Originally Posted by
okie
Why on earth do people think DD is somehow synonymous with Mk18s? They never supplied a single Mk18 as far as I know. They only supplied the rails for the very last version. Colt and LMT were the only two companies I'm aware of that ever supplied Mk18s.
DD makes a Mk18-esque clone that shares the name only. And the only similarity to the real Mk18 is that it has the rail used in the last version.
There are two characteristics that define the Mk18. The 10.3 inch barrel and the .07 gas port. That's pretty much it.
And just some food for thought, these 11.5 inch guns that are "new" or "modernized" Mk18s, they're pretty much just functionally copies of the Commando with doodads on them, which is an even older gun than the Mk18.
DD in no way has the market cornered on Mk18s, or Mk18-like guns even. And strictly speaking, if you want to get super technical, they're not even Mk18s to begin with. So if we were going to make assumptions about guns OP doesn't want to hear about, I would put the DD Mk18 at the top of that list, since he didn't specifically say close enough is good enough.