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UTG MK23 Navy Seal Spring Pistol
(M23BH)

• Modeled After: Heckler & Koch MK23 Mod 0 (USSOCOM)
• Hop-Up: Good for .2g (Accepts through .23g 6mm BBs)
• Lowest Advertised: 220 FPS / 120 ft Range
• Purchased From: ShortyUSA for $20 +$8 Shipped

Superb Performance at Price Range
Extras Included
Large Magazine Capacity
Size
Aesthetics, feel, sound
Weight Balance

UTG keeps coming out with products that shut out the competition in their price range. The MK23 is one of them. That said, I don’t personally like this gun very much, but it’s performance is undeniably impressive.

The first thing I noticed was that this thing is large. Not huge, but large, if you catch my drift. I never liked the look of the SOCOM pistol, even with the laser attachment, which this model lacks. With the silencer attached, the gun looks alright, but otherwise it just looks large and almost fake. I’ll try to stop saying “large” now.

Solid Snake uses one of these in Metal Gear Solid. His has a LAM though. And his is real... theoretically.

The pistol itself is quite light, the real weight comes from the hefty magazines, and the included metal suppressor. All hooked up, this thing is heavy. Without the suppressor however, it’s a little off balance.

Even some bad inertia can’t mess with this thing’s accuracy, which is incredible. Some sites listed this gun as shooting .12 gram BBs, that is incorrect. This gun uses .2g or heavier. The hop-up works beautifully with high-polish .2g rounds, and while the FPS is about the same, this gun has similar accuracy and range as my MP5SD3 without it’s barrel extension.

Aesthetically, this gun leaves something to be desired. Even though I have a bias towards large handguns, this model of the MK23 just looks like a toy. The majority of the levers are simply molded plastic. Although the hammer is sort of stubby, it functions realistically. The slide racking and sound of the gun firing also aren’t as crisp as I would hope, but that doesn’t detract too much. It doesn’t feel like it could take more than a few drops on the ground before something got out of place. It’s worth noting that the gun does have an open ejection port, which is always nice.

The package includes two 26 round magazines, and a heavy metal mock silencer. The magazines must be manually loaded, which takes a while and gets difficult towards the end. The magazine capacity is actually 27 rounds, but the gun won’t chamber if it’s filled to this point. That means you’ve either got to count or remove the last round you can fit in each mag. If overtightened, the silencer will apparently break the barrel. This seems like an odd design flaw to have with a package that includes the accessory by default. The suppressor has a negligible effect on accuracy, but it does in fact change the sound of firing. Not necessarily quieter, but less sharp, which is kinda cool.

For $20, the UTG MK23 Navy Seal is a economic and competitive powerhouse. This gun is half the price it could be. If you don’t mind the look or the size (which is large), you’ve got a high-cap pistol that will hit whatever pistol-range target you aim it at. An extra magazine and the suppressor add to the value and make this a great sidearm, target shooter, or main weapon for beginners.

~ by Benjamin on September 5, 2008.

Posted in Airsoft
Tags: Airsoft, MK23, Navy Seal, SOCOM, spring pistol, under the gun, USSOCOM, UTG