There are plenty of companies that have been around a long time, but few can say they started on a dirt floor.

That was the case for Set Screw & Manufacturing Co., however, and now 90 years later the multi-generational family company provides precision-made hardware for a wide range of industries, including firearms and optics. Few would recognize the fasteners and other parts they produce, but they play a critical role in everything from firearms to aerospace projects. 

We recently caught up with fastener specialist Heather Walker, a member of the third generation to run the company, to discuss its roots, its role in the firearms industry and why the tiniest parts can have the biggest impact on overall product quality.

SSR: Can you tell me a little about the history of your company?

Walker: In 1935, our founder, machinist Calvin O. Brown, set up his first Browne & Sharpe in the basement of his home. Money was tight, equipment was basic, and electricity wasn’t even guaranteed. But he believed that if you put your name on a product, it had to be right. No shortcuts. No excuses. 

He built Set Screw & Manufacturing Co. one order at a time, one handshake at a time. Fast-forward almost 90 years and that basement workshop is now an ISO-certified American manufacturer producing precision components for firearms, optics, aerospace, medical equipment — even the International Space Station. We still machine our parts in-house, we still know our customers by name, and we’re still family-owned, four generations later.

Calvin’s son, daughter-in-law, granddaughter, and great-granddaughter all work here. His great-granddaughter Sydney now runs the tip machines. When we say “family business,” we don’t mean branding — we mean real hands, real history, and real pride behind every part.

We’ve come a long way from the dirt floor, but we never left behind what we started with: precision, integrity, and doing things right even when no one is watching.

SSR: What role do you play in the current firearms industry?

Walker: We make the small things that keep big things working — and we take that responsibility seriously.

Set Screw & Manufacturing Co. began answering the call in 1935. Calvin supported WWII manufacturing efforts using designs and techniques he developed by hand. Some of those early slotted fasteners are still made today — improved, but faithful to the original intent: durability, fit, and reliability.

Over time we developed specialty items, earned patents, and became a trusted OEM supplier for firearms manufacturers, gunsmiths, and optics makers. Our screws secure sights and optics, retain gas blocks and muzzle devices, lock trigger and fire-control assemblies, and do a thousand unseen jobs that must never fail.

We also have a soft spot for the armed forces. Supporting defense and veteran communities is in our DNA — Calvin built the business supporting the war effort, and that legacy still guides how we treat our products and our customers.

A great example is our nylon-tipped set screws, designed to resist loosening under recoil while protecting mating surfaces. They’re widely used on modern AR platforms, optic mounts, sight indexing, and precision builds where repeatable torque and non-marring contact matter.

We don’t make headlines. We make reliability. If something needs to stay in place under recoil, heat, or repeated use, manufacturers call us.

SSR: What other industries do you serve?

Walker: It might be easier to list where we aren’t. Once you make fasteners that survive recoil, corrosion, vibration, heat, cold, and time, the applications open up fast. Our components are used in medical equipment, aerospace and defense, underwater telecommunications, energy and nuclear systems, fishing, archery, and outdoor sports, water purification and wastewater treatment, mining and drilling equipment, electronics and automation. We joke that our parts work “from the ocean floor to outer space,” but it’s true. Different industries, different materials, different tolerances — but the same rule: If it needs to stay put, we make the fastener that keeps it there.

SSR: Why set screws? It’s such a narrow focus.

Walker: From the outside, it looks narrow. From the inside, it’s thousands of variations, materials, tolerances, and applications where precision matters. We chose a niche on purpose. A set screw can be smaller than a grain of rice and still be the difference between a machine working or failing. We learned long ago that if you want to be great at manufacturing, you don’t try to make everything for everyone. You specialize. You build expertise. You become the company people call when the part absolutely cannot fail.

So yes, we stay in our lane.

There are fasteners we don’t produce, and we’re not afraid to say so. If someone needs something outside our wheelhouse, we’d rather point them to a manufacturer who does it well than deliver a “good enough” part. That honesty has built lifelong customers. But what we do make, we make exceptionally well.

There are easier ways to run a business. Importing cheap hardware would be faster and profitable. But that’s not who we are. Do one thing exceptionally, not 10 things average. Make a product you’d trust in your own equipment. Never compromise because “most customers won’t notice.” A narrow focus isn’t a limitation — it’s the reason manufacturers trust us.

SSR: People talk about calibers and barrels, but not screws. What do people need to know?

Walker: Fasteners are the invisible failure point. If they fail, everything else can be ruined. Most builders and shooters obsess over the parts they can see. But tiny screws, pins, and retainers do the holding. If they’re poorly engineered, you get stripped threads, corrosion, lost zero, broken components, or safety issues.

The fix is simple. Use the right steel, the right thread class, the right coating, and a supplier who documents what they make. As we like to say: Barrels win matches; screws keep the barrel where it needs to be.

SSR: Your grandfather started the company. What does it mean to you to be a family business?

Walker: It means accountability. When your name is on the product, you don’t get to ship “good enough.”

My grandfather built this company. My parents spent their lives growing it. Now I’m the third generation, and my daughter Sydney is learning the trade and building machines — Calvin’s great-granddaughter. So when we ship an order, it’s not just a transaction. It represents 90 years of hard work, reputation, and family history.

Being family-owned means we do things differently. We answer the phone with real people, not a call center. We’d rather lose a sale than ship a part that isn’t right. We don’t cut corners just because it’s cheaper or faster. We treat customers like partners, not purchase orders.

A corporation can hide behind a logo. A family business has to stand behind its name. We are extremely proud that this company survived wars, recessions, changing industries, and changing generations — because we never lost the values it was built on.

SSR: How do businesses start working with you?

Walker: It’s simple: Reach out. Call us, text us, email us, or stop by our SHOT Show booth #52534. Tell us what you’re building or what problem you’re trying to solve. We’ll help you find the right thread class, alloy, finish, or specialty point. If you need something we don’t make, we’ll tell you honestly and point you to someone who does. That’s how you keep customers for four generations.

If you’re at SHOT Show, stop by and meet me and my daughter Sydney in person. We love meeting the people who use our parts, and we’re proud to show you what an American family manufacturer looks like in 2025. You can even call my direct cell. When we say we’re a relationship-based company, we mean it.

SSR: Anything else you’d like to add?

Walker: In this industry, reliability isn’t optional. Every firearm, every optic, every piece of equipment depends on the parts you can’t see. We’ve spent almost 90 years making sure those parts don’t fail. From a dirt-floor basement in 1935 to supplying components for modern rifles, medical devices, underwater systems, and aerospace, we’ve stayed true to one belief: Make it right, or don’t make it at all. If you care about the details — if you care about safety — and if you want a manufacturing partner you can actually shake hands with, we’d be honored to earn your business. Let’s build something that stays together.