Pear wood is extremely hard. Wooden head golf clubs..."drivers" are made of it. The French favored it for gun stocks even though they had walnut...in fact, most of the walnut in England was imported from France until it was embargoed.
Ironically, I have some pear logs...a branch from an overgrown ornamental pear tree in my yard. It's also brittle. This branch (It's about 8" in diameter) broke off in a storm and demolished the car that was under it which, fortunately, was destined for the scrap yard in any case. I cut a few pieces off and discovered it was just about as hard as black locust so I left the remainder alone. I've entertained the idea of making something of it though I doubt I've a wide enough piece for a gun stock...
