V. 1
KWA Mk.23 Ns2
Ordering:
This gun I purchased from Arizona Paintball Depot. I don't remember the exact price, but it was similar to AirsoftGI's and Evike's price of $182.95. This is one of the most expensive, if not the most expensive, GBB KWA produces. The nearest priced GBBs are the special ones like the M9 Tactical and M93r at around $170. Since this was bought locally there was no wait time or shipping.
Introduction to the gun:
The KWA Mk.23 Ns2 is one of the few copies of the HK Mk.23 available with those being; NBB TM, older KSC, KSC, and Y&P. The new KSC and KWA versions are similar, but both contain small differences for each market. The real gun is made by the German company Heckler and Koch(pronounced Coke) in the 1990s for US Special Forces in .45 ACP caliber(HK). The single most important thing to note is the size of the gun; it's massive. Compared to most handguns, it has a larger frame and weight due to the intended use of the gun. If you have small hands then this gun may pose problems. The gun does have several additional features such as a; working decocker, safety, adjustable rear sight, threaded barrel, and textured grip.
http://www.hk-usa.com/civilian_products/mark23_general.asp Opening the box:
Inside the box you will find; GBB, silicon oil, manual, magazine, BBs, and the warranty card. Basically, the standard KWA GBB package with a different gun in it. The box is the standard KWA gray Styrofoam that keeps the materials securely in place in transit. When you open the box the first thing you will notice are the bright white trademarks stating
HK MK23 USSOCOM Cal. .45 and the gun's serial number. You will also find a subdued
HK .45 trademark on the grip. And of course, you will notice the massive size of the gun in the box.
Specs:
These are taken from kwausa.com:
Overall Length = 25 cm [9.84"]
Overall Height = 15 cm [5.91"]
Inner Barrel Length = 130 mm
Inner Barrel Diameter = 6.05 mm
Weight = 1.16 kg [2.56 lbs]
Barrel Thread = 16 mm CW
Caliber = 6 mm
Magazine Capacity = 25 rounds
Velocity = 110-116 MPS [360-380 FPS]
Energy Output with 0.20g BB = 1.2 Joules
Gas System = NS2
By gas they mean green gas. KWA does not approve of propane being substituted as green gas in their guns.
Externals/Appearance
When you first look at the gun you will notice all the trademarks. You will find the
HK MK23 USSOCOM Cal. .45 and serial number on the left side of the slide. On the right side of the slide you will find the KWA warning and a Licensed Trademark of Heckler and Koch GmbH. In addition to those, you will find that the ejection port is trademarked with HK .45 auto and a series of numbers. The slide is made of metal and painted KWA black. The sights are not integrated into the slide and can be removed. The rear sight is adjustable and held in place by a single flat head screw. It does get loose, but a simple re-tightening works fine for me. The rear of the sight is a simple two white dot on both sides of a cut out square. The front sight appears to be held in place simply by being pinched in.
The slide rack grooves are standard style. They are simple slightly angled lines with rectangular grooves in between. If you've used NATO style guns before, this will feel no different than those when racking the slide. Here is also the rear of a M226 to compare the similarity.
When racking the slide the spring guide pin remains hidden in the lower body. It is metal with a metal o-ring cap near the end of it. You will also find a green O ring on the plastic outer barrel. On the barrel it self there are threads for the USSOCOM Mk.23 mock silencer. The gun does not come with one nor can other mock silencers fit due to it being 16mm CW. This is not the standard threading found on other handgun and rifles of 14mm CCW.
The lower receiver is black polymer. The uniform parts of the lower receiver are the; trademarks, safety, magazine release, and the hand grip texture. You will find two matching subdued HK .45 trademarks on the bottom right of both sides of the grip. The safety is located just behind the decocker on the left side, and in the same position on the right. The most important thing to note here is the fact the safety will not engage unless the gun is armed. If you attempted to safety the gun before the gun is cocked, the safety will not engage and the gun will still fire. You must arm the gun then flip the safety into safe position. The trigger will move but not go all the way back to fire. This would be covering the red button and not the white.
