Kwikset 156MIL-SQT Keyed Entry Lever SmartKey with Square Rose, 6AL Latch and RCS Strike

Reversible. The 156MIL Milan lever with square rose is non-handed, so one lockset covers both left and right hand doors. That's the practical part for a property manager buying a case of them: you don't have to count the swing on every opening before you order, and a spare on the shelf fits whichever door fails next.

SmartKey is Kwikset's owner rekeying system: with the current key in the cylinder and the SmartKey learn tool, you reset the lock to a different Kwikset key yourself in seconds, no cylinder removal and no locksmith. For a landlord doing turnovers, that's the whole point, one lock rekeyed at the door between tenants. It works with Kwikset KW1 keys, so if the rest of the building is Kwikset you can bring the 156MIL onto that same key.

Residential. The 156MIL is built for house and in-unit apartment doors, not for commercial traffic. If the opening is a corridor, a leased suite, a school, or anything on a code-driven spec, step up to a commercial cylindrical lock: the Dexter C1000 Entry/Office is a Grade 1 keyed lever, and the Hager 2525 is a Grade 2 commercial entry lever. Either is the right call where the 156MIL is not.

Keyed. The 156MIL locks with a key from outside and is meant for an entry or any door you need to secure. If the door is a hallway, closet, or pantry where you just want a latch and no lock, buy a passage lever instead, such as the Bravura Tampa square trim passage leverset or the Callan Asheville. For a bed or bath door needing a privacy push button rather than a key, the Baldwin Estate 5103 privacy lever covers that.

Both are in the box. The 156MIL ships with a 6AL latch and an RCS strike, so nothing else is needed to hang it on a prepped door. Worth knowing what those are: the 6AL is Kwikset's adjustable latch, meaning it covers both the 2-3/8 inch and 2-3/4 inch backset without a second part number, and the RCS is a round corner strike that drops into a rounded mortise in a metal or pre-prepped wood frame. If your frame has a square-cornered strike cutout, you'll want a flat lip or full lip strike instead.

Yes, if the door is bored to the standard residential prep. The 156MIL is a cylindrical lock, which means a 2-1/8 inch cross bore in the face and a 1 inch edge bore for the latch, the same prep nearly every knob or lever in a house already sits in. Because the included 6AL latch adjusts, either standard backset in that existing prep works. Swapping a knob for this lever is a straight drop-in on a door already prepped that way.

The 156MIL is a residential keyed entry lever with a square rose. For an opening that needs a commercial-rated keyed lever, the Dexter C1000 Series entry/office lever is Grade 1 with a clutching keyed design and fits doors 1-3/8 to 1-3/4 inches thick, and the Hager 2525 is a Grade 2 commercial cylindrical entry lock for doors 1-3/8 to 2 inches thick. Both are keyed entry function like the 156MIL but built to ANSI/BHMA commercial cycle ratings.

The 156MIL is a keyed entry lever on a square rose. For a non-keyed opening in a similar contemporary square style, the Bravura Tampa passage leverset uses square trim and is Grade 2 passage function. If round trim is acceptable, the Bravura Atlanta and Bravura Orlando are also Grade 2 passage leversets, and the Callan Asheville is a Grade 3 passage leverset in satin nickel, matching one of the finishes the 156MIL is offered in.

No. The 156MIL is keyed entry, so it locks with a key from the outside. A bath or bedroom door normally takes a privacy function instead, which locks from inside with a thumbturn and has no key: the Baldwin Estate 5103 privacy lever with the 5048 rose, or the Hager 2540 with the Withnell lever for doors 1-3/8 to 2 inches. Those will not accept a key, so they are not a swap for an exterior or secured opening.

A keyed entry lever such as the Kwikset 156MIL leaves the outside lever unlocked when the button or turn is released, which is not the behavior a storeroom wants. Storeroom function keeps the outside lever locked at all times: the Cal-Royal AG05 is a Grade 2 storeroom lockset with a deadlocking latchbolt for doors 1-3/8 to 1-3/4 inches, and the Hager 2580 with the Withnell lever is Grade 2 storeroom for doors 1-3/8 to 2 inches.

Where key control is the problem rather than the lock, a code-entry lever removes keys from the door entirely. The Lockey 2835 is a mechanical pushbutton keyless lever lock with passage function and ADA compliance for doors 1-3/16 to 2 inches, the Lockey 2835DC adds a double combination, and the Lockey 1150 is a heavy duty mechanical keypad lever set for doors 1-1/8 to 2 inches. For an electronic keypad, the Delaney LP250 is a Grade 2 electronic keypad leverlock.

