FN 5.7x28mm Ammo Tests with Elite Ammunition Ammo

I have a Birchwood Casey handgun target: 

It is rated for any handgun up to .44 Magnum. It is steel about 3/8" thick. I have hit it multiple times with many types of ammo from 22lr up to .45acp and none of them make a mark on the steel, although they do remove the paint. 

There is one exception. The solid brass S5 Trident in 5.7x28mm. The regular 5.7 round, the SS197sr does not make a mark on the steel. I also wanted to see the difference between the NATO 5.56x45mm M855 penetrator round (green tip) and a normal .223 Remington round. So I sacrificed the target to this test.

Here are the specifics on the ammo:

5.7x28mm S5 Trident 32gr solid brass bullet from Elite Ammo (circled in Blue)
Fired from a 5-7 pistol. The claimed muzzle velocity from the Pistol barrel is over 2000fps.

5.56x45mm Winchester Ranger M855 62grain Steel core FMJ. (circled in Green)
Fired from an MSAR STG-556 with a 16" barrel.

.223 Remington PMC with 55gr FMJ.
Fired from an MSAR STG-556 with a 16" barrel.

Distance was about 20yds. 

Note the full penetration of the M855 round (green). The exit hole is irregular, probably from the tumbling core surrounded by molten lead. The 223 Remington round (red) nearly penetrated the steel, and did leave a huge bump on the back of the target. The 5.7 Trident penetrated about 1/3 of the thickness of the metal or about 0.125". As stated above the 5.7 Sporting Round did not make a mark on the steel.

Here is the back side of the target:

So, as we know, there is a big difference between Rifle and Pistol, but 5-7 bridges that gap just a little. The core of the M855 does make a difference for penetration. Hope you enjoyed