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The Picatinny rail ( MIL-STD-1913 rail or 1913 rail) is an American rail integration system designed by Richard Swan that provides a mounting platform for firearm accessories. It forms part of the NATO standard STANAG 2324 rail. It was originally used for scope mount of atop the receivers of larger caliber .
Once established as United States Military Standard, its use expanded to also attaching other accessories, such as: iron sights, , , night-vision devices, Reflector sight, holographic sights, foregrips, , slings and .
An updated version of the rail is adopted as a NATO standard as the STANAG 4694 NATO Accessory Rail.
The MIL-STD-1913 rail is commonly called the "Picatinny Rail", in reference to the Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey. Picatinny Arsenal works as a contracting office for small arms design (they contracted engineers to work on the M4).
Picatinny Arsenal requested Swan's help in developing the rail, but did not draft blueprints or request paperwork for a patent. That credit goes to Richard Swanson of A.R.M.S., who conducted research and development and acquired a patent for the rail in 1995. Swan has litigated in civil court against Colt and Troy industries regarding patent infringement. The courts found that Troy had developed rifles with rail mounting systems nearly identical to the MIL-STD-1913 rail.
A metric system-upgraded version of the 1913 rail, the STANAG 4694 NATO Accessory Rail, was designed in conjunction with weapon manufacturers like Aimpoint, Beretta, Colt, FN Herstal and Heckler & Koch, and was approved by the NATO Army Armaments Group (NAAG), Land Capability Group 1 Dismounted Soldier (LCG1-DS) on May 8, 2009.
Many firearm manufacturers include a MIL-STD-1913 rail system from the factory, such as the Ruger Mini-14 Ranch Rifle.
The MIL-STD-1913 locking slot width is . The spacing of slot centres is and the slot depth is .
While some accessories are designed to fit on both Weaver and 1913 rails, most 1913 compatible devices will not fit on Weaver rails. From May 2012, most mounting rails are cut to MIL-STD-1913 standards. Many accessories can be secured to a rail with a single spring-loaded retaining pin.
Designed to mount heavy sights of various kinds, a great variety of accessories and attachments are now available and the rails are no longer confined to the rear upper surface (receiver) of long arms but are either fitted to or machine milled into the upper, side or lower surfaces of all manner of weapons from crossbows to Handgun and long arms up to and including anti-materiel rifles.
Their usefulness has led to them being used in paintball, , airsoft and foam dart blasters.
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