Just shy of a year ago, Franklin Armory hit us with a press release for a gun that sure as heck looked like an SBR (a short barreled rifle, regulated strictly under the NFA, or National Firearms Act) but apparently wasn’t. In fact, they said it didn’t even classify as a rifle. Or a shotgun. I guess firearm identity is a fluid spectrum.
Man was there a lot of speculation and fanfare and curiosity leading up to Franklin Armory’s big reveal at SHOT Show 2018! The secret of the Reformation (wasn’t that a movie?) was the scoop to get. Once the market found out that the barrel has lands and grooves but they’re totally straight, and since there’s no spin imparted on the projectile it isn’t considered “rifling” (and therefore doesn’t meet the definition of a rifle), but also isn’t a smoothbore (so doesn’t meet the definition of a shotgun), there was a collective, “Oh, okay.” And we all moved on with our lives.
Oh yeah, the Franklin Armory Reformation! It has arisen a year later, resurrected, resuscitated, refined, reinvigorated, and reformed. It has rebounded in our minds for the first time and is now actually available for purchase. Good times.
All kidding aside, 300 Blackout is made for a short barrel, and even with standard ammo, Franklin Armory claims ~3.5″ groups at 100 yards with the Reformation. That’s way more than accurate enough for home defense and lots of other uses.
Assuming the Reformation is stabilizing subsonic 300 BLK projectiles so it’s safe to shoot this thing suppressed, I’m on board. It would represent all the good stuff about a suppressed SBR for home defense with none of the legal and regulatory hassles and cost of registering and owning the “real thing.”
