Tokyo Marui Springer
Heckler & Koch Mk23 USSOCOM Cal. .45

Bought from: BB Guns Online (Antics) (http://www.bbguns.co.uk)
Price incl. shipping: €99,45 (about $86; note: international shipping)
Manufacturer: Tokyo Marui
Real Steel: Heckler & Koch Mk23 USSOCOM Cal. 45
Length: 25cm
Height: 15cm
Width: 2,5cm
Weight: 590g

Original Weapon The H&K Mk23 was the result of a contest between Heckler & Koch and Colt. The contest was held by the US Special Operations COMmand (USSOCOM) and won by H&K. The purpose of the contest was to create an "offensive handgun" which should be used by several elite units in the USA, under command of the USSOCOM. The Mk23 can hold 12 .45 rounds of ammunition. The Mk23 is also available for civilians, but restricted to 10 round mags and it's called the H&K Mark 23 Cal. .45 instead of Mk23 USSOCOM. A special suppressor was developed by Knights Armament Co. and a special laser aiming module / flashlight addon. The pistol is also known as the H&K SOCOM pistol.

First Impression I bought the gun in England, so the shipping and transaction costs were big! Still this is my favorite gun, so I bought it anyway. It took 16 days before I got it but when it finally arrived I knew I got something good. My gun came with 200 6mm .25g BBs, a catalogue and some safety instructions. The Japanese text was unreadable, but the cartoony pictures explain a lot for our younger BB gun owners ;).
I noticed that the Mk23 is a really big gun, which is about equal to the Desert Eagle in size and power. Though it doesn't contain much metal parts the weight is good. For as far as I know, the only metal parts are two metal blocks inside the magazine, to make the gun more balanced. The gun looks metallic as it's supposed to and it's made out of strong ABS plastic. And then there's my favourite thing about this BB gun; the trademarks! Except for one little Tokyo Marui trademark on the right side of the gun (in front of the safety switch), it's all genuine Mk23 trademarks. On the left side of the slide: "HK MK23 USSOCOM Cal. 45" followed by the serial number. On the hand grip, it says, on the left side: "HK .45" and on the right side: "US SOCOM Mk.23". On the ejection port at the right side of the slide, it says: "HK Cal. .45" followed by the serial number. Even the magazine has it's trademarks. On the left side: "HK 45" and on the right side: "Cal. .45", followed by Tokyo Marui's second trademark. The only thing I didn't like was the white (!) inscription under the front of the gun, it shows the serial number.

Performance According to BB Guns Online, the power of the Mk23 is about 0.4-0.5 joules, I didn't chronographed it, but I can tell you this is a strong springer. Of course a GBB has greater power, but the performance satisfies me.
The gun is pretty hard to cock; you have to pull the slide way back and then release it. When you do so, it makes a nice "slam". I recommend to pull the slide when holding it in the middle, so you don't have to use much force.
The safety switch and the decocking lever don't work, neither does the slide release, but that lever has another function. On the right side of the gun, you can push a button so the slide release will be pushed away from the gun. When you push that lever up, you won't be able to use the gun, until you push the right-side button again and bring the lever down.
The magazine is released by pressing the ambidextrous mag release switch, behind the trigger guard. It is pretty hard to reach when you hold the gun in firing position, so you gave to twist the handle a bit, so you can reach the switch and push it down.

I tried to test the power of the gun by shooting in my backyard. I shot at the wall in the rear end of my backyard (about 5 meters). The BB bounced back at me, I ducked, the BB hit the window behind me and bounced back to the wall in front of me! So you better be careful when shooting at walls in front of you. I recommend using .25g BBs. Accuracy is greater with .25 BBs, but since .20g is better for most handguns, I ordered some .20g BBs with my gun. I got it wrong! The mag can hold 26 BBs at a time, that's a lot bigger than most BB guns ot there! For the die-hard SOCOM fans, there is a replica Wilcox unit and Knight's Armament suppressor for the Mk23, available from Redwolf Airsoft for example.

Conclusion If you're a BB gun newbie (like I am) and a weapons fanatic, this is definitely a gun for you! That is if you have big hands, because this is a big gun. It has enough power to be used in Airsoft skirmishes (CQB) and you'll certainly earn respect with a sidearm like this. I can imagine why the elite specops units use this gun!

HertogJan

Wallpaper imagery by Space Cowboy

Conclusion

Appearance	?/5 ?
Build Quality	?/5 ?
Performance	?/5 ?
Value for Money	?/5 ?
Overall Potential	?/5 ?