I'm putting together a 9mm AR pistol, all I need are the LPK and an upper. But I see there's all these weird new rail systems out there. Are 1913s still cool? I see these weird dick shaped ones, and something else, just all kinds of silly out there.

Thick, heavy, cheese-grater M1913 rails are old and busted

Two new styles of handguards that came out ~5 years ago are the new hotness: MLOK (designed by Magpul; uses long straight cutouts) and Keymod (designed by VLTOR and Noveske; the one with "dick-shaped" cutouts). Both of these systems are freely licensed/open-source, so most other companies have jumped on one or both of these bandwagons. There are also a few companies with their own proprietary systems out there as well.

There are any number of handguards and accessories for either MLOK or Keymod. It mainly comes down to personal preference, although some companies only make MLOK accessories and some only make Keymod accessories. So if there's a certain accessory from a specific company you're wanting to put on that rifle, you might want to check to see if it's available for MLOK, Keymod, or both. That could push you towards one type of handguard over the other.

Both Mlok and Keymod allow for the attachment of M1913 rail sections, so if you have rail-mounted accessories you can still use those.

The great "Keymod vs. MLOK" debate has been raging for the past 5ish years. The market is pretty much split between both systems, with neither system completely dominating yet, although it seems the balance may be shifting towards MLOK lately. The military did some testing a year or so back, and found the MLOK attachment system can stand up to a bit more abuse before failure. So the neckbeards have started pointing towards that as the "definitive proof" that MLOK is "better". However, the Keymod system allows the accessories to be installed more easily, and I've never had any of my Keymod accessories fail, despite being knocked around quite a bit. (But I'm not completely abusing my rifles.)

I have both on various rifles. Personally, I prefer Keymod, and I really like BCM's KMR-Alpha handguards. But there are a number of good choices for both Keymod and MLOK handguards on the market these days.

RogueJSK summed it up very well

I have both...I think the MLOK look better, but both do the same thing...allow you to mount what you want in the location you want without having the "cheese grater" effect on your hand guard...take a look at the ones from AERO...excellent quality and good prices...

I have found that there seems to be more add on rail sections out there for the MLOK style.

Ha -- he said "dick"

I'm down to only one quad rail handguard. I won the upper with the quadrail, so I'm OK with not yet changing it out -- yet. All my other ARs have Wilson Combat's trim rail system. I like the Wilson system, but it's likely on the way out. It's not universal attachment system, however I likely have enough attachment rail parts to last my lifetime.

Wilson's rail in the trim (proprietary) and keymod configurations are on sale now. It appears they are moving towards Mlok.

I suspect the utility of keymod and Mlok are pretty equal, but I don't have experience on my own rifles to back up this opinion. I do like the look of Mlok a little better, although that's a petty consideration on a rifle system.

All the cool kids are rockin M-Lok rails these days. I believe the military is transitioning to M-Lok also.

Right, 'cause otherwise you'll be standing around in a firefight with a dick in your hand.

I like Keymod, but I'm not sure there's really a significant difference between the two options.

quote:

Originally posted by Il Cattivo:
Right, 'cause otherwise you'll be standing around in a firefight with a dick in your hand.

No biggie. You just have to remember to whisper "no homo" whenever you pick up your Keymod rifle.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by Il Cattivo:
Right, 'cause otherwise you'll be standing around in a firefight with a dick in your hand.

No biggie. You just have to remember to whisper "no homo" whenever you pick up your Keymod rifle.

And don't state with a lilt in your voice, "Oh boyz, I dropped a magazine. I'm going to bend over to pick it up."

I had been using the M-LOK style Magpul MOE handguard on a couple of rifles but on a whim I bought the new BCM PKMR handguard for a new rifle and I really like the Keymod method. After fighting with M-LOK rail sections the Keymod sections were much more convenient.

I had a BCM KMR but ended up swapping it for MLOK because I found it pain to get the Keymod rail sections to be secure...ended up buying Kinetic Development Group's Kinect Rail Mounts.

I went with dickmod just because the handguards that I liked were available in that option.

I have a Daniel Defense flashlight mount and a few sling mounts on different rifles, never had any problem with anything coming loose.

I haven't smashed the flashlight onto anything to see if I can break it loose. Mlok may be stronger but as far as I am concerned, flip a coin or buy the handguard you like and use whatever it comes with.


My only complain is that nobody makes a bipod that attaches directly to keymod slots.


Either keymod or mlok is slimmer and lighter than quad rails.

For my AR pistol I reused an old Hogue tube handguard I had laying around.


Used hose clamps to attach a flashlight to it.

$.35c for the hoseclamp I think.

"dickmod"

That made my day!

What barrel length and what are you planning on using the rail for? Attaching back up iron sites? Using a red dot? Hand stops or angled fore grips? Slings?

My questions are based on how much crap do you need to hang off the rail.

I'm a big fan of ALG Defense rails. I prefer the EMR V1, I can always add a tiny rail section if needed or other MLOK accessories, and don't need rail along the top. I also like the 3-6-9-12 and 45 degree MLOK positions, where the V2 & V3 are at 2/4/6/8/10.

I chose M-Lok over dickmod, but still have 2 of the 9" PWS rails sitting in my parts bin.

I like MLOK. I have exactly one “Dick Mod” (hehheh) and don’t particularly care for it. I mounted a sling attachment to it and it refused to stay tight.
Also, this slim stuff: I have an AR pistol that the barrel doesn’t come past the end of the rail. I had to take .030 out of the i.d. To get my suppressor to fit in there.

I have both and really don't prefer one over the other.

I think Keymod is easier to attach stuff to, but aside from that it's a wash IMO.

quote:

Originally posted by IndianaBoy:
I went with dickmod just because the handguards that I liked were available in that option.

I have a Daniel Defense fleshlight flashlight mount and a few sling mounts on different rifles, never had any problem with anything coming loose.

I haven't smashed the fleshlight flashlight onto anything to see if I can break it loose.

Fixed it fer ya...

quote:

Originally posted by fritz:

quote:

Originally posted by IndianaBoy:
I went with dickmod just because the handguards that I liked were available in that option.

I have a Daniel Defense fleshlight flashlight mount and a few sling mounts on different rifles, never had any problem with anything coming loose.

I haven't smashed the fleshlight flashlight onto anything to see if I can break it loose.

Fixed it fer ya...

Lol....

I don't really have any need, but I'm watching for deals on uppers now since it's the last big piece of the puzzle. Maybe put an angled foregrip on it, possibly a flashlight at some point. Already have a plain Jane M4gery, maybe I wanna Tactical Timmy this, maybe not. I just don't want to snag an upper and it turns out that this mounting system is now on the way out and the New Hottness wont work with it.

I think M-Lok has definitively won the battle. Key-Mod uppers sit on shelf’s and dealers I know don’t stock them anymore as a result.

I like the look of M-Lok better, but both work. I only buy M-Lok now just because I see key-mod going away.

Im a big fan or the ALG Defense EMR rail. It’s extremely light and works great. That it’s half the cost of Geissele rails is even better.

I have both ALG and Geissele and find the ALG to be far comfortable in the hand. It has no sharp edges like the Gisele. For those who don’t know ALG are the initials of Bill Geissele’s wife and she owns the company.