HK MK 23: What's wrong with them?

[X-man]

I noticed in the past couple of days, several HK MK 23 hand cannons have changed hands. I noticed the same thing on a number of other boards I belong to in recent days...usually they're being sold by guys who had been all hot and heavy to buy a new MK 23 just weeks/months before! Of course, in a lot of cases others had tried to talk them out of making that purchase, but they had their hearts set on the MK 23!

I guess experience is the best teacher! But its an expensive lesson when we're talking over 2K for the HK! I feel for the guys taking a hit, selling their pistols for hundreds less than what they paid for them just a short time before.

I shot one once. It was big, heavy and pretty accurate, but I don't think it was worth the $2300.00 (I think) the guy paid for it at the time. I'd much rather have gone with a custom single stack 1911 from Wilson Combat or Ed Brown, etc...

So, for those of you who have lots of experience with the MK 23, what's wrong with them for previous fans to be selling them off? I already mentioned that they're big, perhaps too big for many shooter's hands, heavy and super expensive, but do they have any quirks or design "defects" comparatively speaking that "turns" an owner off from them. Just wondering!

 

[gorky]

I think part of it is timing - lots of guys just selling guns before the holidays (and the thought of confiscation doesn't help). I cannot remember the last time I saw one on here before the last few days and one of the ones just posted here was snapped up lickety-split ;-)

That said, having shot one, they are too big for my hands and 45acp isn't my favorite calibre and yes, the $2k price tag doesnt help.... but people must be buying them for a reason. My guess is that it is because they are built tough, quite accurate, and great for big hands, and they have that HK allure to them.

 

[hr]

well its hard to say (btw, the one for sale have been $2000 or less) .. but around xmas maybe some people just prefer to have a few extra bucks kicking around....

i know one member had to sell it because i think the wife has a cap on his gun budget, same way my gf has a cap on my gun budget..... sucks i know.. but unfortnately some of us aren't as lucky as some of the other CGN'ers /w understanding significant others.

and i'm sure in no way are the members implying that it is not a good gun by selling it...

 

[explicent_content]

I heard that HK was not making them anymore for us the regular folk to buy. I just pruchased one last week and shot it and I love it I find it worth the price tag very accurate gun!!!

 

[MagnumLover]

I think the appearance of a couple of MK 23s and desert eagles more or less coincided with the announcement of the ban. I would hazard a guess that these hand cannons are usually safe queens, which is okay if you want to have them for your collection. But when you have a potential ban coming over the horizon, some people don't want to be hanging onto expensive guns they don't really shoot. I wouldn't be surprised to see more interesting and expensive guns pop up for sale in the next few months from nervous gun owners. At the same time of course, there are those who aren't as worried about the ban and snap up these guns for their own collections. It's increased the amount of trading activity.

 

[UncleWalther]

well its hard to say (btw, the one for sale have been $2000 or less) .. but around xmas maybe some people just prefer to have a few extra bucks kicking around....

i know one member had to sell it because i think the wife has a cap on his gun budget, same way my gf has a cap on my gun budget..... sucks i know.. but unfortnately some of us aren't as lucky as some of the other CGN'ers /w understanding significant others.

and i'm sure in no way are the members implying that it is not a good gun by selling it...

That would be me.... I like the Mark 23, A LOT. But, I only got a chance to put less than 300 rounds through it in 6 months, and it tied up my gun budget ($3K). When I want to try something new, I almost always have to sell off the stuff I already own. And, as a guy who has only had his PAL for 3 years, there's a lot of new stuff to try

BTW, they don't cost $2300, brand new. Well, they shouldn't anyway. Wild West Shooting Centre has them for $2095 at the moment, and they were even cheaper than that when I bought mine.

So, in answer to your question, there is a nothing wrong with them. Awesome gun, if you've got the mitts and the wallet to handle one.

 

[X-man]

Glad to hear you didn't take too much of a loss on your sale UncleWalther! I was playing "devil's advocate" to a certain degree with my earlier post. As for the price, I believe the one I shot was purchased a few years ago, when the Canadian dollar was low and there was 15% GST added into the mix. Still not sure I'd plunk down better than 2K for one, but then again, I did buy a new Swiss CQB a while back that was well over 3K, (Thanks JR!) so my GF knows I'm capable of it! I still need to pick up some extra 30/5 mags for the latter toy...maybe after Xmas, once the GF has mellowed, enjoying her new diamond bracelet, eh?