The frame of the pistol is nicely contoured and textured to provide a comfortable yet secure grip. To make the design more flexible and user friendly, the dustcover features a MIL-STD 1913 rail, which allows lights and lasers to be easily mounted. Feed is from synthetic magazines that hold a whopping 20 rounds. A magazine disconnect is incorporated into the design, but the good news is that it does not degrade the quality of the trigger. Somewhat surprisingly, the trigger on the USG is quite good, being both light and crisp with a very short reset.

The pistol also comes with an integral accessories rail and 20-round magazine.

Sights consist of a large, easy-to-see blade front sight mated to a fully adjustable rear. They feature white dots to make them easier to pick up.

Shooting The New System
I spent some time getting to know FN's USG at the range. With a 20-round magazine I expected the USG's frame to be fat and bulky. Pawing it over I was pleasantly surprised to find it quite comfortable. Magazines inserted easily, the slide retracted smoothly, and the small bottleneck rounds fed readily into the chamber. The safety took a bit to get used to, simply because I was unaccustomed to its location, but I have no negative comments about it. The ammunition I had on hand for testing was a large quantity of FN's 28-grain JHP load. I set to work making empty brass.

I began testing by checking the Five-seveN's accuracy from the bench at 25 yards. I fired four five-shot groups off of sandbags, and the average group size came in at two inches. Velocity of 10 rounds averaged 1951 fps, which is a good bit lower than FN's claim. Impressed by its 25-yard accuracy, I placed a target at 50 yards and repeated my testing. At this distance the Five-seveN averaged four-inch groups and is probably capable of doing better. Recoil is very mild. The muzzle simply flips slightly and then settles back into place. It's a very pleasant pistol to shoot.

While the Five-seveN USG pistol's push-button magazine release is conventionally located, its slide release, ambidextrous safeties, and takedown lever are positioned differently than the norm.

From the bench I moved to running drills from a holster. For gear I selected a holster and magazine carriers from Blade-Tech, Dept. ST, 2506 104th St. Court S., Suite A, Lakewood, WA 98499; 253-581-4347; www.blade-tech.com. I've always had good luck with Blade-Tech gear, and it did not let me down this time. Starting at the two-yard line and working my way back to the 15-yard line, I ran various drills, including shooting strong-handed, weak-handed, and with both hands--stationary and on the move with plenty of forced reloads and failure drills.

Shooting the Five-seveN is a whole lot of fun! Thanks to the excellent trigger, light recoil, mild muzzle flip, and bottomless magazine you can blister targets at a rapid rate. Lock into it and the slide simply pistons back and forth as empties fly out. When the magazine finally runs dry, punch the release and it's kicked clear. Slap another one home, hit the slide release, and keep going. Practical accuracy is excellent, and man-sized targets are easy to hit, even at 100 yards.

Okay, the USG shoots, but what about the cartridge? I checked its penetration/expansion in water. Firing at a distance of 12 feet, penetration of five rounds averaged between nine and 11 inches. None of the rounds expanded or deformed in any manner, and other than the rifling marks, all looked like new when recovered. However, I did notice one interesting thing. It's obvious that the rounds yaw quickly as two rounds penetrated approximately six inches and then turned 90 degrees and exited the side of the water container. Penetration of this load, in my opinion, is a bit on the shallow side for law enforcement. As a comparison, when fired into 10-percent ordnance gelatin this load penetrates only to about 8.5 inches.