I used to hate how the barrel finish wears out on these guns but then I realized it’s because of very close tolerances which is reassuring. I doubt there is a better made mass produced pistol than an HK.
@johnyoungs74532 жыл бұрын
The funny thing is, it's not only more dependable, but it's as accurate, if not more so, than any "ultra-high-end", custom-built pistol chambered in .45ACP out there..!!
@godisgood97202 жыл бұрын
@@johnyoungs7453 but can it shoot .45 super?
@Packard1947 Жыл бұрын
My USP expert 9 has been flawless in every way I love it.
@bev8200 Жыл бұрын
False
@moustachio334 Жыл бұрын
Mk23 can handle 45 super
@rowdyrager-94032 жыл бұрын
Just got my H&K USP Tactical 45. I haven't fired it yet but really am happy to have it for my collection
@N0B0DY_SP3C14L Жыл бұрын
One thing to bear in mind is that the USP 45T was designed to be able to handle +P loads, but the Mk23 was designed specifically to be fed 180gr +p from the get go. That's why the recoil springs are beefier on the Mk23. In truth I am envious. One day.
@brendangriffin1791 Жыл бұрын
This is what I call the mag scam. That's why I don't own a hk . They like their magazines more than I do
@MrGuitarfreak1324 жыл бұрын
I love my USP9 Tactical. The best handgun I’ve ever shot setup for self defense/tactical situations. Awesome match trigger out of the box. Tac driver accuracy. Very comfortable recoil for fast shooting. Supresses super well. Love how big it is and how big the grip is. Comfortable easy to use controls. Fantastic firearm and definitely worth the 2x price it caries over a lot of striker fired guns like a glock. This is my go to home defense gun and the tactical pistol I most enjoy shooting. I also enjoy shooting 1911’s and my CZ Tactical Sport which has an awesome 2 lb competition trigger but is not designed for home defense. I’ve yet to find a better pistol than the USP for self defense/duty type situations. Excellent
@tacticalsapper8 ай бұрын
If you get the chance test the SFP9 / VP9 tactical and tell us if you like it. Pretty sure you will.
@SmallArmsSolutions3 жыл бұрын
Well done video
@johnyoungs74532 жыл бұрын
My Mk23's decocker does not allow the hammer to be lowered in "stages" - it just drops it quickly with a loud "snap". Videos of others show a decocker that lowers it in "stages". What's wrong with my gun, or what am I doing wrong - am I using a wrong "technique"..??
@clintonkeller5115 Жыл бұрын
@@johnyoungs7453 Mine does the same thing. The one thing I don't like about it is when I de-cock, the level shoots back up before you can get your thumb out of the way & the serrations on the level scrape my thumb.
@touofthehighplains4 жыл бұрын
With the mag extension from HKparts the mags become interchangeable. The feed lips are different but they still work.
@Spamsmoothie17012 жыл бұрын
Can confirm. I own a USP 45 Tactical and I have shot the MK23 quite a bit as I had one on loan to me for awhile. As far as the ergonomics go, I'd generally agree with the video. However, the MK23's recoil impulse is probably the best there is for a .45ACP chambered combat oriented handgun. They shoot incredibly soft due to their design and relatively heavy weight. I've also found both to be equally reliable.
@johnyoungs74532 жыл бұрын
The standard magazine "bottoms" (baseplates) from the Mk 23 can be purchased and installed (swapped) on the bottoms of USP .45 magazines and they'll work just fine in both guns: the Mk 23 and the USP .45/USP(T) .45.
@scottlawson9206 Жыл бұрын
Very nice comparison of the two!
@SmokeNGunsBBQ7 ай бұрын
I own both also. They're both fantastic weapons. The Mark 23 shines in maritime conditions due to the special slide finish.
