I bought Midwest drop in quad rails for two of my PCRs.  OEM type handguards suck with no gas tube, a vertical grip moves all over the place.  The Midwest quads are so tight, you would mistake them for a free float.  They are a no-hardware drop in. Shorty grip and a light are all I need.

Not so shorty grip, 5.56 Colt:

M-lok here. I want the least amount of weight possible.

Curious where the Crane tests for MLOK durability are not convincing enough.

Weight, profile, ubiquitousness of options...MLOK is GTG from my end.

Most of my stuff has been quad, but I decided to go with a Vltor MLOK for my MK18-inspired shorty.

Attached File

I don't understand that meme.  
On AR's today, outside of the top rail, how much of the rest of the rails are ever used?  Maybe bipod or grip (which can be mounted either with a section of pic or direct mlok)? Every now and then a light or something at 3 or 6 at the end of the rail?

Outside of the top rail, 87% of the rest of the quad rails are not used.  

I also think there is as time/era factor.   Do you have something with carbine gas and an A2, plus a carry handle where you basically have no room for anything and you are hanging shit off the sides?
Upper looks like this and you want a light and a laser....and maybe an optic on top of the carry handle, yeah, you might need a quad rail.


However, with more guns running mid-gas, followed by low-profile gas blocks, and folding buis (or no back-up sites because optics have gotten better), you now have much longer rails that offer more hand space, and laser/lights can go and the far end of the rail.





You can see how things have evolved. (Shocked the bottom image has the light at 4:30 instead of 1:30)

@Machine_gunner22 looks great! I’d recommend some pics of at least one of the rail options attached to a rifle on the product page.

What are the weights of the rails?

I would also include a picture of the barrel nut and hardware so you can see how the rail lock up works.

I only use quads.  The only MLok rail I like is the Geissele Mk8.  Normally I just throw Midwest Industries T-series FF quad rails on everything.

Last time I bought a quad rail was in 2012.  Since then I have been able to get by with Mlok rails.  The extra rail space sounds cool to have but in application I can get by with much less coverage.

Any chance of 11”-11.5”? There are not many quad rails in that length for us 12.5” barrel fans.

BTW, your MLok one is still holding up, and the green ano is just right. Accuracy with your rifle has been great.

Keep in mind that some silencers require space (Griffin Gate-Lok) behind the barrel thread shoulder, and many users like to have an inch of safety between the end of the rail and the tip of the muzzle hiding under the muzzle device when unsuppressed. 11-11.5” is perfect. 11.7” pushes it. Splitting hairs between that and 10.5”-10.75” rails, I know, but 12.5” barrels are already an exercise in splitting hairs and are kind of a niche connoisseur thing.

In general, the “I still use quads” crew is not overlapping much with the “no barrel showing is more aesthetic” crew. We just want the rail estate to put our nightime shit on.

Thanks again for your time.

I wouldn't risk below .70" though it can be closer

While not exactly a lightweight, the DD M4 does OK when compared with the latest quads.
It's a shame they discontinued it (years ago).

I agree, and also, people that choose silencer mounts based on whether the wrench flats are exposed with the silencer mounted might not want to bury the flats in the handguard. I think the 12.5” gang is pretty small, though.