Franklin Armory Reveals Secrets Behind The Reformation

Franklin Armory Reveals Secrets Behind The Reformation

Plenty of folks are disgruntled by recent NFA activities and it seems appropriate to take another look at what the Franklin Reformation has achieved. Whether you believe the Franklin Armory Reformation is the best thing since sliced bread or as bad an idea as a screen door on a submarine, one thing is certain: any product that shines a light on the insanity and pointlessness of the NFA is a good thing.

Originally Published in February of 2018.

Franklin Armory, a small gun-maker out of Nevada, made a name for itself a few years back when it introduced a binary trigger for the AR-15. The trigger dropped the hammer on a new round both when depressed and released. (Hence, “binary”)

This trigger allows shooters to fire their rifles at vastly quicker rates of fire than standard triggers and is a more controllable alternative to bump-fire stocks. Initially, some shooters thought the binary trigger might run afoul of the ATF, and its definition of machine guns. But by carefully designing their trigger to avoid to the BATFE’s definition of a machine gun, Franklin Armory was able to offer shooters something they previously couldn’t legally experience.

So when Franklin Armory released a teaser image of their new Reformation rifle – an 11.5-inch barrelled AR-15 with a foregrip and stock, claiming it wasn’t NFA-regulated, they piqued the entire industry’s interest.

With their binary trigger, they were able to avoid MG classification by designing the trigger to be interrupted by the safety lever. Meaning, if the shooter pulls and holds the trigger down, they can flip the selector to “safe” and immediately stop shooting.

*update* The Franklin Armory Reformation RS7 upper receiver is new for 2020.

But how did Franklin Armory make an 11.5-inch barreled AR-15 with a collapsible stock and vertical foregrip not classified as an SBR?

By reading ATF definitions very carefully.

Franklin Armory’s Reformation Firearm seeks to capture the pseudo-NFA market.

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Franklin Armory’s Reformation — Our Summary:

The Good

When we fired the Reformation we found it to be lightweight, reasonably accurate and trouble free with regard to stoppages or other failures.

Build quality is excellent and all of the components with a few exceptions were well thought out. The fact that some models will ship with the Franklin BFS is a bonus as it ups the fun factor by about 50!

The Bad

We still have our doubts about straight cut lands and grooves until we see more data in the form of live fire, chronograph results for velocity and bullet performance.

Our biggest concern has to do with non-stabilized bullets causing a baffle, end cap or front cap strike in a suppressor.

Which leads to our second concern having to do with the position of barrel threads beneath the rail: Some mounts or direct thread cans may not fit as easily.

Legality

This may be a gray area for some of the very people who need this the most. Chances are if your state of residence has restrictions on rifle length, barrel length, NFA acquisition etc. then they may have other assorted problems such as their definition of a rifle or firearm.

A little pricey for a truck gun, but probably makes for one of the coolest truck guns in town.

For more information check out their website: https://www.franklinarmory.com

About Mike Searson:

Mike Searson’s career as a shooter began as a Marine Rifleman at age 17. He has worked in the firearms industry his entire adult life as a Gunsmith, Ballistician, Consultant, Salesman, Author and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1989.