The Armory: MK-23 SOCOM

The MK 23 SOCOM is a handgun weapons system that first entered service in 1996. It was manufactured by Heckler & Hooch Firearms and was intended for use by special operation forces in the United States Military but the weapon proved to be unpopular among most operators due to a variety of issues in its design. For our purposes, we are going to be looking at how the weapon was employed by the legend himself, Solid Snake.

Strengths

The MK 23 is a semi-automatic pistol that fires the standard .45 APC round. It has an effective range of 150 feet and sports a muzzle velocity of 850 ft per second. The magazine can hold between 12 to 24 rounds depending on the size. The weapon also typically sports built in aftermarket parts such as a flashlight, laser sight and a suppressor. This makes the weapon well suited to Special Operations.

Weaknesses

The main reasons the MK 23 isn’t favored by soldiers is due to its weight and length. The weapon fully loaded weighs 5 lbs which is a little much for a handgun. For reference, The Sig Saur and Glock weigh a little over 2 lbs fully loaded. The gun with the suppression equipped is around 16 ft too which makes the gun slow on the draw and hard to deal with in close quarters. The weapon’s range is also limited compared to the aforementioned pistols, hence why most operators prefer not to use the SOCOM in favor of the aforementioned Glock or Sig Saur. Hell, many would even prefer the Berretta.

Snake’s Use of the Weapon:

As a member of Foxhound, Snake’s weapon loadout for missions is typically procure on site, meaning he goes in empty handed and has to find weapons in the area as to not leave any trace of an outside weapon being used. During the Shadow Moses Incident, Snake came across the MK 23 and it became his primary weapon for most of his mission. However, it was very clear that it wasn’t Snake’s first choice and that he was more or less stuck with it. During a conversation with Meryl, he realized that there was also a spare Desert Eagle in the armory that she had taken before Snake got there. He attempted to convince Meryl to trade but she refused, implying Snake would have preferred even the Desert Eagle to MK 23. Despite this, Snake still made good use of the SOCOM, even using it to defeat master marksman, Revolver Ocelot in a quickdraw duel.

Conclusion:

The MK 23 is one of the worst weapons we’ve looked at in the armory thus far. Though still a functional weapon that a skilled operator could work with, its stats simply don’t compare to other weapons such as the Glock or Sig Sauer. It’s heavy weight and great length also make it undesirable for most. There is a reason Snake didn’t hang on to this thing following the Shadow Moses Incident and instead favored the good old 1911 Colt in most situations. Really the only reason I’m hanging on to this thing is so I can use it as part of my Solid Snake cosplay.

Join me tomorrow as we take a look at Metal Gear: Ghost Babel.