Mick:

No, of course not, and yes, they should have left it off. It IS in bad taste. My point was that it nonetheless looks British. Perhaps the gun was ordered with a bear on the floor plate, and they forgot? That's exactly what a pre-war British engraver's interpretation of a bear looks like. Kinda like the gaur that Jeffery so loved to put on the action bar of their boxlock rifles. Cartoonish. I always hate to see game scene on pre-war English guns. With the exception of the rare pleasant surprise (Wild and some of the early Scott's come to mind), its never any damn good.
------------------------------------------------------------