If you’ve seen some of my AR build articles, you know I build a lot of retro military style rifles. Most of those end up having A1 or A2 birdcage flash hiders on them. That’s correct for the builds, and fine in general, but it’s not very helpful if you want to mount a suppressor. Well the folks at Griffin Armament have a solution for that with their GATE-LOK HUB Mount.
The GATE-LOK
Mounting a suppressor to a variety of rifles can either be a pain and it can be expensive. If you have direct thread mounts that means you need to either leave a muzzle device off your guns and roll with a thread protector, or take off and then reinstall your muzzle device every time you want to use a suppressor.
Alternately, you can use a combo muzzle device and suppressor mount. These are typically $40 and up each, so you’d need one on every gun you intend on using your suppressor with. It’s an option, and not a bad one…unless you do clone builds.
As I mentioned, I do a lot of those builds. Most of my builds use an A1 or A2 flash hider depending on what’s correct for that particular model. Previously I relegated those to non suppressor use since I wasn’t going to pull the flash hider and have to reinstall it with a new crush washer or lock washer every time.
When I got my Griffin Armament Sportsman Ultra Light HD .36 suppressor last year I intended to use it on a .350 Legend hunting rifle, so a direct thread mount worked fine for that. I tested it on a few other things though, and realized it would be nice to be able to use it on some of my other guns as well. That’s when I noticed the GATE-LOK on Griffin’s website.
The GATE-LOK mounting system uses a 1.375×24 threaded HUB Mount interface. The HUB Mount has become a pretty standard interface in the industry, so you can use the GATE-LOK with any suppressor that has that interface. It doesn’t have to be a Griffin. Just unscrew your existing adapter and screw the GATE-LOK in it’s place.
The beauty of the system is that it works with most any A1 or A2 NATO flash hider on the market. Being that the A2 flash hider is pretty much the default standard on many, if not most, AR models that means you can mount a suppressor equipped with a GATE-LOK on just about anything without having to swap anything out, and without having to buy a specialty muzzle device. If you actually need an A2 flash hider, they’re cheap and readily available. Heck you can practically get them free as a lot of folks pull them off of factory guns and swap them out for something else.
To mount a GATE-LOK-equipped suppressor, you need to pull down on the flat spring at the base of the mount and pull the gate portion out to the side by the tabs on either side. I didn’t get it at first, even after watching Griffin’s installation video, but once you figure it out it’s pretty simple.
With the gate open slide the suppressor over your flash hider. You have to align the mount with the flats on the sides of the A2 flash hider. Those are what it locks up on. You can actually slip the suppressor past that point, but if you do, the suppressor won’t lock on correctly and will obviously be loose and wobbly.
With an A2 flash hider the flats should be oriented to the right and left sides. Since an A1 flash hider doesn’t need a specific orientation, the flats might not necessarily be in that position. Whatever the position though, you need to line up the mount even with the flats on the flash hider, then push the gate down until it snaps shut.
You may have to fidget with it to find the right spot. It’s not a super-fast, quick connection, but it’s pretty easy to do and it’s still faster than threading a can on with a direct thread mount. When it’s properly mounted you may have some slight rotation of the can, but there should be no top-to-bottom or side-to-side wiggle. It’s probably not a bad idea to check things with an alignment rod if you have one.
Griffin notes that the mount is designed to fit the USGI A2 government contract compliant muzzle devices. They advise that not all A2 flash hiders on the market actually meet those specs. Normally you wouldn’t even notice if one was slightly out of spec but, being that the GATE-LOK needs that tolerance to lock in place correctly, you need to check the fit with each of your rifles. I found that some of my flash hiders apparently are not to spec and the GATE-LOK wouldn’t slip over them. Most fit fine, though.
Griffin also points out that the GATE-LOK mounting system doesn’t have the wear-prone issues that ratcheting systems commonly do. There aren’t a lot of moving parts and the lockup is simple, so there’s really nothing to wear out.
MSRP on the GATE-LOK is $219.95. That’s a bit more than some other mounting interfaces, but you’re saving money by being able to use A2-compatible muzzle devices and not having to buy mount-specific models.
Range Time
I tried the GATE-LOK-equipped Griffin Ultra Light .36 on a variety of my ARs. Thankfully the mount worked with most of my rifles and carbines. That means I can now shoot my various M16 clones in 9mm, 5.56, and .300 Blackout suppressed when I want to.
I have a .350 Legend AR as well, but it has a VG6 Gamma comp on it at the moment. I’m going to swap that out with an A2 flash hider so I can suppress it as well. I ended up picking my 9mm Colt 635 subgun clone SBR and my 5.56mm IDF M16 Menusar builds for my first range trip with the GATE-LOK system.
I had pre-tested the fit on both carbines before I hit the range so I knew they’d work. Installation on the range was pretty easy and I’m getting quicker finding the right alignment as I work with the mount more. Lockup was good on both, with a bit of the rotation present, as noted earlier. Again, some rotation is fine. Side-to-side or top-to-bottom wiggle isn’t. The suppressor also shouldn’t rotate all the way around. If it does, it isn’t actually locked on.
This is the first time I was able to fire either of these guns suppressed. It went blissfully without incident. I didn’t have an alignment rod (I guess I should get some) so I kept my fingers crossed that everything lined up correctly. It looked okay to the Mark I eyeball and that proved to be good.
The Griffin .36 cal can does a nice job with both the 9mm and 5.56 rounds. The guns were very pleasant to shoot, and although I left my ear pro on for most of the shooting, it’s nice to know I didn’t have to. Being that the suppressor is under 11 ounces without the mount, it balanced well on both guns.
A Must-Have Mount
If you shoot a variety of guns that use A1 or A2 flash hiders, the GATE-LOK HUB Mount is a must-have accessory. Even if you don’t, it’s a great option if you don’t want to get into specialty muzzle devices.
The GATE-LOK had been back ordered for a while, but I kept checking back and as soon as they came back in stock I jumped and ordered one. After having worked with it a bit, I have zero regrets. It isn’t the cheapest mount available but it is by far the most useful one for the type of builds I do.
Being that it’s a simple HUB-compatible mount, you can always swap it out for a direct thread or other mounting solution if you need or want to. So you aren’t locked into a one mount solution. Don’t be surprised if you see this setup on my future builds. The GATE-LOK mount makes it so that I can use it with a wide variety of rifles, pistols, and SBRs so I can’t see hitting the range without it any more.
GATE-LOK Specs:
Diameter: 1.5″ [unit], with 1.375×24 [threads]
OAL: 1.9″
Weight: 5.0 ounces
Materials: 17-4PH stainless steel
Finish: DLC PVD
Laser Welded
Extremely versatile and fast mounting system
Compatible with GATE-LOK™ & A2 Nato Spec Compensators
17-4 stainless steel
DLC PVD for increased surface hardness, corrosion, and wear resistance
MSRP:$219.95
For more information on the GATE-LOK HUB Mount or other products check out Griffin Armament.