAS USA with their new PX 5.7 series.

Perhaps best known for their economical M1911 pattern pistols, TISAS USA is respected for offering a lot of value for the money. So, always interested in a bargain my ears perked up when I first heard about TISAS USA adding the 5.7x28mm cartridge to their handgun line. A quality handgun at an economical price is sure to appeal to both fans of this cartridge, as well as shooters who have not yet tried it.

The question I had though was, how well would an economical 5.7x28mm handgun manufactured in Turkey perform? I was interested in checking its design, construction, fit, feel, accuracy and performance on the range. Would it be reliable? Would it have the features readers would be interested in? To find out I received a TISAS USA PX 5.7 OR pistol on short term loan for this review.

The pistol arrived packed in a plastic hard case. Inside the foam lined case was the pistol, manual, two cleaning brushes, lock, and spare 20-round magazine. Overall, a nice package and about what you would expect today. Removing the PX 5.7 OR from the case I first noticed it feels good in the hand, despite the long overall length of the cartridge dictating the need for a long magazine and thus a large grip. While a big pistol, it doesn’t feel huge, awkward, clumsy or heavy. The controls are well laid out, the sights are very good, it accepts a red dot sight and the trigger is good. Best of all though is perhaps the price; it is within reach of your average blue-collar worker. The standard model has an MSRP of $459.99 while the optics ready model seen here is $499.99. Spare 20-round magazines are $29.95.

What draws shooters to handguns like the TISAS USA PX 5.7 OR is simply its cartridge. The 5.7x28mm is a small bottleneck cartridge capable of driving its 0.224-inch diameter projectiles at relatively high velocity. It was originally developed by FN Herstal for NATO as a modern replacement for the 9x19mm cartridge. While it failed to replace the 9x19mm, it was eventually adopted by NATO in 2021. Its main claim to fame as a military cartridge is its ability to penetrate soft body armor when loaded with 
Armor Piercing ammunition.

The cartridge has a number of appealing features for the armed citizen. These include very mild recoil allowing very fast follow-up shots, a flat trajectory aiding hits past 50 yards, compact dimensions allowing relatively high magazine capacities, and the light weight of the ammunition allowing more to be carried. It is a very fun caliber to shoot from a handgun.

The downside to the 5.7x28mm has always been, from a shooter’s perspective, the lack of economical practice/plinking ammunition. Fans of this cartridge have long asked for a load they can buy in bulk and enjoy shooting without it costing an excessive amount. Basically, shooters desire a 5.7x28mm load similar in price to economical 9mm ball. While the ammo situation continues to improve, especially with Fiocchi’s offerings, 5.7x28mm remains noticeably more expensive than 9mm.

Part of the higher cost of 5.7x28mm ammunition is due to the cartridge case featuring a dry lubricant. This is to both aid feeding and more importantly, ease case extraction. Lubricated cartridges are a bit of a dinosaur which largely fell out of use in small arms post-World War II. Unfortunately, the lubricant does add both complexity and cost to the cartridge’s manufacture. However, as more manufacturers embrace the 5.7x28mm cartridge hopefully ammunition prices will continue to drop.

Well, enough about the 5.7x28mm cartridge, let’s delve into this new model from TISAS USA. As I said, this is a fairly large piece, even though it’s not bulky or particularly heavy. Overall length is approximately 8.5 inches and the slide is approximately 1.1 inches wide. It’s approximately 5.5 inches tall and weighs in at 24 ounces. The frame is manufactured from textured polymer. While long, the grip is fairly thin and nicely textured. The trigger guard is both squared off and undercut to aid comfort. The dustcover features a 1913-style rail for mounting a white light, laser or other accessories.

Riding atop the frame is a black Tennifer finished steel slide. This features grasping serrations at the front and back. The rear of the slide is machined to mount an RMRsc pattern optic. So, out of the box it is red dot compatible. Riding inside the slide is a 4.8-inch forged barrel with button rifling. This has a one turn in nine inches Right Hand rifling twist with eight grooves. Beneath the barrel is a captured steel recoil spring with a full-length guide-rod. There is a loaded chamber indicator which allows the shooter to visually check to verify if there is a cartridge present.

TISAS USA’s PX 5.7 is a striker-fired design. Trigger pull on this model is actually pretty nice with a clean break and a pull weight of approximately 4.5 pounds. Reset is distinct but a bit long. It’s not a match trigger, but I really had no complaints. The trigger features a blade-in-trigger type safety similar to a Glock.

Ambidextrous slide catch levers are fitted. These are well-placed and I could easily reach them without having to change or modify my hold on the pistol. A conventionally placed push-button magazine release is standard. This is reversible for left-hand shooters. The magazine ejects cleanly from the pistol with a push of the release. The magazine itself features a steel body and polymer base-plate and follower. The magazine is interesting as it’s a double-column design with two-position feeding rather than the standard single-feed. Capacity is an impressive 20 rounds and witness holes are provided indicating 5, 10, 15 and 20 rounds. Two magazines are provided with each TISAS USA PX 5.7 pistol.

The front sight features a green fiber optic for rapid acquisition. The serrated rear sight is adjustable for windage. The snag-free rear sight features a square notch. The sight picture is good and the fiber optic front sight stands out nicely, in bright sunlight especially. I had no complaints in regard to the PX 5.7’s’s high visibility sights. However, if you prefer something different, the PX 5.7 uses standard Glock pattern sights. So, you have a wide variety of designs to choose from on the aftermarket.

