Despite ATF’s Best Efforts, Franklin Armory’s Reformation is Back

The ATF has been taking a beating in recent court rulings. Now there’s one more to add to the list of ATF losses, and this one has an immediate impact on consumers. Franklin Armory has been battling the characterization of their Reformation as a short barrel shotgun by the ATF for years, but they’ve now secured a resounding win. That means that, despite ATF’s best efforts, the Reformation is back and ready for the market.

The Reformation comes in 5.56mm or .300 Blackout and with a 7.5 inch or 11.5 inch barrel option. The Reformation uses a straight cut lands and grooves that do not impart spin like conventional rifling. They create a yaw effect that cause the bullet to tumble, minimizing over penetration and increasing the wound channel when the round hits. Despite the lack of spin Franklin Armory says that you can still easily shoot two inch groups at CQB distances making it well suited for home defense.

It’s not a smooth bore, so it isn’t a shotgun, but it doesn’t have conventional rifling designed to impart spin, so it isn’t a rifle either. Franklin Armory built it by working with the legal definitions to be categorized as a “firearm” which can be transferred as a “firearm” on a Form 4473, much like a Mossberg Shockwave, Remington Tac-14, or some of Franklin Armories other products like their XO-2.

The ATF Doesn’t Get It

ATF had a hard time wrapping their head around this and wrongfully and arbitrarily declared it an SBS. Thus starting the years long FRAC v. Garland legal battle. Thanks to a good understanding of the law, and a careful ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Daniel M. Traynor, the issue is now over. Judge Traynor tackled both the letter of the law and ATF’s overreach in his decision, paving the way to sales of the Reformation in most of the country where “firearms” are allowed to be sold, without the unnecessary cost and and additional requirements that an SBS brings with it.

According to Franklin Armory’s press release Judge Traynor stated emphatically that the ATF “exceeded its authority” in attempting to classify Reformation as a “shotgun” under either the GCA or the NFA. Excerpts provided from Judge Traynor’s ruling include:

• Congress defined “shotgun” specifically and said it had a “smooth bore.”
• The definition of “smoothbore”…is unambiguous. The barrel has “no grooves or ridges on the inner surface.”
• According to the contemporary dictionary, straight grooves in a barrel would not fit the definition of “smoothbore” or “rifle.”
• Congress gave ATF the ability to enforce the law, not change it.
• Franklin Armory presented a square peg, and ATF shoved it into a round hole. If Congress wanted “shotgun” to be a catch-all category for anything that doesn’t fit “rifle,” it could have done so.
• Franklin Armory created a weapon that doesn’t fit into the round holes made my Congress, but that does not give ATF authority to change the shape or size of the hole to make the Reformation fit.
• Therefore, ATF exceeded its authority in defining “smoothbore” as anything lacking “functional rifling.”

Judge Traynor’s ruling further ordered that the ATF’s prior misclassification of Reformation must be vacated to its proper classification as a GCA-only weapon, and that “No further action from ATF is needed.”

Reformation Models and Pricing

Both Reformation models are available in either 5.56mm or .300 Blackout, and feature Franklin’s patented NRS™ (Not a Rifle or Shotgun) barrel technology, which is the heart of the design. They also provide a choice of either an excellent traditional semiautomatic trigger, or Franklin Armory’s patented Binary Firing System, which allows a single round to be fired on both the pull and release function of the trigger. I used a Franklin binary trigger in one of my builds recently.

More information on the operation of the Binary Firing System can be viewed in the video “How Binary Works.” Below are the two current Reformation models and some specs on them from Franklin Amory’s press release. It’s been a long road but some important legal groundwork was laid with the case and now you can buy the Reformation in the manner in which it was designed and intended, without the NFA hassles.

Franklin Armory’s Reformation RS7 is built on a hard-use rated forged aluminum upper and lower receiver set, featuring a 7.5-inch barrel, a 7-inch Franklin Armory FST handguard, salt bath nitride bolt carrier, B5 Bravo stock, B5 P-Grip 23, B5 vertical grip, pistol length gas system, and Franklin Armory’s linear compensating and flash suppressing Triumvir muzzle device. Reformation RS7 is available chambered in both 5.56 NATO and .300 Blackout calibers. MSRP for the Binary equipped Reformation RS7 is $1,179.99. MSRP for the Reformation RS7 with a fine-tuned traditional semiautomatic trigger is $1,099.99.

Franklin Armory’s Reformation RS11 is built on a proprietary billet aluminum receiver set, featuring an 11.5-inch barrel, an 11.5-inch Franklin Armory FSR handguard, salt bath nitride bolt carrier, Magpul SL-K stock, Ergo Ambi Sure grip, carbine length gas system, and Franklin Armory’s linear compensating and flash suppressing Triumvir muzzle device. Reformation RS11 is available in both 5.56 NATO and .300 Blackout. MSRP for the Binary equipped Reformation RS11 is $1,669.99. MSRP for the Reformation RS11 with a fine-tuned traditional semiautomatic trigger is $1,479.99.

For more about Franklin Armory’s Reformation line of firearms, or other products check out FranklinArmory.com.