The P90 and AR15 Had A Baby!! - Panzer AR57

Updated 4 months ago

5.7x28 cartridge is really gaining some traction, guys, it was originally developed to replace the 9 mm for NATO, it's an interesting story in history, I recommend reading about it and doing some research before you decide on getting a 5.7, just so you know that you're getting what you're wanting.
With that said many have already made that decision, they want the 5.7. You can go with a pistol or a rifle, either way though the options are limited, but they're getting better. When I saw Panzer Arms AR57 upper that I could put on my AR lower I had to try it. Let's see what Panzer Arms AR57 is all about and how it performs.


This is all the different types of ammo that we're going to run through in this review.

different-types-of-ammo

I'm Drew Case, welcome, I only give you my honest opinion and it is what it is. Panzer Arms is a company out of Turkey, they're not real big company and they're best known for their 12 gauge shotguns. They've got sort of a an AR style shotgun, and then they've got a bullpup, I see them all the time on sale, they seem to be pretty popular, I honestly don't know anything about them. As far as I can see this is really their first gun outside of a shotgun. The market is certainly open for 5.7, especially one that will go on an AR lower, let's just take a quick look at the specs and tech.

Specs and Tech

Panzer Arms AR57

  • 16” Barrel with Rt hand 1:8 FN twist, 18” with muzzle brake
  • Bolt is 8620 alloy
  • 1/2 x 28 thread pitch
  • Total length is 24 9 / 16”
  • NO GAS SYSTEM, KISS
  • Spend rounds drop out mag well
  • Uses AR57 50 rd mags (same as for P90, PS90)
  • 13 slot Picatinny over receiver, 3-slotupper and lower forward rails
  • Receiver is Aircraft Grade 7075 T6 aluminum rated for 83000 PSI strength
  • Comes in at 3 lbs 7 oz with empty mag

This is Panzer Arms AR57 ultra light tactical, the 5.7x28complete, 16-inch upper, this is what came and just a simple box, there was no paperwork or anything, so we have a buffer tube, pretty clearly labeled warning “must install buffer”, so I'm guessing we need to do that. This is the magazine that came with it, the sort of the classic FN type magazine, the 50-round loads from the top, and then this is the upper. What we have here is a little lever that allows us to put the mag on, and then here is the charging handle. Be careful with this if you get one because this just slides right out. One thing is, it has UP because it'll slide in either way, but I've already had that fall out once. The cartridges are going to go down here and then they're supposedly going to kick out the mag well.

panzer-arms-ar-57-upper

We've got lots of real estate for the M-LOK, we've got the Picatinny rail here, we've got a quick detach here, we've got Picatinny 1913 up here, and then same back here. To put the mag on we'll just load that up, it goes in back here, and just like that.

It is an interesting design that's for sure. I'm dying to try it out, we're going to get it zeroed here at my 50 yards range using the Cyelle C2 red dot, I'm working on a review on that, and also going to test some Fiocchi ammo that I got, and I'm also reviewing. I want to season the barrel, get it zeroed, have some fun on some steel, and then come back and test accuracy using six different kinds of ammo that I have. Let's get her on.

I'm getting the AR57 zeroed with the Cyelle red dot. One thing that I really like is, especially if you're into reloading, it dumps all of your ammo right out the mag well in a nice little pile. Let me show you the sight picture here, see how well we can get you to see what I'm seeing.

cyelle-c2-field-of-view

I've got to say I am super, super impressed with this Cyelle, that red dot is about crisp, clean, distinct edges as you can get, and for what's classified as a budget optic that's awesome. I'm seasoning the barrel, I think I've gone through maybe 20 rounds, let's go check out the group, you're going to be really impressed with a 3 MOA dot.

