Franklin Armory BFS-III binary trigger

[spencer60]

I installed this 'binary trigger' over the weekend and just put my first 100 rounds or so through it.

A binary trigger is one that can fire both on the trigger press, and on the release, resulting in two shots being fired in the time it normally takes to fire one.

Two companies make these types of triggers for ARs (that I know of), Fostech and Franklin. This review only covers the Franklin product.

https://www.franklinarmory.com/products/binary-firing-system-gen-iii-trigger-pack

https://fostechoutdoors.com/shop/index.php?l=product_list&c=15

Cost and availability - Both of these triggers are pretty expensive, with the Franklin Armory part running $390 and the Fostech part being $479 (MSRP).

I was able to find the Franklin part for about $360 online, but was not able to find the Fostech trigger anyplace except GunBroker. The Fostech is in very, very short supply, and unless you are willing to pay about $100 over retail on the auction sites, you simply won't be able to buy it right now.


Components - The Franklin BFS-III kit comes with the trigger parts, extra hammer and trigger springs, and a buffer spring, along with instructions, a Safe/Semi/Binary decal for the rifle, and a small, sample tube of SLP-2000 EWL grease (good stuff BTW).


Installation - The installation is no different than most AR triggers. You remove the old safety, hammer and trigger and install the new BFS-III parts. They do include lighter-weight springs if you want to use them, but for reliability I stuck with the plain (clear) Mil Spec springs.

You also have to remove your existing buffer and spring, and reinstall the buffer using their (included) heavier-rate spring. This helps mitigate 'hammer follow' which made the first generation of this trigger very unreliable. The manual also warns you that you may need to increase your buffer weight (not included) if you see hammer-follow even with the heavier spring.


Use - I only shot about 100 rounds through the gun today, but it functioned *almost* flawlessly.

Just like a SlideFire stock, it takes a little bit to get the hang of shooting long bursts with it. You have to get your trigger finger in a rhythm that will go fast in a controllable manner. A couple of mags should get you going, and the rate is very comparable to full-auto.

In Semi mode it's exactly like every mil-spec trigger AR you've ever shot. And Safe is just... 'safe'.

If you are in 'binary' and have pressed, but not released the trigger, you can flip the selector to 'semi' and it will not fire the gun when you release the trigger. And like most AR triggers you cannot put the gun into safe unless the hammer is cocked.

The only problem I had with it was (2) light primer strikes, both of which happened during longer bursts. I don't know if this was due to 'hammer follow' but it only happened with this trigger installed and both rounds shot fine when reloaded and run through the gun again.

I may find that I will have to go to a heavier buffer to slow the cyclic rate even more if I want to keep this configuration (and I do). The good news is that requires no real 'installation' and I can try different buffers right at the range to see which one works best with this setup.


Overall this seems to be an effective, if somewhat expensive way to simulate full-auto fire. Although compared to the cost for a SlideFire stock it's pretty similar, and compared to a real select-fire gun... it's dirt cheap.

 

[Apollo]

I bought one a couple months back for my sig MPX. Worked great 1000rnds. Other day it was double tapping on single fire. Pulled apart and noticed the ids pin c clips were off. Customer service was fast on replies, apparently on the mpx there has been some tolerance issues... fun when it was working tho

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[REDX]

I love mine in my 9mm SBR. shoots 2-3 round bursts better than my old MP5

 

[OFace12]

As a comparison, I have the Echo in my newest AR that I built. I didn't have any issues with light strikes or double fires or anything like that with the Echo. I've put 90 rounds through it so far.

The differences that I can see from what you described vs my Echo:

1. The Echo can be put in Safe with the hammer dropped. Not a big deal, just different than what I'm used to.
2. So you had to use their buffer with the Franklin, which I'm assuming is just a heavy buffer or something to help with that cyclic rate. With the Echo, you have to use their BCG to interface with the sear for the Echo mode. I've seen people take their existing BCG and Drimel it down, but I wasn't really wanting to do that. Just swap over your existing bolt and firing pin and you're good.
3. The biggest downside to me (and it isn't that big of a deal, really) with the Echo is that to close the upper to the lower, you have to engage the sear and hold the trigger down to keep it up and then shut close it. Otherwise, I believe that the sear hits the BCG and refuses to shut.
4. Not sure how your trigger came to you, but mine came in an assembled trigger pack, with only having to retain a level bar on the back end of the sear for installation. Since this AR was my first that I built from parts, it made it very easy to install the trigger.

