Does S&H smooth the trip and hammer engagement when installing an FNC sear?

[JoshNC]

I am curious, does anyone know if S&H polishes the rough surface of the FNC sear when installing it? I've seen ten uninstalled S&H sears and all had very rough metal work on all the edges. From what I can tell based on photos, S&H appears to debur/smooth the edges when the sear is installed. Is this the case? How about heat treating/hardening the trip surface and hammer engagement surface? For those with converted FNCs, is there any side to side wobble in the sear installed in the lower?

Thanks in advance.

 

[deadduck]

Uh-Oh -

What's your sear doing?

 

[JoshNC]

Just curious based on the rough finish I've seen on uninstalled sears. They literally look like they were made using a sheet of mild steel, a sharpie pen, band saw and electro pencil. Wondering if they're more "polished" once installed.

 

[willbdavis]

My sear was rough before and after, but it seems to run just fine.

 

[jbntex]

If I get a chance this weekend I will try and find time to dig through the safe to compare a "installed by Curtis @ S&H sear" to a still new/never installed S&H sear and see if there is any difference.

 

[quasi]

Most of the sears vary somewhat in dimension and require "fitting" to the rifle... I'm sure yours was smoothed-out a bit after modification/fitting to work in your rifle.

 

[okpud]

Most of the sears vary somewhat in dimension and require "fitting" to the rifle... I'm sure yours was smoothed-out a bit after modification/fitting to work in your rifle.

^^^ This. I've seen a few dozen S&H installs, and they are all over the map. They all work, but it seems that no two are exactly alike. I believe they also case harden them after shaping at S&H, but this is just an educated guess. I've seen a couple examples where sears were installed by someone other than S&H, and there was noticeable wear on the sear. I haven't seen noticeable wear on sears installed by S&H. When I installed my own sear, I noticed it was not hardened, so I case hardened it myself after shaping it. I'm sure there are other gunsmiths who have installed S&H sears and hardened them, but not all seem to.

 

[JoshNC]

Thanks guys. Interesting info. Okpud, did you refinish your sear? It seems they are very mild steel with bare unfinished metal and potentially prone to corrosion.

 

[okpud]

Thanks guys. Interesting info. Okpud, did you refinish your sear? It seems they are very mild steel with bare unfinished metal and potentially prone to corrosion.

No, just hardened it. 4130 does pretty well with just light oiling once you heat treat it.

 

[Gracie]

I quoted part of this FNC article several months ago but it applies to this thread. From Jan '99 issue of Small Arms Review, part II, by William R. Bishop (part I was in Dec '98 issue):
"installation of sear is proprietary to S&H arms of OK, but having observed it first hand I can assure you it is absolutely reliable and simple. Total time to install is about 20 minutes and once in place is a very rugged addition to the FNC. The sear itself has a Rockwell hardness in the mid-40s and is made of 4130 steel which has been precisely machined and hardened via an oil quenching. Its shape, location, and the relationship it presents to the hammer and bolt carrier were all developed by Curtis. Further, he has never had a sear fail or wear out."