[DonVoigt]

Originally Posted by mrerick

What leads to the need for the negative sear engagement? Think about it, if there is no negative angle there is nothing to prevent the sear and striker from slipping off each other- due to creep under spring tension or movement/vibration of the parts or entire pistol.

How much is it (angle?) I believe it is too small /short to measure accurately- it may be in the drawings.

Is this because of the potential for "bounce" of the slide when it comes back into battery after firing a shot? Or is it needed to draw the sear and firing pin together when it comes into battery?
The sear/striker are engaged before the slide finally closes, but yes -the angle is needed to assure that the two surfaces stay engaged.

Why is the single stage AR-15 designed with this engagement?
The AR sear/hammer are an entirely different arrangement; but in general all sear engagement uses a "correct" angle or geometry to assure engagement until moved by the trigger/trigger bar.

I think a description of the thinking behind the negative sear engagement would make a good FAQ entry... Marc

Ray, if you can get higher resolution scans of the article to me, I'll make it into a PDF file.

Marc

See comments above.