US3441185A - Gun sling - Google Patents

Description

A ril 29, 1969 P. c. MOOMAW 3, 5

GUN SLING Filed Jan. 22, 1968 amen/rm. PAUL c. Moowmw By WHOM P. C. MOOMAW April 29, 1969 GUN SLING Sheet 2 of Filed Jan. 22, 1968 PAUL C.MOOMAW ZMWML/M United States Patent ce 3,441,185 Patented Apr. 29, 1969 3,441,185 GUN SLlNG Paul C. Moomaw, 2117 N. 2nd St., Harrisburg, Pa. 17110 Filed Jan. 22, 1968, Ser. No. 699,506 Int. Cl. A45f /14 US. Cl. 224-1 12 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A gun sling made from a continuous strap; a three bar friction slide, a three bar twin loop, a three bar hook buckle and a pair of swivel loops attachable to the gunstock of a rifle at the butt end and at a point adjacent the barrel. The strap is secured at one end to the center bar of the frictional slide and runs longitudinally to and is reversely looped about the center bar of the twin loop, returning longitudinally upon itself and passing through the friction slide underlying the upper and lower bars and overlying the center bar of the friction slide, then reversely passing through one swivel loop and returning longitudinally beneath itself as a lower run through the twin loop between the lower and center bars thereof. After passing through the twin loop, the strap lower run continues longitudinally and passes through the hook buckle underlying the lower and upper bars and overlying the center bar thereof, then reversely passes through the other swivel loop and again passes through the hook buckle as before and terminates at its second end disposed beneath the hook end of the hook buckle. The hook of the hook buckle engages the upper bar of the twin loop to secure the gun, and is disengaged to permit positional shifting of the gun by allowing the lower run of the strap'to slip through the twin loop in both directions.

This invention relates generally to gun slings, and more particularly relates to a novel gun sling which functions not only as a rifle carrying device but also as a support by means of which the gun may be steadied during firing both from a shoulder position and a hip position, and permits the gun to be quickly shifted to firing position from either a secured or unsecured carrying position.

The gun sling according to the invention is unique in design, being made from one continuous piece of flexible strap made of leather, plastic or fabric webbing or other suitable material and containing no strap connecting hooks, or buckles with tongues, so that the sling strap is not weakened or subjected to wear and fraying because of strap perforations necessarily required for connecting hooks and tongued buckles. The novel gun sling may be attached to the gunstock at either the underneath side as is conventional in the United States, or to the left side or right side of the gun in the manner utilized by most foreign military forces and sportsman.

A principal object of my invention is to provide a novel gun sling made from one continuous piece of strap or webbing free of holes or perforations and utilizing no connecting hooks or tongued buckles.

Another object of my invention is to provide a novel gun sling as aforesaid which includes a novel catch arrangement by means of which the gun being carried may be held closely against the chest of the user in a secured condition, or may be quickly released to an unsecured condition so that the gun to which it is attached may be rapidly moved from carrying position to either a shoulder or waist level firing position.

The foregoing and other objects of my invention will become clear from a reading of the following specification in conjunction with an examination of the appended drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 illustrates the gun sling according to the invention attached to a rifle and slung over the shoulder of the user to support the gun in diagonal cross-body position with the rifle held against undesired positional displacement;

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to that of FIGURE 1 but with the gun sling catch released and the rifle held at waist level sling-supported firing position;

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 but with the gun in a position intermediate to those shown in FIG- UR- ES 1 and 2;

FIGURE 4 illustrates the gun in shoulder firing position, with the user being illustrated in phantom outline;

FIGURE 5 is a longitudinal sectional view through the gun sling according to the invention as would be seen with the gun sling in tight dress condition with respect to the gun upon which it is mounted;

FIGURE 6 is a plan view of the securing catch portion of the gun sling according to the invention as would be seen when viewed along the lines 6-6 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged side elevational view of the securing catch portion of the gun sling which is contained within the phantom circle designated 7 in FIG- URE 1, illustrating the catch in engaged gun-securing condition;

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged fragmentary profile view of the catch structure shown within the phantom circle designated as 8 in FIGURES 2 and 3, the catch being unsecured to permit easy shifting movement of the gun; and

FIGURE 9 is a perspective view comparable to the side elevation of FIGURE 7, but with the securing catch in released condition.

