False Economy?

[Old Guy]

I am minded to buy a mk23 style pistol which will cost £65-ish; it seems popular and gas-efficient. If I then follow the recommended upgrades (Crazy Jet barrel, new bucking, etc.) at further expense, will I end up with a pistol that shoots as well as one which costs the same as the total amount?

Further questions:

Is the mk23 a good pistol? It looks a bit of a lump but not heavy

Which makers is the best? I am new to this and want to buy wisely

Will it work with biodegradable BBs? I don't want to be picking up ammo from my garden from now 'til kingdom come

 

[Dentonboy]

Sounds like a good plan. The <£70 Mk.23s seem good - my brother has one - and the TM ones are good too, but double the price. Guess it is all down to how much the upgrades are. Plenty of people upgrade their TM ones too.

 

[Old Guy]

Can I ask which makers  your brother's Mk23 is, please, and does he have any niggles with it,  Dentonboy?

 

[EDcase]

I got an STTI one which had good reviews here and elsewhere but when I got it I was very disappointed.  It had really low fps and poor hop so BB's fell after a few metres.  I must have got a lemon but I sent it back and didn't get another.

Bio BB's take years to degrade so you'll be seeing them on the ground for a looooong time  

The best solution is to get/make a good catch box so they don't go anywhere else.

 

[Dentonboy]

Can I ask which makers  your brother's Mk23 is, please, and does he have any niggles with it,  Dentonboy?

STTi one I believe. No problems with it, apart from he prefers the TM version he bought off of me as the silencer works, as the cheaper version is just really a barrel extension.

 

[PopRocket123]

I got the stti one. It was decently accurate and the range was as good as it needed to be. If you get this one either don't bother with the suppressor or if you do want the suppressor, crack it open, take the inner barrel extension out and pack it with foam

 

[BigStew]

there is a chance with the cheaper ones you will get a fantastic performer or just a meh performer or a dud. with a TM you get consistency and a nicer finish. unless you are looking to snipe with it a TM is a fantastic performer out the box and will out range a lot of guns stock.

 

[Old Guy]

If I rule out the TM version on cost, how much should I be prepared to spend on a to make it shoot 'well'? At Patrolbase the ASG mk23 is  £64.99 while the Nuprol Raven EU18 is £89.99. Will spending  £25 make the ASG the equal of the Raven? Is the Raven EU18 even a good comparison?

 

[BigStew]

If I rule out the TM version on cost, how much should I be prepared to spend on a to make it shoot 'well'? At Patrolbase the ASG mk23 is  £64.99 while the Nuprol Raven EU18 is £89.99. Will spending  £25 make the ASG the equal of the Raven? Is the Raven EU18 even a good comparison?

the Nuprol Raven EU18 performance will be vastly inferior to even a cheap MK23.  it's a gas blow back so you lose performance with gas being used to cycle the slide add to that its a metal slide adding weight. its a copy of a Tokyo marui design made by some OEM company in china so you run the same issue of unreliable quality control. 

 

[FreeFrag.UK]

The Nuprol Ravens are reportedly awful. If you want a Glock then you'd be better off getting a WE as a minimum.

 

[BigStew]

The Nuprol Ravens are reportedly awful. If you want a Glock then you'd be better off getting a WE as a minimum.

add to that other than for giggles a full auto pistol is another disadvantage. 

 

[Steveocee]

STTi Mk23 owner here.

Running a Hadron TDC, autobot 60 bucking and crazyjet barrel it easily outranges AEG's and happily flings a 0.4 for me. Currently using 0.32's just to be a touch more conservative though. Throw on one of @Samurai's short suppressors and the thing is arguably silent.

The only thing it doesn't have is rate of fire that you got an a GBB but that's why I carry both a G18C and the Mk23.

 

[Dentonboy]

Get the STTi one from Gunfire or Taiwan Gun in Poland and save on that price.

IRO £30 iirc.

 

[Old Guy]

I have had a look at Taiwan Gun and their prices are extraordinarily low compared to UK based sites. Even when you factor in the €18 p+p there are massive savings. Are you able to tell me if they can do two-tone as, I understand that it is illegal to import a RIF. Even if I intend to paint it myself I do not want the law on my neck for 'importing or causing to be imported' an illegal item.

Sadly, the mk23 is out of stock anyway but a LS9 GBB [LS] looks promising. 

 

[Dentonboy]

No idea, best email them. Worth searching for the Stti one online to see if cheaper abroad. Less to lose if it is a lemon.

 

[BigStew]

I have had a look at Taiwan Gun and their prices are extraordinarily low compared to UK based sites. Even when you factor in the €18 p+p there are massive savings. Are you able to tell me if they can do two-tone as, I understand that it is illegal to import a RIF. Even if I intend to paint it myself I do not want the law on my neck for 'importing or causing to be imported' an illegal item.

Sadly, the mk23 is out of stock anyway but a LS9 GBB [LS] looks promising. 

I would advise that most GBBs that can be bought new for under £90 are to be avoided.

 

[Jedi_Master]

I have the TM Mk 23 with Crazy Jet barrel, Hadron TDc, and I hop. May cost more but worth it.  Having non-blowback (NBB) is more gas efficient.  Would consider Nuprol to be false economy.

 

[Impulse]

I got an STTI mk23 and got a dud. It barely fired to 30m, even with hop at maximum and only using .25s. Also, no matter how much force I applied, the pins wouldn't come out so I couldn't even change out the parts to make it work well. Furthermore, the STTI pistol magazines that I bought had awful feed lips and led to a sticky trigger pull when I bought the TM one.

At least it only cost me around £30, plus another £30 for the mags. But in future, I will go TM for the mags too and just run 144 gas in the summer.

 

[heroshark]

The MK23 can be dogged with all sorts of funny quirks. Any can be shoot well and be reliable if you know what you are doing. The subject is too expansive to cover in one sitting. You'll also get a lot of crossed opinion. Get it and solve any issues as they come. IMO if you are getting a clone get a cheap one. They are all the same if you can't get a cheap one get the tm. There's a good one withe spare mags on in the classifieds .

 

[Steveocee]

At least it only cost me around £30, plus another £30 for the mags. But in future, I will go TM for the mags too and just run 144 gas in the summer.

G&G M9 mag lips are the cure you need. they are direct replacement and require no messing to get feeding properly. Had a similar predicament myself and after a tonne of internet hunting found that as a decent solution.

TM mags can be plagued by the blow off valve so strictly speaking a combination of an STTI mag (resealed) with TM lips is likely the best.

Unsurprisingly the Novy SSX23 had the same issues and he too has recently revised his mag feed lips.