@ShockerTopper Жыл бұрын
I grew up always wanting one of these because I played Metal Gear Solid when it came out in the middle of high school. I honestly thought they were the same exact weapon for the longest time. Although to be fair it’s not that odd to have thought so. I love that ability to lock the slide and fire a single shot. The price is hard to justify when all of my firearms (pistols especially) are more practical…in a cost to purpose ratio. I’ll buy one of these when I buy my vintage Colt SAA in a display case. In other words when I have every other firearm I want to buy/collect. I look at firearms as an investment because their value will at worst be a wash if you sell it and at best…well sky’s the limit.
@jackmurphy86964 ай бұрын
does the civilian model 23 have that slide lock feature? I was trying to look at pictures online of it and I don't see that switch that's on the forgotten weapons video.
@briantaylor6383 Жыл бұрын
Great review and comparison thank you
@jimrodriguez80473 жыл бұрын
Great comparison!
@byronchong65833 жыл бұрын
I was going to get a USP but for me personally, the safety got in my way. I personally didn't like how it sticks out and just didn't work for me. ended up going with the mark 23.
@Stopsign32v3 жыл бұрын
Put a compact USP lever on it
@eriklambert38093 жыл бұрын
I have both. I changed both the safety lever and the mag release. Both are awesome. The mk I use while hiking, but run 45 supers
@pjkf01 Жыл бұрын
I know this is an old comment, but I ran into the same problem with the USP45 and ended up converting it to Version 7 LEM and thus removed the safety lever.
@adcraziness15012 ай бұрын
I had a USP45, not threaded. It hurt to shoot bare handed that front checkering is aggressive!
@gabrielhurley666010 ай бұрын
I love love love the Mark23 but the USP is so sexy. Both are amazing handguns. I'd love to have either one. If I had the choice & could only pick one I would go with the USP.
@Raymond23rdOBC5 ай бұрын
The weight of the MK23 with three mags holding 12 round +1 of 45 +P is 2.126kg or 4.69 lbs.
@johnyoungs74532 жыл бұрын
Walter: Have you ever noticed the popularity of 1911 "longslide" guns - 1911's with 6" barrels and slides..?? Well, what do you think that the Mk23 is..?? It's barrel and slide are an inch longer - your ballistics are different as the bullet is going faster as it leaves the muzzle of a 6" barrel when compared to a 5". There are more reasons to like the Mk23 than what you're thinking of...! I'm not saying that the USP is a bad gun - not at all. But HK manufactures only approximately 200 Mk23's a year - they are, for the most part, hand-fitted and much more precisely finished than the USP's are. Again, the cost of each gun is determined more by these things rather than the Mk23's "range cool" factor...! Food for thought...! - JY
@Waldoman892 жыл бұрын
The ballistics of a .45 ACP are not going to change much if at all between a 5 and a 6 inch barrel. If you watch military arms channel, he chronos a hk usc which has a 16 inch barrel and the ballistics remained practically the same. I am not saying the Mark 23 is a bad gun by any means in fact it is my favorite gun I own and for a good reason but the reality is, at least for me anyway, there isn't anything the Mark 23 does better than the USP beyond the longer sight radius and a slightly longer magazine release. Beyond the cool factor I just don't think the +$2,000 price tag justifies it as a practical choice over the USP. My two cents. Again both are awesome handguns but I just feel the USP Tac has better ergos, safety/ decocker and a more comfortable size as a side arm while retaining the features from the Mark 23.
