SOCOM

The Mk.23 SOCOM is an offensive handgun weapon system and is the basis for the Heckler & Koch's USP series of handguns. The SOCOM is chambered for the powerful .45 ACP cartridge and has a 12 +1 round capacity. It is usually also equipped with a Laser Aiming Module (LAM) and a sound suppressor, though the latter is optional.

The SOCOM is extremely accurate for a handgun, and reliable for taking out lone targets in short to middle range though is not very ideal to use against attack team units during a long-term engagement since it takes half a magazine to kill a enemy soldier in body armour. Single guards are easier to pick out though shots in the torso will not be as punishing. In earlier times of the game, the player will be forced to avoid using the SOCOM against lone or distant targets due to the loud noise it gives away unless a supressor is found.

The SOCOM was used by Solid Snake during the Shadow Moses Incident. It was then, during the Big Shell incident, given to Raiden by Snake. In 2014, during the events of Metal Gear Solid 4, Raiden was in possession of a SOCOM. Whether or not this is the same weapon he used in MGS2 is unknown.

The first gun found in Metal Gear Solid, it is often considered Snake's trademark gun, despite the fact that he does not once use it in during Metal Gear Solid 2. It can be completely missed fairly easily, though is available several times. If the player does not collect it, Snake automatically acquires it during a scripted sequence. A suppressor can be found in the Tank Hangar.

Snake finds another SOCOM pistol when revisiting Shadow Moses Island in Guns of the Patriots. Highlighting the nostalgia of the act, it is sitting under the same truck on the helipad from Metal Gear Solid that the SOCOM was originally in. If Snake points the gun, he remarks "just like old times."

Trivia

 * The SOCOM presented in MGS1, MGS2 and MGS4 is in fact the Phase II model handgun submitted for trials in the USSOCOM Offensive Handgun Weapon System (OHWS) competition around the later part of 1991, and not the actual production model of the Mk.23 Mod 0 (or Mark 23 - civilian version). The sound suppressor used, however, is the actual Knight's Armament Company model that was adopted for the weapon system. A picture of both the in-game SOCOM and USP can be found in this old advertisement from Heckler & Koch ;
 * The Mk 23 Mod 0 kit as issued by the US Navy includes the Heckler & Koch Mk.23 handgun, two .45 ACP caliber twelve-round magazines, an AN/PEQ-6 (the Insight Technologies LAM-400 -- this LE Only model includes an IR illuminator and laser alongside a visible laser and light), and a Knight's Armament Corp. Mk23 .45 Cal. Sound Suppressor. Other accessories like holsters, magazine pouches, suppressor pouches, left handed LAM models, etc. are also available.
 * In MGS1, in the corridor after the cyborg ninja attacks you can see one of the soldiers has a SOCOM in his hands, suggesting it is the standard sidearm for the Genome Army.

Appearances

 * Metal Gear Solid
 * Metal Gear Solid 2
 * Metal Gear Solid 4
 * Metal Gear Acid
 * Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus
 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Cannot be used, only seen in it's holster)