I’m in the market for a good rail and these are the 2 that really caught my eye
Geissele Mk14
This rail seems really nice with a good lock up system, durable quality construction and has the reputation of Geissele behind it. I’ve seen pictures of military personnel using Geissele rails on their hk416’s and AR variants.
It also has anti rotation tabs and is made of 6061 aluminum.
Hodge Wedge Lock
This rail also seems to be of extremely high quality with a solid lock up system and 7075 t6 aluminum construction. It has MLOK slots on the 10 and 2 o’clock positions on the front of the rail and It looks to be more ergonomic than the Geissele. This has a proprietary anti rotation pin that, according to the manufacturer, is optional and somewhat unnecessary. On certain uppers, like from Mega Arms and Hodge Defense, there is a little hole that lines up with small anti rotation pin. This also has a titanium barrel nut if that matters. So in short this rail has may have less anti rotation than the Giessele on mil spec uppers but it still seems like it would be extremely rigid.
My question is which of these rails would be a better purchase? Both weigh and cost about the same, but there’s a mega arms version that is around $235.
How important are the anti rotation tabs on the Geissele?
Also is there difference between The mega Arms rail and Hodge?
This may be the last thing you want to hear but buy both and get a feel for them both in hand. That may tell you what you want to know. If it doesn’t you can mount one and try it for a period of time and later mount the other and try it for a period of time. You may discover through use or the mounting of certain implements that one fits you better than the other. Either way both will have good resale value so you shouldn’t lose your shirt selling one used.
The one you can actually get, and I’ll give you a hint its no the Hodge one. Hodge stuff is either vaporware or forever on back order. I wouldn’t even bother.
Hi @skeeter98. I am a tactical / AR dealer. We work mostly in the milspec area, so I don’t see all the brands, but we see a lot of Geissele, Knights, Colt, LaRue, LMT, Daniel Defense, Troy, BCM, Vltor MI, Stag, Rock River, CMMG, DPMS, Spikes… Three comments:
You will never go wrong with Geissele. The Mk14 is at the top of the heat.
I am not familiar with Hodge Wedge Lock. Again, that does mean a whole lot, except I am in this business, and I don’t know it. It is worthy of note, but I am not the authority on rails.
From a purely commercial, gotta pay the bills comment, we will have all rails on sale tomorrow.
The US Army and US Navy picked a Geissele rail to upgrade existing M4 rifles. And, yes, the anti-rotation tabs actually work. The mil-spec (version of the Mk14 rail) Mk16 has four tabs instead of two. Two was really great thinking, and 4 is great. Not sure why it wasn’t done before.
Most folks who have worked with the Mk14 or Mk16 rail rave about it, more than I have ever seen for “just a rail.” If you are picky about a rail, go with Geissele. If it is “just a rail,” there are others that are quite inexpensive and get 80% + of the job done.
The mk14 is well known so I know what I’m getting for sure, the Hodge/Mega seems nice but there’s some questions I still need answered so we’re on the same page there. And your site has the mk16 rail by itself which is what I want over both of these. Any chance they will be in the 300 dollar range in the near future?
If you have time, I would recommend waiting to pick up a Hodge. I have three Hodge guns (12.5"/14.5"/16") and they are phenomenal. The Wedgelock hand guard is by far my favorite and they are the most ergonomic for my needs, sample of three, compared to the Geissele MK14. The biggest differences between the Hodge and Zev/Mega versions of the Wedgelock are the aluminum used, 7075 vs. 6061, and the lengths, otherwise they are virtually identical. The Hodge also has M-LOK slots at the 11 and 1 o’clock positions.
I wish I had better news, but not in the near term. It is a very expensive item. I suspect the cost will come down over time, but not in 2018. You see, the Mk16 is part and parcel of the URG-i package, and Geissele is not selling the Mk16 anytime soon, so the only ones that exist are gently disassembled from the mother ship, or someone has a friend in New Wales, PA. That URG is very nice, but there are three parts on the URG that are very valuable, and two or three parts that you have to deeply discount to sell, so the overall math does not work in our favor. :rolleyes:
That would be the ideal rail, has all the features I want, except for the price, Maybe in the future ill get one of those USASOC uppers but that’s not a for a good while. Are those uppers projected to go down in price within a year or 2?
Mega was bought by Zev, so they are now Zev. The Mega rails were 7075. If you can find one and if the funky sizes don’t bother you any, I would buy it. The newer Zev versions are now 6061 and the quality is just as good as the former.
Besides what drtywk mentioned, I’d also note that the Hodge variant only comes with one M-LOK slot on the 1030 and 0130, while the Zev and Mega versions come with two slots, which I actually think is the superior design, as then you can use standard in-line WML mounts without worrying about cantilevering issues. I currently use the Unity Tactical M-LOK Compatible FUSION Adapter for my M600DF on my Hodge WedgeLock, which sidesteps that issue, but that mount requires you to mount the light before you mount the handguard to the rifle.
I have had my uppers be drilled for the anti-rotation pins.
Considering that the development was/is directed at federal LE and military users and that the vast majority of these same users also utilize weapon mounted IR lasers, the design is not flawed, especially when you consider the form factor of those devices. I get that you can’t please everyone, but the design is intentional and only flawed in the eyes of civilian collectors or users who only play on the range.
By that logic, anything besides MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rail shouldn’t exist. There is no down side to the end user of having a couple more Mlok slots, except maybe a nominal increase in weight and cost, while there is a benefit from increased flexibility in attachment location. I’m not convinced Hodge/Mega/Zev/FN have asterisk’d themselves, but I’m genuinely surprised Zev hasn’t come out with one since acquiring Mega. Softness in the overall market probably contributes to the reluctance to come out with a new design, but that’s just conjecture.
To take it even further, nothing except the standard hand guards should exist, as the 1913 rail was not originally intended for service rifles and carbines, it was adapted for use by some forward thinking people. But like I said, the primary focus was/is on the Fed LE/Mil user that utilizes IR laser devices primarily at the 12 o’clock position. It is also why Mega, now Zev, incorporates a second M-LOK slot at the 10/1 positions, as these rails were intended for the commercial user, but the obscure lengths they come in make it difficult for some applications. FN has also licensed some of his items and they are available in their Tactical line of AR rifles, so available of complete rifles is somewhat there. Jim is a friend and is constantly taking a beating on the internet because of the lack of availability of his stuff. I get it, but civilians weren’t the original customer and most of the items available are either overruns from larger orders, orders for his dealers, or small runs that he pays for out of his own pocket.
