Franklin Armory is the company that put the binary trigger on the map. Its BFSIII — the Binary Firing System — fires one round when you pull the trigger and a second when you let it forward, and it is the dominant, best-known binary trigger on the market. But Franklin is more than one product: it is a legal and engineering innovator that designs firearms and triggers to sit just outside the usual federal categories. Here is who they are, what they make, and the legal picture you need to understand before you buy.

Who Franklin Armory is

Franklin Armory is the company that put the binary trigger on the map. Its BFSIII fires one round on the trigger pull and a second on release, the best-known binary trigger on the market, and the company is a legal and engineering innovator across firearms and triggers.

Franklin Armory was founded in 2012 by Jay Jacobson and is headquartered in Minden, Nevada, after starting in California. It describes itself as a California-and-Nevada-quality AR-15 manufacturer, but its reputation rests less on being a volume AR house and more on a niche it essentially created: products engineered around the fine print of federal firearms law. That is the lens to view the whole catalog through.

What Franklin makes

BFSIII binary triggers — the flagship

The Binary Firing System is a three-position trigger. Position 1 is Safe, Position 2 is standard Semi (one round per pull), and Position 3 is Binary — one round on the pull and one on the release. If you decide mid-string that you do not want the release shot, you can cancel it by switching out of binary while holding the trigger back. The “III” denotes the third generation. Franklin makes BFSIII triggers for a wide range of platforms beyond the AR-15: AK (including 9mm), HK 91/93/MP5, CZ Scorpion, SIG MPX, FN SCAR, Ruger PC Carbine, Ruger 10/22, Bushmaster ACR, and B&T, among others. On a standard AR-15 the trigger is a roughly 30-minute drop-in that most owners can install themselves.

Reformation and the non-NFA firearms

Franklin’s other claim to fame is the Reformation — a firearm built with a patented barrel that has straight (un-twisted) lands and grooves instead of spiral rifling. Franklin’s legal argument is that without conventional rifling it is neither a “rifle” nor a “shotgun,” but simply a “firearm” under the Gun Control Act — meaning a short-barreled long gun with no federal NFA tax stamp. It is sold in RS7 (7.5″ barrel) and RS11 (11.5″) configurations in 5.56. The related Antithesis line uses multi-projectile cartridges as part of a similar argument. After a multi-year fight with the ATF, a February 2025 federal court ruling and an August 2025 ATF settlement classified these as GCA “firearms,” not NFA items, and sales resumed.

Complete firearms and the “Title 1” line

Franklin also sells complete AR-15 rifles and lowers (often BFSIII-equipped) and a “Title 1” line of long guns engineered to be legally not a rifle, shotgun, or pistol — aimed at buyers in restricted states like California.

The legal picture (read this before you buy)

Binary triggers are federally legal. The ATF’s position is that a binary trigger fires only one round per function — the pull is one function, the release is another — so it is not a machine gun and is not affected by the bump-stock ban. Two important clarifications:

Binary is not the same as a forced-reset trigger (FRT). Franklin’s BFSIII is an ATF-recognized semi-automatic trigger and has never carried the “machine gun” cloud. FRTs (like the Rare Breed FRT-15) are a different device class whose legal status has been heavily litigated and remains contested. Do not conflate the two.
State law varies and changes. A number of states restrict or ban binary or rate-increasing devices — California, New York, New Jersey, Washington, Illinois, Hawaii, Maryland, Connecticut, Delaware, Rhode Island, and Virginia are commonly cited, among others — but the lists differ between sources and the laws move. Confirm your current state and local law before buying.

How Franklin compares

Against the main binary rival, the Fostech Echo, the practical difference is the ecosystem: the Echo requires Fostech’s proprietary bolt carrier, while the BFSIII works with a standard AR carrier. Against the Rare Breed FRT, the difference is legal class — the BFSIII is the lower-legal-risk, ATF-accepted semi-auto option, not an embattled forced-reset device. And to be clear, single-stage match triggers from makers like Hiperfire are a different thing entirely; they are not binary.

Who should buy what

AR-15 owners wanting fast, legal split times: the BFSIII AR-S1, AR-Essential, or AR-Elite.
AK, HK, SCAR, Scorpion, MPX, PC Carbine, or 10/22 owners: the matching BFSIII model.
Rimfire plinkers: the 22-C1 or 22-EZ for cheap, high-rate fun.
Restricted-state buyers wanting a short home-defense long gun without a tax stamp: the Reformation or a Title 1 build, where legal.

Not for you if you live in a state that bans binary triggers, or if you just want a cheap basic AR.

The Reformation saga, and why it matters

The Reformation is not just a quirky product — it is the clearest example of how Franklin operates. The company designed a barrel with straight lands and grooves specifically to fall outside the legal definitions of “rifle” and “shotgun,” which would let buyers own a short-barreled long gun without the NFA paperwork and tax stamp. The ATF disagreed: in 2018 and 2019 it declared the Reformation a Gun Control Act short-barreled shotgun (though not an NFA item) and effectively froze sales. Franklin fought it. In February 2025, a federal judge ruled the ATF had exceeded its authority — straight grooves do not make a smoothbore — and vacated the misclassification. An August 2025 ATF settlement then classified the Reformation and Antithesis as GCA “firearms,” not subject to the NFA, and sales resumed through FFLs without a tax stamp. For a buyer, the practical takeaway is twofold: the product is real and currently sold, and the category it lives in is novel enough that you should confirm it is legal in your specific state before ordering.

Living with a binary trigger

A binary trigger is genuinely fun, but it rewards discipline. Because position 3 fires on both the pull and the release, you go through ammunition quickly, and you need to be deliberate about muzzle control — the release shot happens as you relax your finger, which surprises new users. Many ranges restrict or prohibit binary fire, so check the rules before you flip to position 3. The cancel feature is your friend: if you decide not to send the release shot, switch out of binary while holding the trigger back and the second round does not fire. Treated with respect, the BFSIII is a legal way to get very fast split times; treated carelessly, it is a good way to get asked to leave the range.

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