Vehicle penetration of substances such as windshields is a very important attribute of a firearm now days. Whether you're dealing with Mexican drug cartels, Iraqi insurgents, domestic organized crime, or just the occasional dirtbag that want to shoot at you......vehicles will be the most common barrier you will encounter anywhere in the world today.
The 5.7mm and the H&K 4.6mm obviously do poorly against windshields, but they also make relatively small wound channels in comparison to other alternatives. Dr. Martin Fackler modeled the wound profiles of both and in testing, neither round could produce a wound volume that could beat out a standard 9mm NATO FMJ. Fragmenting bullets in these PDW cartridges do not have the enough mass or velocity to produce the necessary momentum to carry the fragmenting projectile to acceptible penetration depths and the temporary cavity effects are minimal. Expanding bullets in these PDW cartridges still do not reach a recovered diameter greater than that of a 9mm NATO FMJ, and their temporary cavity stretches are also very minimal. Based on wound generation, which is Facklers expertise, he's said that the weapons using the 5.7mm and 4.6mm are more likely to get officers killed due to their lack of quick incapacitation ability on dangerous opponents. Several PD SWAT units that have used the FN P90 have said that it requires a generous burst in order to achieve desirable stopping effects unlike the M4 or even the MP-5. German units in Afghanistan have has mixed results with theirs too. Once again, they require a higher degree of shot precision and a higher volume of fire to get the job done.
The Russians were a lot smarter when it comes to small armor piercing weapon systems. They simply beefed up the 9mm to fire +P+ penetrators which can pretty much do anything the 5.7mm and 4.6mm can to at ranges up to 100yrds and it generates a larger wound channel.
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