@johnyoungs74532 жыл бұрын
@@Waldoman89 Ok, right on. One thing, though: the velocity of bullets fired using "hot" loads ("+P" & "+P+" - such as DoubleTap's .45 SMC loadings, .45 Super loads, etc) WILL make a noticable difference between 5"bbl's & 6"bbl's - I've chronographed many of those in a 1911, and compared them with various "standard" loadings. Aside from the "cool factor", the one thing I do like about the Mk 23 is the fact that it's rugged as hell and built like a tank. Beyond running over the slide with a tank equipped with steel treads, I don't think you can hurt it. A couple of other things: I don't care for checkering of any kind. I like my grips to be "dead smooth" all the way around. I've done numerous "tests" over the last several years with several of my 1911's as well as several revolvers in different calibers wherein I would liberally "slather" WD-40, Break-Free CLP, various light greases, etc, all over my shooting hand - ran around, holding the gun "loosely", and firing at various targets from different distances. Not once did I ever feel like I was about to "lose control" of my gun. That whole "You need to have needle-sharp checkering all over your gun: front strap, back strap, grip or side panels, etc, etc,etc.." was started by that idiot Mickey Fowler and his cronies who were winning all the IPSIC championships for several years past, as a sales gimmick to make money. Just like "magna-porting" and cutting ports near the muzzle of your gun to ostensibly limit the muzzle flip (felt recoil) of your gun. What horse shit...!! All gimmicks..! Checkering tends to abraid the skin of my palm on my shooting hand. The backstrap checkering on the Mk 23 isn't too bad, but I am considering on sending both guns (I have two) to a gunsmith and have him sand or file & polish the rear of the grip and remove the checkering. Both my slide assemblies right now are back at ToolTech Gunsight in Oxford, Michigan. They're installing custom tritium night sights (bright green dots on the front sights & two yellow dots on each of the rear sights - all with surrounding white outlines) on each slide. ToolTech apparently is the only company in the entire US that does this sort of customizing. They'll even install tritium night sights on Walther PPK's & PP's if you want..! They'll grind off the front sights & cut dovetails for the front sights, as well. Excellent work..!! And you can get your choice of colors for the sights, as well. I asked them what they would recommend & the gal there told me "Law Enforcement officers almost always request a bright green dot for the front & two yellow dots for the rear". I thought about it & told her "Yeah, that sounds good to me". I'm having both slides done the same way, to the tune of $265 per slide...! I've shot the USP Tactical .45ACP HK pistol & I liked it just fine except for the smaller mag release "paddles". I didn't think the gun was quite as accurate at longer ranges (50, 75, & 100 yds), but that could've been me. My buddy who owned the gun let me burn through several mag's worth of ammo, and the checkering on the backstrap made my hand sore for a while afterwards. Not as bad as "needle-sharp" checkering like what you used to find on "custom" 1911's, but after several mag's worth of recoil & muzzle flip (the gun rotating in the palm of my hand), that made me decide to look into something different. I'm a "born & bred" 1911 guy & own several (dozen, believe it or not...!) - from an original 1911 (serial #1413) made in late 1911) up to several Para-Ord P-14's and P-10 "Warthogs". All with dead-smooth mainspring housings (many from Smith & Alexander with lanyard loops) and ZERO checkering. Wonderful guns..!! Anyway enough for now. It was nice hearing from you..!! JBY53@HARBORNET.COM if you'd care to chat further..! Cheers, JY...!! :-)
@johnyoungs74532 жыл бұрын
@@Waldoman89 "A more comfortable gun to carry...", yes, for most people, I can certainly see that. But then, a Walther PPK might be even "more handier" to carry. My point in all this is, the Mk 23 is worth it IF you're willing to look at (1), how it's made vs. the "Hk .45" series of guns, and (2), why it was made "that" way. The Mk 23 was made for serious military operators and clandestine operations behind enemy lines, etc. The Hk .45 series of guns was made for civilians and civilian law enforcement personnel to utilize. If you look down inside the frame of the Mk 23, and if you're ever able to do a direct, side-by-side comparison with an open frame of a USP .45, the differences will become immediately obvious - the "innards" of the Mk 23 are much "stouter", "thicker", "beefier", etc than anything you'll see inside an Hk .45 series gun. I, personally, am willing to put up with the additional "bulk" of the Mk 23 (remember, its unloaded weight is 39oz compared with the unloaded weight of a full (service) sized, steel-framed 1911 pistol which weighs in at 42oz..!). The Mk 23 is a gun you simply cannot hurt, and there are cases on record wherein HK test people loaded a "double charge" with a bullet stuck in the bore, and then firing another one, thereby pushing both bullets out and ultimately it was later determined that the barrel had remained unharmed in the process...! The bottom line is, everybody's different. If less weight and a smaller-sized gun are more important to you, that's ok. I personally am willing to give up some of that in order to be able to carry a gun which, to me, instills the greatest amount of confidence in a handgun's performance that can be had. Yes, it is "bulkier" than the smaller USP series of .45's. But, like the sword of Sir Lancelot, the Mk 23, once it's in my hand, almost "suggests" (to my way of thinking, anyway) to me that I simply cannot lose..! Just a different way of looking at things, I guess...! Cheers...!
