Tools of War: The FN P90 PDW

Okay, I'm going to be very upfront about my opinion here: This thing is pure SEX.

I mean, look at it!

There are not a lot of firearms that REALLY make my heart go pitter-patter (yes, I said "pitter-patter"...bite me), but FN's P90 is one of them. This is a phenomenal weapon for the niche that it is designed to occupy - it is a lot of firepower in a compact package, a class known as the Personal Defense Weapon.

The P90 fires the 5.7mm stronger-than-a-pistol-but-weaker-than-a-rifle round developed in-house at FN Herstal. Originally designed for use by vehicle drivers, operators of crew-served weapons, support personnel, and Snake-Eaters, it is primarily used by special forces units. As the 5.7mm round lacks the punch and range for a standard assault rifle, even when utilizing the 16" barrel found on the civilian-model PS90, the P90 is ill-suited as a standard-issue weapon for the 'Average-Joe' infantry guy.

That said, it makes a fantastic entry weapon and is also very well-suited as a 'vehicle weapon' for protective details. It is also designed to mount a suppressor, and the same is available from FN.

And now, my Bullets-o'-Sweetness list:

- Bullpup design with 10" barrel = highly maneuverable and very little extension of the weapon in front of the user.
- 50-round clear box magazine = if you don't understand why this is awesome, you're reading the wrong blog.
- Low-recoil high-velocity round = very controllable, yet can penetrate most soft body armor.
- Completely ambidextrous design = weirdo left-handed people can use it as well as us normal folks.
- Two-stage trigger in full-auto = stage-one fires a single round...pull back further and you get rock-n-roll.
- Extensive use of polymer and alloys = lightweight and looks bitchin'.

In short, I drool over these things.

Oh, and none of the 30 hyphens used in the making of this article were harmed in the process (for you losers who are double-checking my tally (great, now that's 31), the dashes at the beginning of each bullet point don't count).

By: Steve