I don't want to hijack
@Smokey Plainsman 's thread, but I would like to submit a comment or two.
I think "Southern Bear Pistol" is a modern term, like "Plains Rifle', but it is applied to a specific type of muzzleloading handgun that was more or less endemic to the American southeast. Also, we are talking about black bears here, not grizzlies. I've never shot a black bear, but it is my understanding that they are not that hard to kill. In the south, they are traditionally hunted with hounds. The dogs run the bear until it is treed or brought to bay, and it is then dispatched with a precisely placed shot at close range. Bears go through some rough country, and in fact, very dense jungles of growth in the Deep South and the southern mountains are called "hells." If you are chasing a pack of hounds through a rhododendron hell, you don't want to be packing a long rifle. A pistol is a lot handier.
So, these southern bear pistols might be flintlocks or percussion, and they typically had long barrels for optimum powder consumption and velocity, and very good sights to aid in precise shot placement. A lot of them were fitted with double-set triggers, again for precision shooting. Also, you don't want an over-powered gun, because you don't want a pass-through that might kill a dog or injure another hunter on the other side of the bear. Horace Kephart reported on a bear hound that was killed in exactly this way, when a hunter shot the animal with a .30-30. I could see that mountain bear hunters, famously tenacious with regard to their traditions, would stick with a round-ball muzzleloader for practical reasons.
I'm not an authority, but I've tried to learn what I could about these pistols. Calibers cover a wide range, I would say from around .40 up to at least one .54. A brain shot with medium-caliber round ball would likely be sufficient.
So, these southern bear pistols were intelligently designed for a special purpose, and if you understand that purpose, the design makes perfect sense. However, I don't doubt that some hogs, deer, and even squirrels or groundhogs might have fallen before them, and I am pretty certain these pistols would have been "shot at a mark," just for recreation. These long-barreled pistols are a lot of fun to shoot!
We've had a couple of threads about them in the not-too-distant past. Search for "southern bear pistols" on the Muzzleloading Forum and you should find some good discussions.
I would also like to say that the pistol presented to us by Smokey Plainsman is a beauty. David Rase, the builder, is very well respected. Considering this pistol's features and the reputation of its builder, and the fact that it has a fitted holster, the asking price is very reasonable. I'm not sure, but I think Smokey Plainsman might have posted a range report on this gun a while back. It might be worth looking that up.
Best regards to all concerned,
Notchy Bob
