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Thread: KeyMod vs. M-LOK

  1. #1
    Site Supporter Jay Cunningham's Avatar
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    KeyMod vs. M-LOK

    Just when it seemed like KeyMod was the new hotness, along comes M-LOK and some people are apparently already stating that KM is now obsolete!

    What say you???

  2. #2
    I don't think Keymod is obsolete, but I do think it's falling behind. Keymod has been out for what, 2 years, and some accessories are just now starting to trickle out from a few manufacturers. Magpul's M-Lok is barely 7 months old and Magpul has pushed 10+ accessories to date, more coming this year, and even more at SHOT show. That's not even counting the other manufacturers (100+ claimed) that are hitching to the M-Lok bandwagon. It's even gained strength with Geissele's MK8 rail, ALG's new budget EMR rail, Midwest Industry's rails, Troy's reboot of the VTAC line to use M-Lok, and I read a rumor that Noveske might remake the NSR with M-Lok. Heck, I even think the new Hodge Defense carbine is M-Lok. Those are all name brands with a lot of visibility, plus, Magpul is on a straight up rampage of product releases and PR campaigns. But, with that said, I think Keymod has had longer visibility to the .mil world, and if they adopt it, even in a small way, Keymod will be here to stay.

  3. #3
    M-LOK goodness . . .
















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  4. #4
    Site Supporter Maple Syrup Actual's Avatar
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    My belief is that either will be fine for the foreseeable future.

    I don't own any of either, though. And honestly I have almost no use for any rails other than 12 o'clock, and some way to attach a stubby grip at 6. So neither seems especially important to me.
    This is a thread where I built a boat I designed and which I very occasionally update with accounts of using it, which is really fun as long as I'm not driving over logs and blowing up the outboard.
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  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jay Cunningham View Post
    Just when it seemed like KeyMod was the new hotness, along comes M-LOK and some people are apparently already stating that KM is now obsolete!

    What say you???
    MLOK strikes me as better than KM because (and keep in mind I own neither, but plan on buying one soon):

    MLOK is more durable (larger surface areas interacting)
    MLOK is easier to machine
    MLOK works with polymer.
    MLOK is brand-neutral. (Colt, etc. use Magpul. It's not tied to a competing firearm manufacturer like KM is).
    MLOK only has ONE version, not half a dozen used by various companies.
    MLOK looks like something you would find on a firearm, not in a warehouse. To some people, this matters all else being equal between the two.
    MLOK handles impact/recoil better on/from multiple axis.

    KM strikes me as better because:

    KM uses less ID of the rail to the attachment system.
    KM is currently more "established" in the market.

    Quote Originally Posted by texasaggie2005 View Post
    I don't think Keymod is obsolete, but I do think it's falling behind. Keymod has been out for what, 2 years, and some accessories are just now starting to trickle out from a few manufacturers. Magpul's M-Lok is barely 7 months old and Magpul has pushed 10+ accessories to date, more coming this year, and even more at SHOT show. That's not even counting the other manufacturers (100+ claimed) that are hitching to the M-Lok bandwagon. It's even gained strength with Geissele's MK8 rail, ALG's new budget EMR rail, Midwest Industry's rails, Troy's reboot of the VTAC line to use M-Lok, and I read a rumor that Noveske might remake the NSR with M-Lok. Heck, I even think the new Hodge Defense carbine is M-Lok. Those are all name brands with a lot of visibility, plus, Magpul is on a straight up rampage of product releases and PR campaigns. But, with that said, I think Keymod has had longer visibility to the .mil world, and if they adopt it, even in a small way, Keymod will be here to stay.
    MLOK released first, then KM.

    Block 3 will be a tube-system, they are open to suggestions other than KM, which won't be in the running, as I understand it.

  6. #6
    I really don't care much as I don't attach many things and don't reconfigure often. I need a light which I like at 12 o'clock in front of the irons and a sling set up, so no need for modularity in the majority of my rifles. Having the ability is not a bad thing and does not hurt my simplistic approach, so why not keymod? Quite frankly it is ugly and big box store like. No big deal as weight and utility is the key for true "gunfighters" so who cares about aesthetics anyway, right? While aesthetics doesn't top my list, looking like a Costco or Home Depot shelving afterthought isn't high on my list either.

    I took quite a bit of heat on another forum from those who went "all in" with keymod and they took my opinions as some type of assault on the King, but I stuck to my opinion. No knock on the guys who came up with Keymod and made it open source and I appreciate the forward thought, but like anything time will tell. I have no trouble stating that I own 3 keymod rails but that is a small number in the grand scheme of how many rails I actually have and I have no plans of acquiring more keymods. Again kudos to innovation and forward thought. Without the keymod, who knows if emmlock would have emerged. Competition is good, especially for those who like to play dress up and change Barbies dress all the time. Now they can go from day time casual to evening wear with a simple or more simple click. How many different dress options are available to Barbie and on the market, plus how easily she can slip out of one and into another and how good she looks in the raw might become the deciding factors.

  7. #7
    I don't really care but I think M-lok will win out due to less machining time and the way it's been open sourced to quickly. I own a Keymod rail (the fantastic BCM KMR) that works fine.
    #RESIST

  8. #8
    1913 still works for me, all I attach is an optic, VFG and a light. I don't play Barbie with my flame stick(s).

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by gtmtnbiker98 View Post
    1913 still works for me, all I attach is an optic, VFG and a light. I don't play Barbie with my flame stick(s).
    All the more reason to go Keymore or MLOK instead of having all that useless 1913 cheesegrater space.

  10. #10
    Member John Hearne's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Surf View Post
    I really don't care much as I don't attach many things and don't reconfigure often. I need a light which I like at 12 o'clock in front of the irons and a sling set up, so no need for modularity in the majority of my rifles.
    This is pretty much where I am. Except for a class where I needed to mount a PEQ (12:00 X300 blocked the IR laser), I haven't changed my basic rifle setup in years.

    I just bought a new upper and went with a Keymod for convenience more than anything else. I wanted a BCM and they had 11.5" uppers with 10" keymods in stock. I could have bought an upper with no rail and a FSB. I then could have cut the FSB down, refinished it and installed an M-Lok but I didn't because the BCM was such a turnkey solution.

    If I had to speculate, I think that M-Lok will "win" for all of the reasons listed above but that's OK. I am still very impressed with how svelte the Keymod is and have no regrets.
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