Regarding J Golcher flintlock for sale

[David Rase]

If Dennis bails, I am interested.  I am sure Dennis has the same thought as I do, that lock would look great on a Gillespie bear pistol. 
David

[Justin Urbantas]

If Dennis bails, I am interested.  I am sure Dennis has the same thought as I do, that lock would look great on a Gillespie bear pistol. 
David

What is a Gillespie bear pistol?

[Dennis Glazener]

David,
You are correct. I have a piece of maple roughed out and have inlet a 15" Ed Rayl barrel and have a modified late Ketland lock that just doesn't suit me. Sam Everly replaced the original Ketland cock with a double throated lock like the Goulcher has but its out of proportion to the Frizzen so I just laid the project aside, kept putting it off. As soon as I saw this lock I knew it was right for the project!
Dennis

If Dennis bails, I am interested.  I am sure Dennis has the same thought as I do, that lock would look great on a Gillespie bear pistol. 
David

[Dennis Glazener]

If Dennis bails, I am interested.  I am sure Dennis has the same thought as I do, that lock would look great on a Gillespie bear pistol. 
David

What is a Gillespie bear pistol?

Justin,
My Great Uncle Mathew Gillespie was a gun maker as well as being a big bear hunter. He made himself a 15" barreled Bear Pistol and an across the chest holster to carry it in. I always thought it pretty neat that when he made the pistol, 1849, which was WELL into the percussion age, as well as him being a gun maker, could have used a percussion lock yet he chose to use a Goulcher flintlock. It shows how much he trusted a flintlock to wade in after a bear with a single shot flintlock pistol. But he did elect to use a larger bore than he usually used on his rifles (40-46 caliber).

Here are some photos of the original Bear Pistol:

[Justin Urbantas]

That's pretty neat. What caliber is it?  I would think that a shorter 8-10" would be handier when getting up close and personal with a bear. Maybe a big knife in one hand and a pistol in the other. I assume we are talking black bears, not griz?

[Dennis Glazener]

Sorry, left it out. It's a 54 cal
Dennis

[flinchrocket]

And a double set trigger to boot. That's a nice looking bear gun Dennis. I like the way the grip lays back a little so it won't slip in your hand.

[ddoyle]

My guess is the holster was because they were running bears with dogs? Shots would likely have been pretty liesurely  at a treed bear and 15 inches would mean the ball hit where the hunter wanted it to.  Black bears are deadly when they hunt you- as soon as you are hunting them it gets pretty safe. Do not think I have ever heard of a hunter being hurt by a black bear during a hunt for black bear?  Even predatory bears are very very likely to give you tons of time to align those sights. Only trouble with a 15 inch barrel  and really serious dangerous bear is that you will get tired aiming it at the bear while he stands dopely looking over his shoulder at you 10 yards away or while he walks in your footsteps for an afternoon coming in and out of sight every few minutes.

[mountainman70]

Nice lock. We need for someone in the lock making business to reproduce these  locks, as they are most useful in SMR builds, and other projects.
Thanks, Dave

[David Rase]

Here is a photo of my modified Chambers Late Ketland lock.  I ordered a double throated KETLAND cock, more like 4 of them, from Jerry Devaudreuil in Wooster,Ohio.  The top jaw is for the MASLIN flintlock.  Other than welding the square hole up and retiming the cock, it was a perfect match as far as the throw went.
David

[Dennis Glazener]

Mine came from Dixie Gun Works and is too short to go with the late Ketland frizzen.
Dennis

[n stephenson]

Dennis, is the muzzle cap pewter or GS ? What about the sideplate ? The TG is iron correct? Are the inlays silver? I ask because I can`t really tell from the pics. That is super cool and, to have been built by your family is that much nicer . Thanks for showing it. Nate

[Dennis Glazener]

Sorry, I saw this but was on tablet without access to photos, couldn't remember for sure then forgot to check when I was on desktop PC.

Just looked and all hardware except the trigger guard are brass, no GS at all. The trigger guard is iron. I believe both the set triggers and the TG are the same as he used on his rifles but modified to use on the pistol. I made that note when I handled the original several years ago.
Dennis