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We were asked, “What are the pros and cons of M-Lok vs Keymod?”

The KeyMod and M-LOK are based on a slot system rather than the rail system of the Picatinny and Weaver mounts. This means a smoother surface and more mounting options. Both gained popularity since their introduction to the market in the 2010’s — but which system is better? The slots provide metric 20 mm (0.79 in) length intervals, and accessories can be mounted either within a slot or bridging between slots, making it possible to adjust the position of accessories in smaller intervals than the length of the slot. The slots on an M-Lok handguard are approximately 32 mm (1.260 in) long and 7 mm (0.276 in) wide. Conceptually, M-Lok, short for Modular Lock, is the same neighborhood as KeyMod – it’s a negative space mounting system that allows you to attach accessories to your firearm. Rather than the keyhole format, M-LOK uses a slot-like design which originated on the Masada Concept Rifle way back in 2007. IMO M-Lok has the potential to be the better looking rail because the slots are more attractive than the keymod holes. However so far all of the offerings I have seen are just raised lip rails at 3,6 & 9 with cool guy cutouts in the other areas. M-LOK to KEYMOD: yes its possible Rather than order up one, a friend suggested I bring my rifle by and see how 'close' the M-LOK rails are. I would say the difference between the two is a few thousands of an inch. It almost drops in!

Long ago there was no standard for attaching stuff to firearms. We use sling studs, bayonet lugs, hose clamps, bespoke custom mounts, etc.

Then came the MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rail. And all was well. It took some time for people to move away from the weaver rail, but eventually most of the world adopted the 1913 rail. Except for Zee Germans, who as always thought they could do better. They came up with their own spec for rails, where they took the surface most likely to get damaged in use and make that the critical dimension. Thus the NATO spec rail was born.

Then people wanted smaller and slicker hand guards. Companies started milling off the rail section and offering bolt on rail sections. But each company had their own system. While the bolt spacing was somewhat standardized due to the sizing of Picatinny rail, how the rail section interfaced was not standardized. KAC, LMT, Larue, Colt, etc all had their own various rail attachments for their slick handguard.

VLTOR designed a new mounting system in 2012. Somewhat similar to the old post and slot system used in shelving, they included a taper on the mounting tab and recoil lugs. Best part is that they released the design as open source, so any company could use it for free.

Noveske and Bravo Company were early adopters and helped popularize the system. It looked like it was going to be the next standard. But then something interesting happened.

Before we get to what happened, lets talk about the other option, M-LOK.

Magpul came up with a new mounting system on their Masada and their early MOE line of accessories. They had slots cut(or molded) into the hand guards allowing accessories to be bolted to the slots. This was 2009. But this MOE slots sucked. They were inconsistent, and the backside of the slot had to be accessed to install an accessory.

In 2014, Magpul came up with a new standard, the M-LOK. M-LOK used slots where the accessory would lock in using a rotating T-Nut. M-LOK is free licensed, not open source like KeyMod. So people can made it freely, but they have to get permission from Magpul. This way Magpul ensures people don’t deviate from spec.

Wow, writing the history there took longer than I thought this article would be.

So what are the cons:

KeyMod accessories can be installed wrong. When I first mounted a KeyMod QD swivel, the next day I read about people mounting Keymod accessories backwards. I said, “How could anyone mount one of these backwards?” Then I found out that I mounted mine backwards. Doh.

Also some companies are cutting corners and making KeyMod accessories out of spec. Either missing the critical taper on the lugs, or missing recoil lugs.

As for M-LOK. M-LOK accessories protrude into the rail, so in areas with little clearances they can be an issue. Or sometimes the screws can protrude enough to touch a barrel in a narrow free float tube.

It looked like KeyMod was winning the modular handguard war. Many were pushing it as the superior mounting system and it looked like the Army was going to adopt it for use on newer hand guards and sniper rifles.

Then we get to the interesting test. NSWC-Crane did a test between the two. They deemed M-LOK as being better.