 

[BangBang]

I've watched tons of video reviews on both these systems and would LOVE to have either one, but the price just seems kinda high.

Yes I realize it's peanuts compared to the cost of a registered full auto, but DAMN!

Hopefully demand for these will be met over the next year or so and the price will drop a little bit so cheap bastards like me can get one. LOL

 

[OFace12]

I've watched tons of video reviews on both these systems and would LOVE to have either one, but the price just seems kinda high.

Yes I realize it's peanuts compared to the cost of a registered full auto, but DAMN!

Hopefully demand for these will be met over the next year or so and the price will drop a little bit so cheap bastards like me can get one. LOL

I would imagine that it will drop a little once demand isn't that high, but really I wouldn't think you'll see a significant drop in price until something else comes out that somehow gives us more shots or something.

 

[spencer60]

As a comparison, I have the Echo in my newest AR that I built. I didn't have any issues with light strikes or double fires or anything like that with the Echo. I've put 90 rounds through it so far.

The differences that I can see from what you described vs my Echo:

1. The Echo can be put in Safe with the hammer dropped. Not a big deal, just different than what I'm used to.
2. So you had to use their buffer with the Franklin, which I'm assuming is just a heavy buffer or something to help with that cyclic rate. With the Echo, you have to use their BCG to interface with the sear for the Echo mode. I've seen people take their existing BCG and Drimel it down, but I wasn't really wanting to do that. Just swap over your existing bolt and firing pin and you're good.
3. The biggest downside to me (and it isn't that big of a deal, really) with the Echo is that to close the upper to the lower, you have to engage the sear and hold the trigger down to keep it up and then shut close it. Otherwise, I believe that the sear hits the BCG and refuses to shut.
4. Not sure how your trigger came to you, but mine came in an assembled trigger pack, with only having to retain a level bar on the back end of the sear for installation. Since this AR was my first that I built from parts, it made it very easy to install the trigger.

Actually, the Franklin ships with a buffer spring, you reuse the same buffer. However I'm going to try adding a heavier buffer to see if that get's rid of the light strikes by slowing it down some more.

The Franklin looks a lot like a regular trigger, and it ships with two retainer pins through the trigger and hammer assemblies. Standard trigger install though, just push the retainer pins out with the real trigger pins. No need for anti-walks or anything either.

I didn't realize that whole thing about having to play with the Echo to close the upper/lower. Sounds like a good thing to know if I go that route.

I'm thinking these are like SlideFire stocks on the pricing... sooner or later one of them will lower the price, or a new entry will show up and start a price war. That being said, AR triggers are often on the expensive side. When your typical single stage Geissele goes for $400 I guess you can't complain about these too much.

 

[BangBang]

I would imagine that it will drop a little once demand isn't that high, but really I wouldn't think you'll see a significant drop in price until something else comes out that somehow gives us more shots or something.

More shots would definitely be cool, but I don't see that happening. I believe that anything more than one shot per pull or release is considered full auto by the ATF.

Who knows what somebody might come up with and get approval on though. We can always hope!

 

[BangBang]

Actually, the Franklin ships with a buffer spring, you reuse the same buffer. However I'm going to try adding a heavier buffer to see if that get's rid of the light strikes by slowing it down some more.

The Franklin looks a lot like a regular trigger, and it ships with two retainer pins through the trigger and hammer assemblies. Standard trigger install though, just push the retainer pins out with the real trigger pins. No need for anti-walks or anything either.

I didn't realize that whole thing about having to play with the Echo to close the upper/lower. Sounds like a good thing to know if I go that route.

I'm thinking these are like SlideFire stocks on the pricing... sooner or later one of them will lower the price, or a new entry will show up and start a price war. That being said, AR triggers are often on the expensive side. When your typical single stage Geissele goes for $400 I guess you can't complain about these too much.

I watched a video on the earlier Binary trigger and the guy was complaining that it was fairly easy to run the trigger too fast and have a failure due to hammer follow.

Have you had any problems with that happening with this latest model?

 

[spencer60]

No, I never had it go dead like they show the gen 2 version doing. My only issue has been a few light strikes... maybe 3-4 out of the 150 rounds I put through it. They typically happened when I had a good long burst going though, which is why I still suspect they action is cycling too fast.

I'm going to try the heavy buffer first, and if that fixes it... great. I also a have a Wolff 'extra power' hammer spring to try if that doesn't do it.