The magazine release is on both sides. It is located on the bottom of the trigger guard next to the grip. To release a magazine one must simply push the lever down. Accidentally releasing the magazine is no simple matter and shouldn't pose a problem at all. The gun is simply so big your fingers are not near the release and your middle finger should be blocking it.
The grip is completely textured all the way around. The front and back set in rectangular patterns with the insides have triangular pyramid points. The sides have a more of a sandpaper feel and go all the way up to the base of the lower's top. The gun does not move much in your hand due to this design and is very solid when gripping it.
The differences are the decocker and slide release. The decocker is only found on the left side of the gun and works fine. When the gun is armed, one simple pushes the lever down until it clicks and the hammer returns to the up position. However, the gun is a double action and precaution should always be used. I've tried to fire it after decocking it to no avail. I had to rack it in order for it to fire. I always side with caution instead of guessing. The slide release is also on the left side and appears to be aluminum. The slide release is both automatic and magazine activated. There is a spring on the inside that pushes the release up into the slide. It looks like a pin style and fits into an + style whole. You must put it in correctly or it won't have tension to automatically go up. It will be manual use/magazine only until corrected. When the mag is empty, it will be magazine guided up and lock back.
You will also find a lanyard loop on the back of the gun.
However, mine doesn't work as should anymore. I have owned this gun for awhile and haven't really used it all that much so it doesn't have many rounds through it. The slide release has been worn down by the slide. It seems that the slide has dug into the release and created a notch. This notch prevents the slide release from engaging the slide when the magazine is empty or manually. I have sharpened mine to a point it will work manually, but does not work when done in use. It may work again if sharped enough, but I'd rather not risk losing the manual mode right now. I have asked APD about it, and they were willing to call to see if they could get the part for me. You can already see it digging a new notch in the release lever.
The trigger is standard style.
Another important thing to know is the front of the lower receiver has no rails. It has a locking area for the LAM unit that is often attached to this gun. This is also a cut own notch with serial numbers on silver metal. The hammer is also only 2 stage in the cocked or decocked mode
Internals.
To break the gun down you must first match the rectangular notch to the circle on the slide release lever. You then push the lever out of the gun and pull it out. Be VERY careful when dealing with the spring. It is only tension held and doesn't look strong enough to take much punishment before breaking.
To remove the spring guide there is a little clamp that must be removed first. This keeps the spring guide from moving around and getting stuck inside the slide. You then simply push it towards the front of the slide and lift up. Make sure you clear it from the pin that it is attached to on the hopup/outer barrel assembly. Which is plastic and usual of KWAs.
Note* You will have some issues putting it back in. I found it easier to push the pin through the receiver than back onto the hopup/outer barrel assembly. Pay attention to the way you remove it as well. The solid pin side goes to the hopup/outer barrel assembly and the loose to the slide. Do not get these backwards.
Front
Back
The lower looks a bit different than normal. It's all pretty well hidden inside the lower. For a gun that's nearly a year old, the internals of the lower look pretty good. It looks like there is little wear on the internals.
Magazine:
The Magazine will hold 26 rounds. It has a few trademarks on the sides and base plate. It's fairly large compared to other magazines.
Use:
I have used this gun through the year. It shoots very hard and is quite loud when compared to other GBBs. I have never had this gun jam or misfire on me. Compared to other GBBs, the kick on this gun is stronger and you can tell the is moving with some force. Simply firing the gun is half the fun of using it on the field. The FPS is high enough that is makes it field usable. It will still have pistol range limitation, but will give you a tiny bit more given the longer barrel and higher FPS. The gun's size, though, may pose problems for holstering and use as a secondary. I don't really recommend it given the size of this gun and how unwieldy that may be. The only real con with the gun is the inclination to not use it in extreme CQB. I have pulled back from firing if it turned into a point blank situation given the high FPS of the gun. This is simply a personal issue though.
Using .25s TSD inside a closed garage at 20-21ft, I was able to get 67 rounds out before the gun started running into low gas issues. That's 2.5 magazines per charge of green gas. The accuracy pretty much speaks for itself at this range.
http://youtu.be/iOtS2uI00IM