The Kwikset 156MIL is a SmartKey cylinder, so it keys into a Kwikset system rather than a Schlage one. If the building is already keyed to Schlage C, the Cal-Royal AG00 entrance lever is a Grade 2 lever with a 6-pin Schlage C keyway keyed different and a 2-3/8 inch backset, and the Cal-Royal AG03 classroom lever is the same keyway with a 2-3/4 inch backset. Those cannot be keyed alike with a SmartKey cylinder.

Three: Satin Nickel, Venetian Bronze, and Satin Chrome. If you're matching a unit that already runs Kwikset, Satin Nickel and Venetian Bronze are the two that pair with most existing Kwikset trim; Satin Chrome reads cooler and brighter than Satin Nickel, which matters when the two get mixed on the same floor.

The 156MIL uses a square rose in a contemporary style, so it lines up visually with other square trim hardware rather than round. Kwikset sells the same Milan lever in passage and privacy for the interior doors, which is how you keep one look through a unit: keyed 156MIL on the entry, non-keyed Milan on the bedrooms and bath. Mixing a round rose onto the same floor is what makes a turnover look patched.

For a residential entry, yes. The 156MIL is a keyed lever, which is what most people replace an entry knob with when someone in the house can't grip and twist. It goes into the same bore the knob came out of. Note it is residential duty, so if the door in question is a commercial opening on an accessibility spec, look at a commercial lever like the Lockey 2835, which lists ADA compliance, or a Grade 1 Dexter C1000 lever.

On its own a keyed lever is the latch, not the lock. Standard practice on an exterior door is the keyed lever plus a single cylinder deadbolt above it, and if you want one key for both, pair the 156MIL with a Kwikset SmartKey deadbolt and rekey them to match. If you'd rather buy the pair as one item, the Callan Bennett is an entrance leverset and deadbolt combo.

Where the door needs trim but no latching, a dummy lever is the part. The Baldwin Estate 5103 half dummy comes handed left or right on the 5048 rose, the Callan Bentley is a Grade 2 dummy lever, and the BEST 7KC Series 1DT single dummy trim is a Grade 2 medium duty non-keyed cylindrical lever. The Kwikset 156MIL itself is keyed entry only, so a dummy has to come from a separate part.

The Kwikset 156MIL is reversible, so one part covers a left or right hand door. Among comparable levers, the Falcon B101 Grade 2 passage lock uses a non-handed design and the Falcon K101 Grade 1 passage lock uses non-handed levers, though both are passage rather than keyed. The Baldwin Estate 5103 half dummy is ordered as a specific left hand or right hand part, so hand has to be determined before ordering that one.

No. The 156MIL is a keyed entry function, which is not the same as classroom function. Classroom function is keyed from the outside to lock and unlock the outside lever with no inside button: the Dexter C1000 Series classroom lever is Grade 1 with a clutching keyed mechanism for doors 1-3/8 to 1-3/4 inches, and the Dexter C1000 classroom security version adds keyed control from the inside as well.

The Deltana 6201 Manchester, 6411 Morant and 6431 Linstead entry levers all cover doors 1-3/8 to 2 inches thick, and the Dexter C1000 Series asylum lever is Grade 1 across 1-3/8 to 2 inches. The Falcon K101 Grade 1 passage lock spans 1-3/8 to 2-1/4 inches if the door does not need a key.

The Kwikset 156MIL is a keyed entry lever on its own, with a 6AL latch and RCS strike. If the opening calls for a lever and deadbolt together as one keyed set, the Callan Bennett is a Grade 3 entrance leverset supplied as a deadbolt combo, while the Callan Artino is a Grade 3 entrance leverset without the deadbolt. The combo requires a second bore in the door for the deadbolt that a lever-only prep will not have.

The function can match but the trim does not. The Arrow HK11-BB is an entrance function cylindrical lock with a ball knob and a conventional cylinder for doors 1-3/8 to 1-3/4 inches, and the Master Lock BC Series RL01 is a Grade 3 return style lever keyed entry lockset. A knob will not satisfy an opening specified for lever operation, so the Master Lock lever is the closer swap for the 156MIL where a knob is not acceptable.

The Corbin Russwin CL3110 is a Grade 1 vandal resistant cylindrical lever with a fire rating, in passage/closet function for doors 1-3/4 to 2 inches, and the Falcon K101 is a Grade 1 heavy duty passage lever that also carries a fire rating across 1-3/8 to 2-1/4 inches. Both are non-keyed, so a labeled opening that also needs a key calls for a keyed commercial lever such as the Hager 2525 Grade 2 entrance lock.