I’ve shot pistols in 5.7x28mm before, but only very briefly. Palmetto State Armory’s Rock is the first time I’ve had a ton of time and rounds downrange with a 5.7, and it’s helping change my opinion of the round. The PSA Rock is PSA’s answer to the 5.7 phenomenon, and like most PSA products, it aims to give you more for less. FN, Ruger, and S&W all produce 5.7mm pistols, but PSA does it a bit cheaper with the Rock.
What’s The Rock?
Live Inventory Price Checker
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PSA 5.7 Rock Complete RK1 Optics Ready Pistol With Threaded Barrel, Flat Dark Earth With 10 Magazines & PSA Pistol Case | Palmetto State Armory | $ 649.99 |
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PSA 5.7 Rock Complete RK1 Optics Ready Pistol With Threaded Barrel, Flat Dark Earth With 10 Magazines & PSA Pistol Case | Palmetto State Armory | $ 649.99 $ 589.99 |
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PSA 5.7 Rock Complete RK1 Optics Ready Pistol With Threaded Barrel, Sniper Green With 10 Magazines & PSA Pistol Case | Palmetto State Armory | $ 649.99 |
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PSA 5.7 Rock Complete Optics Ready Pistol With Threaded Barrel, Flat Dark Earth With 10 Magazines & PSA Pistol Case | Palmetto State Armory | $ 629.99 $ 549.99 |
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The Rock is a 5.7x28mm semi-automatic pistol. It’s a striker-fired gun with a polymer frame, which isn’t crazy in 2025. The weapon uses a pre-cocked striker-fired design, leading to a consistently light trigger. The Rock comes with a 4.7-inch barrel in the standard design, but there are also 5.2-inch versions with threaded barrels.
The gun comes in an optics-ready version, but this is the iron-sighted variant. The gun takes full advantage of the 5.7’s size and squeezes 23 rounds into the flush-fitting magazine. As far as I can tell, this is the highest capacity of a flush-fitting magazine in the 5.7 realm. The gun uses Glock-compatible sights, so there are an abundance of options out there.
That’s all fairly standard, but the Rock’s use of a lever-delayed blowback system makes it stand apart. Lever-delayed blowback is fairly rare and was seemingly invented by John Pedersen. Compared to basic blowback systems, this means less recoil and a flat shooting design for the end user.
A lever-delayed system isn’t new in a handgun, but it’s still relatively rare in a modern handgun. That novelty alone makes the gun worth the price of admission for me, just because I nerd out on an interesting operating system.
The Rock Ergonomics
One of the downsides of every 5.7x28mm pistol is the grip. The 28mm long case and total overall length are 1.594 inches. This forces the grip to be wide when measured from the front of the grip to the rear of the grip. Smaller hands will feel like they are handling a 2×4. The initial FN 5.7 pistols had a very board-like feeling.
The Rock does its best to keep things nice and comfy, but the very nature of the cartridge will make this gun tougher to handle for those with smaller hands. Overall, I think PSA did a good job with the gun’s grips and ergonomics. It’s got a great texture and shape that does its best to resist the 2×4 feeling.
The texture feels aggressive and is hand-filling. The Rock uses a nice rear hump and a grip design that allows for a nice high grip on the gun. I’m sure it’s not intentional, but it reminds me of a larger TX22. It’s quite comfy overall.
The Rock requires very little effort to rack the slide, another benefit of the 5.7x28mm caliber. It doesn’t require a hefty recoil spring, and the slide has a nice set of serrations for a sure grip and easy access.
My only real ergonomic complaint is the slide lock. It’s stiffer than woodpecker lips, and pushing it down requires some serious effort. This is probably a gun I’d slingshot rather than use the slide lock to reload.
Shooting the Rock
When I hear a loud gunshot, I typically assume I’ll be greeted with substantial recoil. This is true for shotguns, magnum revolvers, and long-range rifles. This isn’t true with 5.7x28mm pistols. They are loud, but the recoil sits at a low point. The Rock shoots smoothly and feels closer to a .22 Magnum than a centerfire handgun.
We get very little recoil and very little muzzle rise. You can shoot the gun quickly and maintain great control over it. I’ve been shooting a Micro Dagger with one hand recently, and the contrast between the Micro Dagger and the Rock is crazy. The Rock delivers a much friendlier and easier-to-control recoil impulse.
I had recently zeroed an Osight S and had a target made up of two-inch dots, with some unmolested dots still around. My first shots fired with the gun were at 15 yards at one of these two-inch dots. I had no problem putting five rounds into these dots over and over without a single round breaking the line.
At 25 yards, I could keep every round on a B-8 target and in the black. At 50 yards, I could easily hit C-Zone steel, even keeping the rounds mostly in the A-zone. Mostly. The Rock certainly lands on the accurate side of 5.7 firearms. A dot would probably help me clean my accuracy even more.
I do not believe in triggers affecting accuracy, but the Rock has a very nice trigger. It’s smooth with minimal takeup, and a very short reset. I can always appreciate the nicer side of triggers.
Like a Rock
I fed 300 rounds of Fioochi 5.7 Range Dynamics through the gun without any failures. The gun seems robust and reliable. I’d love to shoot more, but the price of 5.7 ammo is a big downside to any 5.7 gun. At around 50 cents per round, it can be a bit of a turnoff compared to the much cheaper 9mm option.
I could see this being a low-recoil option for defensive use. It packs 23 rounds of ammo and has hardly any recoil. It’s soft-shooting and easy to control. The 5.7 round is tiny but gives you centerfire reliability and penetrates deeply. The 5.7x28mm round isn’t quite proven, but it isn’t a pea shooter.
The Rock is an affordable 5.7x28mm option made in America, and a gun that’s a lot of fun to shoot. It offers an impressive range and excellent accuracy and is a rather loud little gun with very little recoil. It’s an interesting combination of features and high points with very few downsides. Sure, ammo isn’t cheap, but that’s not the Rock’s fault. My only complaint regarding the gun is the slide lock. That’s it.
I think PSA has a real winner with the Rock.
About Travis Pike
Travis Pike is a former Marine Machine Gunner, a lifelong firearms enthusiast, and now a regular guy who likes to shoot, write, and find ways to combine the two. He holds an NRA certification as a Basic Pistol Instructor and is the world’s Okayest firearm’s instructor.
But what about the carry version, since that’s actually a new release?
When it comes to guns for two legged vermin protection, I see two options, for a long gun, an AR15 chambered in 5.56mm, loaded with Win. M855. And a 9mm pistol, personally I like the Glock 17.
Ammo is easy to get for both, nothing’s more common than the 5.56 and 9mm. Parts, mags, etc, all over the place. If we have a WROL, SHTF etc, a gun, of any type, chambered in a less than common cartridge, and of in this case model that’s even less common than the cartridge, it isn’t going to be very helpful.
agree! excellent pistol, bargain price.