What is better about this attachment system compared to key mod?
Thanks

The Army tested both and the M-Lok did better than the Keymod, but in reality they are both great systems. I prefer the look of M-Lok and it seems to be outpacing Keymod as of late.

I went with M-LOK because I wanted to use KDG's Kinect mounts:

https://kineticdg.com/product-category/kinect/

KeyMod definitely seems to be losing ground to M-LOK in recent years. I don't know that means M-LOK is better, but M-LOK attachments seem to be more widely available these days.

If I was choosing one or the other system from start these days, I would go with M-LOK simply because I sense it has greater staying power.

Look what happened to Sony Betamax.

Thanks for the help answering my question.

Gotta love the folks at Crane

quote:

Originally posted by g4tx:
http://soldiersystems.net/2017...ucted-at-nswc-crane/

Keymod is easier to attach than M-Lok. M-lok is somewhat stronger.


Either works fine. I hope both stick around.

Keymod will ultimately be the HD-DVD to M-Lok's Blu-ray.

Cost to cut keymod is more expensive than M-Lok.

DIRECT MOUNT CAPABILITY
No access to back side of rail required

4-AXIS RECOIL MITIGATION LUGS
At every increment, accessories are supported by lugs on all four sides

ADJUSTS EVENLY
In 1/2 slot increments for precise accessory placement

MULTI-DIRECTIONAL MOUNTING
Accessories can mount with either end facing forward

#10 MOUNTING SCREW
For greater strength and fewer stripped screw heads

OPTIMIZED FOR BOTH METAL & POLYMER
Easy to manufacture plus stronger and more secure

CUSTOM, SELF-ALIGNING T-NUT
Strong, inexpensive, and easy to use

M-LOK

quote:

Originally posted by kkina:
DIRECT MOUNT CAPABILITY
No access to back side of rail required

4-AXIS RECOIL MITIGATION LUGS
At every increment, accessories are supported by lugs on all four sides

ADJUSTS EVENLY
In 1/2 slot increments for precise accessory placement

MULTI-DIRECTIONAL MOUNTING
Accessories can mount with either end facing forward

#10 MOUNTING SCREW
For greater strength and fewer stripped screw heads

OPTIMIZED FOR BOTH METAL & POLYMER
Easy to manufacture plus stronger and more secure

CUSTOM, SELF-ALIGNING T-NUT
Strong, inexpensive, and easy to use

M-LOK

Thanks, I could not have asked for a better answer.

Any time!

Thank you for this!

quote:

Originally posted by kkina:
DIRECT MOUNT CAPABILITY
No access to back side of rail required

4-AXIS RECOIL MITIGATION LUGS
At every increment, accessories are supported by lugs on all four sides

ADJUSTS EVENLY
In 1/2 slot increments for precise accessory placement

MULTI-DIRECTIONAL MOUNTING
Accessories can mount with either end facing forward

#10 MOUNTING SCREW
For greater strength and fewer stripped screw heads

OPTIMIZED FOR BOTH METAL & POLYMER
Easy to manufacture plus stronger and more secure

CUSTOM, SELF-ALIGNING T-NUT
Strong, inexpensive, and easy to use

M-LOK

yeah, he hit a home run.

I am now putting together a pistol upper that is M-LOK. Have mounted a flashlight rail and another for the sling. It was very easy in spite of my neurological problems.

I purchased,some time ago, a 4" handle grip allen driver that is nice to use as compared to a naked wrench.


Again, thanks for your help.

Was there a time when M-Lok looked like it would go the way of betamax? In 2014 or so I got a smoking deal on a BCM full upper 16" barrel with M-Lok hand guards and a BCM BCG. I dont remember the Keymod uppers being so cheap at the time.

Then the army tested both systems, and found that M-Lok accessories stayed on during drop tests, while Keymods fell off 2/3 of the time.

Well, I can see how they stay on longer. I am currently putting together a 10.5" pistol upper (Aero) and have mounted a few things on it. "Like a rock!".

I had a bunch of BCM keymod rail covers. So, I gave them to a friend and ordered BCM M-Lok rail covers. They are the exact same thing. Even the packaging.

quote:

Originally posted by kkina:
Then the army tested both systems, and found that M-Lok accessories stayed on during drop tests, while Keymods fell off 2/3 of the time.

The Army didn't test them. The US NAVY Surface Warfare Center-Crane did the tests. Subsequently, US SOCOM started specing Mlok for their new acquisitions. Neither the Navy nor SOCOM are part of the Department of the Army.

I'd refer anyone interested to the summary brief present in 2017 at the 2017 NDIA Small Arms symposium.

If you take the time to read the presentation, you'll find that both Keymod and M-Lok both performed comparably in the endurance and rough handling tests. Though M-Lok won the drop test, I wonder if rail separation is a factor of the Key mod or of the rail design/test sample defect. What's also interesting is that the light stayed attached to the handguard that separated and it separated after the rail was reattached and the rifle dropped for the final time. While the M-Lok beat the Keymod hands down in the failure load test, I would ask when/how most users would go about generating 300 foot pounds load on their accessory? Are you having a 300 lb dude hanging off your weapons light.

Where the M-Lok really shined IMHO was in the repeatability test. For those of us that use lasers (.MIL makes heavy use of IR lasers ICW NODS) that's a significant improvement over keymod.

quote:

Originally posted by mrmn50:
yeah, he hit a home run.

you are tracking that all he did was copy the vendor's selling points correct?

Things like type 10 fasteners, "Even adjustment" and Cutsom T-Nuts are feature not a reason why M-Lok is better then Keymod. A good Keymod mount can mount it's accessory in either direction, you just rotate the accessory vs the mount. You don't need access to the back of the rail to mount Keymod either. The Keymod screws are also self aligning and if you look at the slide deck in my reply post to KKINA above, neither Keymod nor M-Lok experienced screw failure so the spec of the screw is not a big deal either.

That said there are several good reasons for M-lok over Keymod:

If you review the NSWC testing of M-Lok and Keymod in the link I referenced above, M-lok proved superior in 3/5 tests that were done. The 2 that M-lok didn't win were essentially ties meaning that Keymod didn't distinguish itself in any test. While you may never duplicate those tests with your rifle/rail in the real world, a qualified third party did some scientific testing proving that M-Lok handled drop tests better, heavier loads and had better repeatability with optics than Keymod.

M-Lok works with both metal and plastic rails. I've noticed a dirth of plastic keymod handguards. B5 and the BCM PKMR are the only two I can think of. Neither are common, whereas the Magpul MOEs are all over the place. There is a reason for this, Keymod has some shapes and key angles that are hard to mold but easier to machine. M-Lok evolved from the mounting slots on the original plastic MOE handguards. Why does that make M-lok superior? Because I can use the same mounts on my high speed metal free float railed performance rifle and on my econo box plastic hand guarded range blaster. Or if you don't have the funds for a nice metal rail, you can still get into the M-lok game.

That's where the market is going. While Keymod is still readily available, M-Lok is steadily taking over the market. BCM, Daniels Defense, Giesselle, KAC, Centurion all make M-LOK handguards. Giessele doesn't make a Keymod rail (more on that later). I suspect as the AR market gets softer, manufacturers will reduce the number of SKUs offered and the keymod rails will slowly disappear from the cataloge. Plus, the whole adopted by SOCOM deal is a great selling point for M-LOK.

I highlighted Giesselle for a reason. Bill Giesselle is the man who sold me on M-lok a couple years ago. Bill was/is an engineer by trade. He did an interview that used to be youtube where he laid out why M-lok was better than Keymod from the engineering and manufacturing stand points. He made a lot of sense to me and once the M-lok KMR became available I purchased one.

Both Keymod and M-lok are actually both decent systems, I own both and I found that if you read the mounting instructuctions and don't use your rifle as a hammer or ladder both work fine for the desired purpose. that said I wouldn't buy another new Keymod rail, I'd go M-lok instead. Eric from VLTOR (Now BCM) did the industry a big favor when he released Keymod as open source. The Magpul gang took it to the next level with M-lok.