Overall, test and evaluation demonstrated that the M-LOKTM modular rail system surpassed the performance results achieved by other modular rail systems. In repeatability testing, M-LOKTM allowed for the repeated installation of the same accessory rail in the same location on a handguard with an average point of aim (POA) shift of 1.3 MOA, as low as one quarter the average POA shift observed by other modular rail systems. Drop test results demonstrated that M-LOKTM systems maintain securement of accessories to the handguard and sustain less damage from impact forces than some other modular rail systems. Failure load testing demonstrated that M-LOKTM systems support the highest load of all modular rail systems tested. In fact, the test equipment used to interface with 1913 accessory rails secured with the respective modular rail system across testing repeatedly failed prior to failure of the M-LOKTM attachment system. Even so, testing of the M-LOKTM systems failed at loads as high as over three times the maximum failure load of some other modular rail systems. NSWC Crane recommended to USSOCOM that the M-LOKTM modular rail system be utilized over the alternative systems tested. USSOCOM has chosen to incorporate the M-LOKTM modular rail system in acquisition efforts including the Suppressed Upper Receiver Group (SURG) and Advanced Sniper Rifle (ASR).

Since this test, interest in KeyMod has been reduced, but it is far from dead. M-LOK is gaining much more popularity.

M-LOK design of just being simple slots has allowed M-LOK mounting slots to be added to a great deal of accessories for other older firearms. Newer gun designs are able to have thin aluminum hand guards with simple slots milled in them allowing for the end user to add what ever accessories they deem fit.

Both are good, but now the consensus is that M-LOK is better.

M-LOK, standing for Modular Lock, is a free licensed^[1]firearmrail interface system developed and patented by Magpul Industries.

M-LOK allows for direct accessory attachment onto the 'negative space' (hollow slot) mounting points, and is a competing standard to VLTOR's open sourcedKeyMod system for replacing the ubiquitous Picatinny rail in some applications.^[2] Compared to the Picatinny rail system, both M-LOK and KeyMod enable the user to have a slimmer, lighter, smoother and more fenestratedhandguard/fore-end with accessories mounted only where needed, whereas a Picatinny handguards typically will have rail slots for its whole length resulting in a heavier and bulkier handguard with sharp edges and poorer barrel ventilation.

The M-LOK system can be seen as an evolution of the Magpul Original Equipment (MOE) system, but the two are not fully compatible. Though newer M-LOK accessories can be used on older MOE slot handguards if an adaptor plate is used, there is no adaptor available for using older MOE accessories on the newer M-LOK handguards.

History[edit]

A prototype of the MOE slot was revealed by Magpul in late 2007 together with their Masada Concept Rifle (which would later be known as the Adaptive Combat Rifle). The MOE slot system was released by Magpul in 2009 as a feature on their MOE handguards, and at the same time compatible accessories such as Picatinny rail sections, direct MOE mounted light mounts, grips, bipod studs, etc. were released.

The MOE slot standard was never officially released, and a drawback to the system was that the rear side of the panel had to be accessed in order to mount accessories, limiting its application. The MOE slot system uses a weld nut which has to be placed manually on the inside of the handguard before mounting, making the slot system unsuited for applications such as free-floating handguards. Also, depending on the accessory item, the spacing increments between the MOE slots were not small or uniform enough to adjust the desired placement of accessories.

Acknowledging shortcomings of the MOE systems, Magpul drafted M-LOK as a new and improved mounting standard which was released in 2014 replacing the existing MOE slot. The M-LOK rail specification included metric dimensions instead of imperial, and utilizes a T-slot nut capable of only 90-degree rotation, reinforced by thread-locking fluid, making it suited for applications on free-floating handguards. It was designed to work with both metal and polymer parts.

In 2016, Colt Canada developed and released the Modular Rail Rifle (MRR) that uses a monolithic upper receiver with the M-LOK attachment system.^[3] In 2017, several companies produce M-LOK handguards as well as accessories like Picatinny rail strips, vertical foregrips, bipods, sling adaptors, and flashlight mounts.^[4]

In 2017, a summary report of testing conducted by NSWC-Crane for USSOCOM indicated that, while comparable in endurance and rough handling testing, M-Lok greatly outperformed Keymod in repeatability, drop testing and failure load testing.^[5]

Licensing[edit]

While M-LOK is free licensed, it is not open source, and thus manufacturers must acquire a license from Magpul before making products using the M-LOK standard. Magpul claims this gives them more control in assuring that all M-LOK products are made to specifications ensuring compatibility. Program participation is open to any interested manufacturer.