I got to say I'm super impressed! I'm getting this sighted in with the Cyelle on the R57. My first shot was over here, dialed, dialed, dialed, did a group, and then I went up, and that was the last five, and I'm not sure, I think that was the one after the seasoning the barrel, so that was the first one, and then the last four. I'm super happy with that, guy, you really can't ask for a whole lot more with a 3 MOA dot, that rocks.

panzer-arms-ar-57-with-cyelee-groups

We got it zeroed using the Federal. What I want to do now is start banging on some steel, having some fun here at 100 yards, 50 yards is kind of a no-brainer, and I want to test kind of some ammo. I'm going to use the FN on here, I'm going to do 10 rounds of each of the different ammo at 100, we'll maybe play a little bit at 200 while we don't have some wind, and then as we're doing that we're going to season the barrel, and then when we're done playing on the steel, then I'm going to come back, I'm going to put up a target, and then we will test the accuracy on every single one of these types of ammo that we're using to find out what it likes the best, hopefully we won't have any issues. Also, as I'm shooting, watch for the spent cartridges coming out the mag well.

It doesn't have a last round bolt hold open, so it's always just good to check and make sure that it is empty. We did not have any problem with the FN, I can't remember if I read that somebody was having problems with FN, we will come back to the FN when we're doing the accuracy. The next one I want to try is the Fiocchi, this is the 35 grain.

panzer-arms-ar-57-shooting-at-100

The next one is Fiocchi's 40 grain!

The last one of the Fiocchi, this is the Subsonic. So, I'm guessing it's going to be going a lot slower, we may not be on target here at 100, I'll probably start aiming maybe a little high, but right now we're just checking for functionality, we'll kind of mess more with the ammo when we're testing accuracy.

Nice, and I really didn't have to aim too high, I just aimed at the head on the IDPA.

Real quick here, this is what I'm seeing as we're doing the groups, that 3 MOA dot, I cannot tell you how impressed I am with that how crisp, clean, and distinct the margins are, but my targets were a little smaller than I thought, and so it completely obscures them. So, basically I take the 3-inch red dot and try to completely cover the target.

panzer-arms-ar-57-with-cyelee-red-dot-sight

All the groups I love how the brass all just piles there at the bottom, you got to take a look at these groups. Yeah, I'm super happy with that, I'm going to be honest, considering we've got a 3 MOA dot at 50 yards with basically a 3 MOA target. So, this is the first one, this is the Federal, that's really good, you get rid of the couple flyers there, cold barrel. Then we have the FN, that's pretty solid group. There's the Speer Gold Dot, I like that one, this would be my choice for hunting or self-defense just because of the bonded soft tip or hollow-point, and I just like the Speer Gold Dot for that. Then we move down to the Fiocchi and we've got the 35 grain and that's solid. Wow, that's the 40 grain, I'm going to call that a winner, and then the Subsonic, which doesn't surprise me, but that's still a really solid group.

panzer-arms-ar-57-with-cyelee-red-dot-groups

What I want to do now is think I'm going to go with this, I'm going to put a scope on it because I really want to see how small can we get it, and to me that's the clear winner.

I'm working on a review here for primary arms, a new SLX Nova 1-6, anyway, we just got some 10-shot groups with this, you got to check this out.

primary-arms-nova

Nice! That was that Subsonic, since we missed I used this target. That's 10-shot, guys, you take away that one flyer, man, it didn't get much better than that, that's using a 1-6 power scope, I am super, super happy with that.

We don't have long before the wind kicks up, it's 8 o’clock in the morning, and the minute that sun comes up that wind starts going. I want to reach out to 200, 100 was obviously way easy, I could do that standing. Let's see how far we can go with this. I am using the Fiocchi, the 40 grain, we got the best groups with that, let's see what we can do here.

That's not even challenging! Let's see where we're at three.

panzer-arms-ar-57-with-primary-arms-nova-300

There we got it!

There you go, guys, I'm really not sure what else we can do with this, reaching out to 200, and 300, and the groups, and the ammo, it is what it is.

Last thing I wanted to show you here real quick is we put several hundred rounds through this, and this bolt is really, I mean we got a little carbon there, but it's clean, guys. The way it's designed with the blowback, they had said that on the website, and proof is in the pudding, it really is clean running.

There you have it, guys, it is what it is, you decide what you think, Panzer Arms AR57. I hope you enjoyed the review, found it helpful, if so, support the channel, be sure to hit that subscribe button, this really does help the most. Be sure to like and comment. Until next time, happy shooting, remember educate our young people to shooting in gun safety, and each and every time that we're on the range these days all eyes are on us, so it's important, we're ambassadors for the Second Amendment so we need to be good ambassadors. Be a safe and responsible gun owner.