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Posted: 9/14/2016 1:51:04 PM EDT
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Can anyone point me in the direction of quality keymod grips and panels and what not? I just got my first AR last week and it is keymod on the sides and bottom. can find some stuff online but no idea if it's good stuff or not. Having a horrible time finding anything locally. Seems like cheaper than dirt is a strongly disliked retailer so I'm trying to steer clear until I know why so any other retailers would be awesome. Also maybe anyone that reviews or uses key mod attachments would be awesome.
Nate |
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Wouldn't the extra step of a picatanny rail add to the weight and increased chances of failure. Doesn't it move the attachment out farther from the center line of the barrel and mess up the weight? I know there are companies that make stuff for keymod, I just need to find the good stuff.
Nate |
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Quoted:
Wouldn't the extra step of a picatanny rail add to the weight and increased chances of failure. Doesn't it move the attachment out farther from the center line of the barrel and mess up the weight? I know there are companies that make stuff for keymod, I just need to find the good stuff. Nate I wouldn't think it moved it any more than mounting it on a quad rail would be. I also recommend blue locktite for the screws in the rail sections but they are only about an 1/8th inch thick. If you do find quality key mod attachments they can get pricey and are more susceptible from coming loose than a weaver/pic mount due to the nature of how key mods slide / attach. Its all just a matter of personal preference though. Ive had good results with poly key mod rails. They are strong and light and come in a variety of lengths. Good Luck |
| OP, you have the option of either using short rail sections that adapt to standard rail accessories, or you can use keymod-specific accessories. BCM (http://www.bravocompanyusa.com/KeyMod-Accessories-s/173.htm) makes a lot of native keymod stuff as do other vendors. |
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Quoted:
Wouldn't the extra step of a picatanny rail add to the weight and increased chances of failure.... Nate No, not with in-spec stuff (like mentioned, the stuff from BCM). I did have a scout mount come loose when shooting once, but that was my fault. I was checking the placement of the light so it was not setup properly with loctite and the recoil screw. Now it sits in its permanent spot torqued to spec and has loctite and have not had issues. Just like mlok, keymod uses a system of holes to mount in such a way that you create forward and rearward pressure when installed correctly. On the light mount I mentioned it is another screw, but on the sling mount for my rail it has a lug machined into the aluminum of the sling mount to prevent rearward travel. If not done properly either system (keymod or mlok) WILL fail under use. The poly rail sections are not recommended on load bearing items, use aluminum on those. My upper (all BCM, Surefire, Aimpoint, and Magpul): 
BCM's rail panels for keymod are made specifically to work on the KMR/KMR-A rails to give a more rounded feeling, but will work on other rail systems (and vise-versa). Also my foregrip in that picture is a direct mount and is really sweet, perfect length and angled rear for a "c-clamp" type grip. Then you see the Surefire M300 directly mounted on a BCM offset mount. Those are the only keymod items I have used/plan to use. |
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Dustin S thanks for the photo and walk through, super helpful. What would be considered "load baring" type stuff? Is a light load baring? I assume a grip would be load baring as well. What do you think of those rail panels? Could they cause the barrel to get too hot with that much coverage or so they save your hands from exposure to the heat? Would you recommend them? That grip looks nice, would you use that over an angled grip or hand stop of some sort?
Nate |
The best instance of load bearing I can think of is a bipod for example. I do not know of any direct attach keymod bipods. Personally I would not count a light as load bearing. Yeah you can consider a foregrip as load bearing too, mine is direct attach (BCM keymod short grip). I chose that over Magpul's AFG due to the short radius of my rail, it is more comfortable with the angle on my wrist/elbow. The weapon light kind of does double duty for a hand stop:
As far as the rail panels go, they do add a little more comfort than the bare rail. Again, due to the short radius, I got them to protect from the gas block which is right under my hand. I would recommend them, again adds comfort and heat transfer to your hand. Not sure if they'd heat up the barrel more, I have a medium profile (continuous tapper). EDIT: Found this video on heat and the rail panels in another thread: https://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_12/701958_Slim_full_length_rails_and_heat.html&page=1#i7275955 |
| My AR has a keymod rail also. I am new to ARs and this is my first and the rail came with it. I added a grip that has a bipod in the bottom and I had to get a picatinny rail section to attach the foregrip. I bought a Bravo Company section to attach the grip too. I haven't had any issues with it or the grip moving or coming loose. I push, pulled, tugged to make sure it was firmly in place before taking it out shooting and using it and it hasn't moved a bit. So far it seems to be a good system even though I hate having to buy a rail section each time I want to add something new unless you buy something that is already slotted for the Keymod. |
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