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Technical specifications[edit]

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Rail specifications[edit]

The slot dimensions (used on handguards, etc.) are available on the web.^[6] The slots provide metric 20 mm (0.79 in) length intervals, and accessories can be mounted either within a slot or bridging between slots, making it possible to adjust the position of accessories in smaller intervals than the length of the slot. The slots on an M-Lok handguard are approximately 32 mm (1.260 in) long and 7 mm (0.276 in) wide and space 8 mm (0.315 in) from each other. The radius of the corners is approximately 2.38 mm (0.094 in).^[7][8][9]

Attachment specifications[edit]

The quarter-turn T-slot nuts have different torque specifications depending on the handguard material:

• 4.0 N⋅m (35 lb⋅in) for attaching metal accessories to metal handguards.
• 1.7 N⋅m (15 lb⋅in) for attaching polymer or metal accessories to polymer handguards.
• 1.7 N⋅m (15 lb⋅in) for attaching polymer accessories to metal handguards.

Attachment screws made by many U.S. manufacturers are often either #8-32 TPI or 10-24 TPI UNC threads, which respectively have major thread diameters of 0.1640 inches and 0.1900 inches (4.166-0.794 mm and 4.826-1.058 mm expressed in metric designation). Many M-LOK screws on the international market instead use either M4 or M5 metric threads to reduce cost.

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The tool required for mounting, in addition to the thread size, also depends the screw head type. Hex keys are used extensively in the firearms industry, but metric and imperial hex keys as a general rule are not compatible. It is possible damage the tool and screw by selecting a tool that is too small for the fastener, which can be done by using an Imperial/customary tool on a metric fastener, or the converse. An exception to this is 4 mm hex keys, which are almost the exact same size as ⁵⁄₃₂ in (3.97 mm). In many industries, this makes 4.0 mm (⁵⁄₃₂ in) hex keys preferred for consumer products because end users can successfully use an imperial key on a metric fastener, and vice versa.

While screw and slot dimensions are available on the web, the T-slot nut dimensions are currently under review by the US State Department to determine whether it should be regulated by ITAR, and until it is clarified drawings are only available to US citizens.

• M-LOK handguard and attachment parts

• M-LOK approximate slot dimensions. (Primary measurements in millimeters, inches in parenthesis).

See also[edit]

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• Rail Integration System, generic term for a system for attaching accessories to small firearms
• Weaver rail mount, early system used for scope mounts, still has some popularity in the civilian market
• Picatinny rail (MIL-STD-1913), improved and standardized version of the Weaver mount. Used for both for scope mounts, and for accessories (such as extra sling mounts, vertical grips, bipods etc.) Major popularity in the civilian market.
• NATO Accessory Rail- further development from the MIL-STD-1913
• UIT rail, an older standard used for mounting slings particularly on competition firearms
• KeyMod - competing standard open standard design to M-LOK for mounting accessories
• Zeiss rail, a ringless scope mounting standard

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References[edit]

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1. ^'Magpul Industries - M-LOK'. Archived from the original on 4 December 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
2. ^KeyMod vs. M-Lok: The Next AR Rail Standard by Chris Baker, November, 19, 2014
3. ^Colt Canada Modular Rail Rifle (MRR)
4. ^M-LOK Outselling KeyMod about 3 to 1, 28 January 2016
5. ^Details On The USSOCOM Sponsored KeyMod vs M-LOK Test Conducted at NSWC-Crane, 5 May 2017
6. ^Magpul Industries - M-LOK DESCRIPTION AND FAQ DOCUMENT^{[permanent dead link]}
7. ^'magpul.com - M-LOK 2015 FAQs'(PDF). Archived from the original(PDF) on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
8. ^M-Lok dimensions
9. ^Magpul M-LOK estimated dimensions