My opinion on the Mk23 is that it is a fully improved 1911 for the 21st Century.

1911: The Sequel.
1911 2: German Boogaloo.

Quote Originally Posted by SteyrAUG View Post
It's actually a bit of a brick, but from a design standpoint, probably one of the most important firearms of the last 50 years. Introduced the accessory rail, successfully combined Browning and Walther designs in a way never done before, magazine release was pretty revolutionary and probably the first .45 handgun that could be suppressed and didn't begin to destroy itself with every shot. And of course led directly to the USP which took all of those features (except the silent decock which really wasn't very silent) and scaled down to a full size handgun package.