Quote Originally Posted by Griz
I take it that means it's been tried and wasn't such a good idea? Oh well.
Maybe something like you are talking anyway... PCAP, Picatinny Component Attachment Point, was a byproduct of the XM-8. The back story to the development is a whole other story, but in order to eliminate the standard rails that we all know so well, they came up with PCAP -- You probably have seen it... a row of oblong holes in the side of the weapon that made it look way too much like the hood of an old Buick.

The biggest problem that I have heard about them is that they required very precise manufacture (think who designed this now) and were overly expensive. They also required that every device known to man be retrofitted with the male part of the attachment device -- of course you could just make standard picatinny rails that attached to the PCAP holes, so you would be right back where you started, only at a far greater cost and now with two attachment points for each device.

There has been talk that the system did not work out so well with dirt and abuse... I have no real experience with them though, so I can not say for sure. I have some pictures of the early prototype components at home, I will see if I can find them when I get there.