Fascinating. Despite being the “younger” universal mounting system out there, MagPul’s M-LOK standard is outselling KeyMod at a rate of about 3 to 1. According to my good friend Matt over at Jerking the Trigger, customers are simply putting more money into the M-LOK standard than KeyMod.

To avoid the indication of bias, Matt specifically asked companies that manufacture both rail systems in similar form to state the approximate disparity. Arson Machine reported a 3/4 to 1 ration. Midwest Industries reported about 3 to 1 and Parallax Tactical reported about 2.5 to 1.

On the manufacturing side, I personally like M-LOK more than KeyMod, which requires some special tools and a longer cycle time to physically manufacture. The spec was easy to acquire, but

On the flip side, MagPul was a pain in the arse to get them to send out the M-LOK standard. It took a call to Drake himself to get a response out of the company and get the free specification released.

The results to me are surprising, given the huge lead that KeyMod had in timing and aftermarket support. I expected M-LOK to be the leader, but the ratios far exceeded my estimates.

For those looking for a fun breakdown of the practical implications of the specifications, check out Fire Mountain Outdoors below: