Engagement

My spiffy used FN HP fails the "click" test.

In a nutshell, the click test is attempting to fire the (empty) gun on safe and see if the sear moves at all.

The top of the hammer notch is 0.022" above the nose of the sear when the gun is cocked.

Pushing down on the sear you can get the top edge of the sear 0.001" above the hammer notch.

0.023" of movement with the safety on.

The sear nose is 0.038" tall, so 0.037" is still engaged after you pull the trigger with the safety on.

I've got the Browning field service manual for the Hi Power.  My sear is in spec.  That means the little nub that's supposed to rotate to block the sear is a little low.  However it does confirm that there should be no movement of the sear with the safety on.

The huge question here is:  Does it matter?  Is the no movement a legal or engineering requirement?

The gun is not going bang with the safety on and there's still lots of engagement of the sear.  Thwacking it with a leather mallet sometimes got the sear nose to drop back down into the notch and it never dropped the hammer.  In most cases the hammer and sear stayed right were they'd been left and I never got a decrease in engagement.

It's also the same seven pound trigger pull to get the hammer to drop whether I start with the partially or fully engaged sear.

I intend to get things so they don't move with the safety on, but I don't think this is as dire a safety issue certain posters and gun smiths make it out to be.  I think this is a case of the perfect defeating the good-enough.