Unlike your typical center-fire service pistol, the PX 5.7 does not have a Browning based tilting-barrel operating system. Instead, it features a delayed blow-back system. In the PX 5.7, the barrel and slide are held together in battery by the tension of the recoil spring. What is a bit different in this system is the barrel is not fixed in place. Instead, the barrel recoils a short distance, with the slide after a cartridge is fired. The slide and barrel are held together long enough for the projectile to leave the muzzle and for pressures to drop to safe levels for reliable extraction and operation. The slide continues rearward extracting and ejecting the fired cartridge case and then loads a fresh cartridge into the chamber as it returns forward. As the slide is returning forward under the tension of the recoil spring, the barrel rejoins it and returns to battery.

Out of the box, the PX 5.7 OR looked good, there were no issues with its finish, the slide retracted smoothly, and the controls all functioned properly. Stripping it for a look inside, I found a couple tool marks, but internally the pistol looked good. I also found it to be properly lubricated.

Next, I needed a quantity of 5.7x28mm ammunition for testing. Rummaging around my ammo room I located a quantity of FN produced 197SR 40-grain V-MAX ammunition. To this I added American Eagle’s relatively economical 40-grain FMJ. I also had two 400-round “combo packs” from Fiocchi. One of these had two 150-round boxes of their 40-grain FMJ load and two 50-round boxes of their 40-grain Tipped Hollow Point. The other had two 150-round boxes of their 40-grain FMJ load and two 50 round boxes of their 62-grain Subsonic load. This provided a nice assortment of loads to try on the range.

I began testing with a 50-round function test using Fiocchi’s 40-grain Tipped Hollow Point load just to verify the pistol operated correctly. It ran without issue and I liked the mild recoil. Two loaded magazines provide a whopping 40 rounds on tap. That’s a lot of fun, and the TISAS PX 5.7 OR is fun to shoot. After ringing steel for a bit with the pistol feeding, firing, extracting and ejecting without issue, it was time to get to work.

To check the PX 5.7 OR’s accuracy I began by firing four five-shot groups off a sandbag rest at 25 yards. I noted the metal magazines loaded fairly easily without undue force being required. The magazines inserted easily, and rounds fed smoothly. Recoil with all the various loads is light, and the pistol is quite comfortable to shoot. The sight picture is excellent. The front sight stands out clearly and the rear sight has a wide notch, perhaps a bit too wide, with plenty of daylight.

The first load I tried was the American Eagle 40-grain FMJ. This proved to be the slowest supersonic load of the group. Accuracy averaged 3.2 inches at 1,679 fps. The FN197SR load averaged three inches at 1,764 fps. Fiocchi’s 40-grain Tipped HP shot very well and averaged 2.8 inches at 1,750 fps. Fiocchi’s 40-grain FMJ averaged 3.5 inches at 1,705 fps. I was very interested to see how the subsonic load from Fiocchi functioned and grouped. This 62-grain FMJ’s Point of Impact was noticeably lower than the supersonic 40-grain loads, however it functioned fine. It averaged three inches at 1,036 fps. It fed, extracted and ejected without issue.

Moving from the bench, I ran the PX 5.7 OR through a variety of drills from three to 15 yards firing on paper targets. This was done to check the TISAS’ handling, muzzle-rise during rapid fire, and ease of operating the controls. I was also interested to see if any problems cropped up as the round count climbed. Here, the PX 5.7 OR performed well, recoil is easy to control, the sights are quick to acquire and the controls are easy to reach. While on the large side, the pistol swings quickly as it’s fairly light. Magazines ejected cleanly with the push of a button.

From here, I moved to shooting offhand at steel at 25 and 50 yards. Making rapid hits on a full-size steel silhouette did not prove difficult at 25 yards. The sights and the trigger on the PX 5.7 OR are quite good and aid accuracy at distance. However, the rear notch is a bit wide and I had to concentrate at 50 yards. Point of Impact does vary though between bullet weights and even loads of the same bullet weight in regard to elevation. So, you need to know your POI for the load you are using. This was especially true of Fiocchi’s 62-grain subsonic load.

Overall I rate the PX 5.7 OR a very fun pistol to shoot. It holds 20+1 rounds, has mild recoil and fires a cartridge capable of impressive velocities. Time will tell regarding its overall durability and service life. The MSRP is a reasonable $499.99 making the PX 5.7 OR an economical buy for an optics ready 5.7x28mm pistol. If you prefer iron sights, their PX 5.7 FO without the optics cut is only $459.99. The PX 5.7 OR stacks up very well compared to its more expensive competition. If you are interested in the 5.7x28mm cartridge then TISAS USA’s offerings are a very attractive option.

TISAS USA PX 5.7 OR PISTOL SPECS

• Caliber: 5.7x28mm
• Operation: Delayed Blowback
• Barrel Length: 4.8 in.
• Trigger: Striker fired, 4.5 lbs. pull
• Feed: Detachable 20-round box magazine
• Overall Length: 8.5 in.
• Height: 5.5 in.
• Width: 1.1 in.
• Weight: 24 oz.
• Sights: Fiber Optic front sight, Serrated rear
• Finish: Tennifer
• MSRP: $499.99
• Contact: (865) 604-6894, TisasUSA.com

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