If there is any yaw involved, I would expect the longest bullet to be the most effective when comparing FMJ out of pistols. 5.7, in this case.
I read the linked thread, and it was addressing LE use, in what sounded like a comparison to 5.56 rifles and subguns. I assume LE would be comparing 5.7 JHP to 9mm JHP use, rather than FMJ. The descriptions of the 5.7 performance sound a lot like what people say 9mm FMJ is like out of pistols. That's why I'm asking.
Only SAPD SWAT had them and it was some time ago (15 years?). There was a period of time 15-20 years ago when the P90 was new and FN was pushing LE Agency sales. The U.S. Secret Service and the Federal Protective Service also used them for about 10 years in lieu of MP-5's, most likely for it's ability to counter soft body armor. Of course, an M-4 will do the same thing with better stopping power.
Municipal PD's get into way more shootings than most fed agencies, I'd go with the real world results.
But the OP’s question was how it compares to 9MM ball, not modern 9MM duty ammo.
What is the point though, when the market allows you to purchase the best deforming ammo to use? There are a number of war stories involving 9mm ball and 4.6/5.7 FMJ/Penetrators. 9mm seems to do okay in FMJ format when accurate shooting is involved, or in short bursts of full auto fire. So far, the battlefield reputation of the 4.6/5.7 is that it requires a saturation of the target to cause rapid incapacitation......whether it be the rapidly yawing spoon-nosed 4.6 bullets, or the LE 5.7 soft points. The CQC incidents overseas and in domestic LE tell the same story.......you need high volume cyclic fire to get the job done, and shooting through windshields has abysmal results.
Well, yeah....
A 9mm has a small charge volume and gains very little performance increase from a longer SMG barrel. A 4.6 or 5.7 is a bottle necked cartridge with larger charge-to-projectile ratio, and greatly benefits with the barrel length increase from pistol to SMG. So, if the results from SMGs were abysmal for the 4.6 and 5.7, it will only be worse from a pistol barrel. H&K was originally going to build a joint MP7 SMG and a UCP pistol chambered for the 4.6mm round as a NATO sales project. Fortunately, H&K saw the problem:
"In July 2009, HK USA's president, Wayne Webber, indicated that the UCP project has been cancelled because "HK felt it did not provide adequate ballistics in handgun form."