@danbarb97284 ай бұрын
really= didnt know that with the 200 pieces per year. When i get my license i can only choose two handguns here in germany, you can get more of course, but then you have to participate in competition and i dont plan that, maybe somewhere in the future. So to get only two handguns is a though decision. One model was always the Mark 23, the 2nd i dont know. The Sig Sauer 1911 Scorpion emperor attracts me for example or a FN High Hower, maybe oldschool american steel like S&W revolver. Definately not another HK if i would buy a Mark 23. Maybe a tuned Glock. It needs to be a longer full size gun for static shooting at 27 yards, which is the standard range here.
@GatCat3 жыл бұрын
In your tone about the safety, I’m going to guess that you prefer the USP.
@SmokeNGunsBBQ7 ай бұрын
The USP will accept the HK45 mag release. It's a good upgrade and relatively cheap.
@jasonmills19737 ай бұрын
I tell u I had got a tac h&k 1st and I swear it a dam tac driver boy it dam shooting pistol
@mr.horseshoe23016 ай бұрын
Cheaped out and got the USP 45T. Should have saved a little bit more for a Mark 23. Much regret.
@touofthehighplains4 жыл бұрын
The safety on the Mark 23 definitely is hard to reach.
@DersNoNem4 жыл бұрын
Funny how you pull back the slide to reset the trigger while you can just pull back the hammer. Habits from having glocks I guess?
@Waldoman893 жыл бұрын
With the trigger pressed to the rear the hammer drops. If you hold your finger on the trigger you can't reset the hammer to the cocked position. It will not "catch". Only releasing your finger from the trigger or cycling the slide will allow the hammer to be cocked and trigger reset. In order to hear/ feel the reset, the trigger is pressed rear and slide cycled. Then the trigger is allowed to move forward until reset is heard/ felt.
@thesauerkrautp22692 жыл бұрын
Can tell you don’t know a dam thing about hammer fired guns
@benmontey34382 жыл бұрын
I swear the Mk.23 looks like the USP.45 and the FN-57 had a baby
@siuuuuuu70482 жыл бұрын
On the USP, did u cover your serial no or it was wear out? Because u didn't cover your Mk23's.
@Waldoman892 жыл бұрын
The serial number is rubbing off. Good eye.
@siuuuuuu70482 жыл бұрын
@@Waldoman89 Did you do that intentionally? Or it worn off eventually? I'm asking because I have the same issue on my compact USP but not on full size, trying to figure out this is a quality control issue or a common issue.
@Waldoman892 жыл бұрын
@@siuuuuuu7048 Normal wear
@mrtyrant1680 Жыл бұрын
Basically, the USP has all the benefits of the Mark 23 without any of the setbacks.
@danbarb97284 ай бұрын
i would have thought the USP would be more snappy in termns of muzzle flip because of the less weight. I also would have thought the mark 23 is more accurate because of the lenghts/sight line. It has a chrome plated barrel? Does that mean you can not clean it with those metal barrel brushes, right? Maybe use only chemical bore cleaner. The heritage would tend me to mark 23. Is the grip much thicker of mark 23, they look similar, the Mark 23 just looks longer to me.
@Catgat372 ай бұрын
The Mark 23 is considerably thicker.
@danbarb97282 ай бұрын
@@Catgat37 the grip? do you have both?
@Catgat372 ай бұрын
@@danbarb9728 I don't have the tactical....just the basic USP 45. And yes, my Mark 23 is a much thicker grip.
@danbarb97282 ай бұрын
@@Catgat37 ok, interesting because i saw other videos with the two guns and they said the grips were nearly identical, just marginally thicker.
