As some of you may know, the hammer in an unaltered Browning high-wall (or low-wall) cannot be manually lowered to hit the firing pin unless the rifle is actually fired (hammer is fully cocked and the trigger is pulled).  I assume this safety feature was designed to prevent a loaded rifle from being fired if it is dropped on the uncocked hammer or something strikes the uncocked hammer.  Some shooters incorrectly refer to this as the hammer being in the half-cock position.

I just purchased and received a slightly used Browning BPCR, which has the safety feature disabled.  The hammer can be manually lowered to rest against the firing pin.  Upon further inspection & disassembling the action, it's clear that the end of the sear (I call it a hammer sear because the Browning's also have a trigger sear) was modified (end cut off) to eliminate the safety feature.  I have an ethical and moral obligation to replace the sear prior to offering the rifle for sale, which I will certainly do.  

I've recently published a book on the Browning BPCRs ( (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)).  During the lengthy research phase, I spoke with and exchanged emails with hundreds of Browning High-Wall owners.  I've also purchased scores of Browning to disassemble/reassemble/measure components, for resale and to gather information for the book.  I've run across a few minor modifications, but this is the first time I've seen a hammer sear modified to allow the hammer to rest against the firing pin.  Concerning the function of the action, I don't see a benefit to the modification and was hoping some of you knowledgeable high-wall owners and/or gunsmiths would offer your comments.  

Wayne

And I bet I know which Winchester '85 it was!!    That one drove me batty before I sent it to you, and it wasn't even my rifle!

Froggie

And here's the answer to my original question.

After replacing a hammer sear on a Browning .40-65 BPCR, which had been modified by a previous owner, I worked on the rifle for a couple of hours in an attempt to figure out why the hammer would intermittently catch on the half-cock notch when fired.  The previous owner had cut off the end of the hammer sear, which eliminated the half-cock catch, effectively insuring the hammer would always hit the firing pin.  The problem with that solution is it eliminates a main safety feature of the Browning action.  I intended to resell the rifle and was not about to let a firearm out of my shop with a disabled factory safety feature.  The hammer sear in a Browning High-Wall is an inertial sear, making it almost impossible for the hammer to strike the firing pin unless the trigger is pulled when the hammer is at full cock.  If working correctly, the hammer cannot be lowered manually to press against the firing pin and will rest in the half-cock position

If the rotational speed of the hammer or proper operation of the hammer sear is affected, the hammer may catch in the half-cock position.  There are several conditions that can reduce the hammer speed.  The most common is a very dirty action, but I've run into other causes such as broken, worn or modified mainsprings.  The action in this rifle was clean and adequately lubricated.  The hammer sear and hammer sear spring were correctly installed, free to move and functioning fine.  Both mainsprings were the correct length and were not tampered with.  Nothing appeared to be impeding the movement of the hammer, mainsprings or the hammer sear.  After disassembling the rifle several times and staring at each part, the light bulb finally can on.  I noticed the sharp pointed edge of the hammer catch did not seem to have a sufficiently curved or radius surface and the rear trailing surface was a little rough.  Further radiusing and polishing the hammer catch solved the problem

Wayne