P90

History of the P90

It all started as an experiment at FN, in the mid-80s, Jean-Paul Denis and Marc Neuforge developed the 5.7x28mm SS90 cartridge while trying to make a lower recoil round with more stopping power than the popular 9mm. Not long after, in 1989 NATO was looking for a couple personal defense weapons, a pistol and compact shoulder fired weapon, with better range, accuracy, and ballistic performance than the 9mm. The reason for this was to be able to equip personnel that wouldn't normally carry a combat rifle with something capable of penetrating the Armor of the Soviet Special Forces, due to a fear that they would attempt to disrupt the Western lines of communication.

The design of the firearm began in 1986, attributed to Stephane Ferrard. While Rene Predazzer filed the patent for the top mounted horizontal magazine that uses a spiral feedway to rotate the cartridge into position before it enters the gun. It was this iconic loading system that came to define the P90's design. While the P90 is a submachine gun it is also a bullpup since the ammunition feeds into the firing mechanism behind the trigger assembly. All the controls on the device are fully ambidextrous, even the ejection port for the spent shells is on the bottom of the gun so it won't throw hot brass in your face.

The development of the P90 was announced in 1988 but they had plenty of time to refine and redesign since the firearm and ammunition since they were the first to answer NATO's call. The gun wasn't evaluated by NATO until 2002 when it went up against the 4.6mm round developed by Heckler & Koch. The trials found the 5.7mm round to be superior, but NATO didn't adopt either round since the German delegation rejected the idea the 5.7mm round be standardized, halting the process indefinitely.

The P90 is currently used in over 40 countries, some of which are Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Greece, India, Malaysia, Poland, and the United States. It also has a Military and law enforcement specific round, the SS190, that boasts greater accuracy, reliability, and stopping power over the standard round.

While there are a variety of country specific models there seem to be three general variants. First is the P90, this one has the 10.4-inch barrel and the integrated reflex sight with a back-up iron site on either side. Next is the P90 TR, the TR stands for triple rail since they swapped out the integrated optic for a picatinny rail on top and on both sides of the upper receiver. And then there is the PS90, it is only capable of semi-automatic fire and comes with a 16-inch barrel, that's right, this is the civilian version.