The H&K Mark 23: thoughts and observations

[SRSTAdam21]

Very good write up. Loved the history lesson on a gun I don’t have experience with....yet.

 

[Spats McGee]

OP, this really is a good write-up, my poke at your pistol notwithstanding. I went back and re-read it today. I guess the Mk 23 really isn't that much bigger than other full-sized pistols, but it sure gives the impression of being absolutely gargantuan.

Congratulations on NGD!

 

[FL-NC]

The MK23 was the result of a solicitation put out by Naval Special Warfare in the early 90's to meet certain requirements (It was SEAL-driven). The pistol was to be issued throughout the various US Special Ops units, as a special purpose handgun IN ADDITION TO whatever other standard issue service handgun(s) were issued in the units. I was issued the MK 23 at various times when I was in the military, so I had the opportunity to fire it some. I also went to the HK USP/MK23 armorer course. I always thought that they shot very well. The problems were that they were big and heavy, and the holsters at the time that were issued with them sucked. Also, they couldn't use the white lights that were issued- only the HK proprietary light would work with that weird mounting system. And when they came out, this was about the time that all the good modular stuff (like suppressors) for the M4 was being released (SOPMOD block 1). As far as the suppressor capability, it sounds cool, but with that huge can attached to a huge pistol, you would need a holster the size of a 3 day pack to carry the thing. As a result, I never carried the MK 23 on missions, and I don't recall a single other person doing so. Our standard issue pistols were what we used. I did see a few of the guys carrying the MK23 on the base as a SD sidearm, usually in a simple nylon "belt slide" type holster (blackhawk?) and keeping their other pistol in a "ready room" with the rest of their gear, but otherwise the MK23's either collected dust or were just occasionally used as "range toys" when we were bored. I don't recall seeing a single MK23 after about 2006. Of course, all of this is just speaking from my personal observations. Maybe some units and individuals did use them, but we didn't.