@Catgat372 ай бұрын
@@danbarb9728 "marginally" is a very broad term. It really depends on the size of your hands. The Mark 23 is relatively unwieldy in comparison to the USP.
@godisgood97202 жыл бұрын
Can it shoot .45 Super ammo? Or +p+? How accurate is it 25yards out?
@Waldoman892 жыл бұрын
Yes, both are rated for +P. Both are very accurate, more so than I am. The MK23 can shoot a sub 2 inch group at 25 meters. There are a number of requirements the MK23 had to meet for the government contract. It is said to be one of the most tested combat handguns in history.
@johnyoungs74532 жыл бұрын
@@Waldoman89 Yessir..! Think about this: The original 1911 had to shoot 6,000 rounds before being accepted. It was the only gun to make to the "finish line", so-to-speak...! Then, roughly 80 years later, in the early-to-mid '90's, the HK Mk 23 came along, and had to go 30,000 rounds of 185gr, +P .45ACP h/p ammunition through it before any major malfunction could put it out of action..!! The complete tests also ran every 2,000 rounds of ammo, in which there could be only one minor malfunction due to lack of lubrication, etc...! 30,000 rounds..!! Them's a LOT of ammo, Tonto...!!
@garrett892 Жыл бұрын
I believe both are rated for 45 super. But if I'm not mistaken the usp requires an updated spring to do so. The mark 23 will do it out of the box
@godisgood9720 Жыл бұрын
@@garrett892 i recently found an expert model, is it pretty much the same?
@brendangriffin1791 Жыл бұрын
Will either of those magazines work in the 45 compact
@Waldoman89 Жыл бұрын
No
@rodneyjenkins55389 ай бұрын
Where did you purchase your HKs
@Waldoman899 ай бұрын
Scheels
@gm5564 Жыл бұрын
Does a MK23 mag fit in USP pistol?
@jasonmills19737 ай бұрын
I never could get a 23 clip to fit my tac 45
@anthonyestrada4422 жыл бұрын
$40
@jackdundon22613 ай бұрын
No ammunition in either? BOTH USELESS!
@Waldoman893 ай бұрын
Believe it or not. You can take the ammo out of the magazines and put it back in too!
@Catgat372 ай бұрын
@@Waldoman89 you're full of crap.
@me2ontube Жыл бұрын
will the mk23 barrel work in the usp
@Waldoman89 Жыл бұрын
No, they are not interchangeable
@me2ontube Жыл бұрын
@@Waldoman89 thanks - I wish the usp was also chrome lined
@Stopsign32v3 жыл бұрын
3:10 Come on man....Know your stuff if you're going to make a video on it. The USP trigger is not a solid plastic trigger, it is steel on the inside and coated with plastic.
@Waldoman893 жыл бұрын
I am aware of the USP trigger build material, I was speaking on the feel of the trigger but looking back I can see that this came across incorrectly. I do not pretend to be an expert but rather an enthusiast of these guns, I do feel however I have sufficient knowledge to make a video on the subject matter. It's easy to sit behind a keyboard and judge a single moment from a 10 minute video... Thank you for the criticism all the same.
@johnyoungs74532 жыл бұрын
Kevin, etc al'... My Mk23's decocker does not allow the hammer to be lowered in "stages", but everybody else's video shows that it does. What is wrong with my gun? I bought it brand new. - JY
@johnyoungs74532 жыл бұрын
@@lemniscatelogos7917 Yeah, I found out from experimenting that if you push "in" on the decock lever while pulling down on it, it will lower the hammer in two stages. I was merely pulling down without putting a lot of inward or "side" pressure on it and when you try to lower the hammer that way, it just "slams down" in one loud "snap"..! I gave up on using it and instead, ended up reverting to my long-standing experience with single-action 1911's, and now I simply hold the hammer down while pulling the trigger, and lowering the hammer that way, which, by the way, IS "totally silent". I found that I can do that using either a two-handed technique, or using a one hand technique. Again, it's totally silent doing it that way.