One disadvantage of the KeyMod system is that accessories will only mount in one direction on the rear of the slot. KeyMod accessories are easy and quick to mount and offer a solid lock-up.
Also, by having the industry working together, the new standard would offer a wider accessory range, which is so much better for the end user.”
WILL KEYMOD ACCESSORIES WORK ON MLOK FREE
I wanted to make a standard that all the industry designers and engineers were free to use, build products for and move the industry forward, like the MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rail, which everyone could utilize. In an interview with Ballistic Magazine in 2015, Kincel said, “One of the reasons that the American small arms industry has made so many advancements is standardized modularity, like the Picatinny rail. To mount a KeyMod accessory to a KeyMod handguard, you simply place the rail or accessory into the larger key slot, slide it to the smaller end and tighten it down with a screwdriver. The KeyMod handguard eliminates the infamous “cheese grater” design of the Picatinny handguard. The two collaborated and decided to go with Kincel’s KeyMod (Modular Key Slot) system which uses a sleek key slot system typical of a shelving unit. According to Wikipedia, around the same time, Noveske Rifleworks founder John Noveske (1976-2013) approached Kincel with his own design of a direct attachment system. Kincel and VLTOR engineer Jeff O’Brien began building a handguard and rail system that would eliminate the 3, 6 and 9 o’clock position limitations, be lighter in weight with increased ventilation, not use loose screws and nuts easily lost and was also self-contained. One of these experimenters was Eric Kincel, who was at VLTOR Weapon Systems at the time. Things like polymer lowers, and carbon fiber became accepted and even well-liked. As the AR-15 gained popularity and technology advanced, people started experimenting with different materials to keep weight on their rifles down. Picatinny and Weaver rails require mounts for your mounts and add extra weight to your rifle. Because of the inconsistency on Weaver rails, Weaver mounts will fit on Picatinny rails, but Picatinny mounts will not fit on Weaver rails. Military adopted the Picatinny rail on February 3, 1995. The locking slot width on Picatinny rails is 0.206 inches, the spacing slot measures 0.394 inches and the slot depth is 0.118 inches. Military arms and ammo research, development and acquisition facility-took this new standardized rail for testing and evaluation and created the military standard for the Picatinny rail. Then, Gary Houtsma, an engineer at Picatinny Arsenal-U.S. company started working on standardizing the Weaver rail system. The slots are 0.180 inches wide, but the spacing on Weaver rails are not and have never been consistent. The Weaver mounting system was designed by William Ralph Weaver of Weaver Optics to mount the company’s scopes to rifles and incorporates flat dovetail rails with cross-wise slots. Though not the first, the Weaver mounting system was, and might still be, the most widely used. Both are based on the same principles of using rails and slots to mount optics and other accessories to firearms. Look for a flashlight mount that's for M Lock.Until 2012, we only had two ways to mount accessories to our ARs and other Modern Sporting Rifles (MSRs)-Weaver and Picatinny. To me the point of M-Lok or KeyMod is that you DON'T need a pic rail.