In the several figures, like elements are denoted by like reference characters.

Referring now to the figures, and first to FIGURES 5 and 6, the gun sling designated generally as 10 is formed from a continuous one-piece strap which is secured at one end to the center bar 11 of a three bar friction slide 12 by having its tail end 13 looped about the friction slide center bar and fixedly secured, as by stitching or eyeleting or other convenient means, to the strap run 14 which extends forward in the direction of the gun barrel. Strap run 14 loops about the center bar 15 of three bar twin loop 16, then returns via strap run 17 to friction slide 12 where it passes under upper bar 18, over center bar 11 and under lower bar 19. Strap run 17 then passes through swivel loop 20 which is carried by swivel 21 fixedly secured to the gun butt 22.

After strap run 17 passes through swivel loop 20 it reverses direction and becomes strap run 23 extending forward beneath the strap run 14- and passes through twin loop 16 between center bar 15 and lower bar 24, con tinuing forward beneath hook 25 and lower bar 26 of three bar hook buckle 27, then turning upward over and downward about center bar 28 and beneath upper bar 29 of the hook buckle 27 and continuing forward and turning upward through and reversely about swivel loop 30 carried by swivel 31 which latter is secured to the gunstock 32 beneath the barrel of the gun.

After the strap run 23 has passed through and reversed about the swivel loop 30 it extends backward in overlying relation to itself, passing under upper bar 29 of hook buckle 27, over the center bar 28 and under the lower bar 26 and hook 25 to a terminating tail end 33. In the tight dress condition as shown, the hook 25 of hook buckle 27 is hooked about the upper bar 34 of the twin loop 16 to thereby maintain the strap runs 14, 17 and 23 in a taut condition.

In use, the friction slide 12 is slid forward to elongate the strap run 17 and shorten the strap run 14 and thereby create a slack condition between the strap run 23 on the one hand and the strap runs 14 and 17 on the other hand so that the body of the user can be interposed between these respective strap runs as shown for example in FIG- URE 1. The extent to which the friction slide 12 is moved forward to enlarge the strap loop of course depends upon physical size of the users body about which the strap runs must be disposed.

The gun 35, as shown in FIGURE 1 is held in a secured condition as becomes evident from the enlarged fragmentary showing of FIGURE 7 in which it is observed that the hook 25 of hook buckle 27 is engaged about upper bar 34 of twin loop 16 so that strap run 23 cannot slide freely through the twin loop 16 but is restrained, thereby preventing easy movement of the gun 35. The gun 35 may also be carried in substantially the same position as shown in FIGURE 1 but with the gun in condition to be easily moved into firing position, this being achieved by merely disengaging the twin loop upper bar 34 from the hook 25 as is clearly seen from the enlarged fragmentary view of FIGURE 9.

From the showing of FIGURE 9 it is clear that a pull on strap 23 from the direction of swivel loop 30, as occurs when the gun barrel is lowered, will cause strap 23 to run out over lower bar 24 of the twin loop 16 so that the gun 35 may be easily shifted into the positions shown in FIGURES 2, 3 and 4, this running movement of strap run 23 being shown in the enlarged fragment of FIG- URE 8. It will thus be appreciated that gun movement mobility is of a high order when the hook 25 is disengaged from the twin loop upper bar 34 so that the strap 23 may run freely over the lower bar 24 of the twin loop 16, and that positive securement of gun position is quickly achieved by merely engaging the twin loop upper bar 34 with the hook 25, transition between secured and unsecured conditions being achievable in a matter of seconds. When in the field for fastest firing from either shoulder or hip firing position it is recommended that the sling be unsecured since it will stay across the chest equally well in either the secured or the unsecured position. If, when in the field, the sling is in the secured position and it is necessary to unsecure it for aiming and firing from shoulder position, there would be a slight delay, and it may cause the user to take his eye off the target.

Having now described my invention in connection with a particularly illustrated embodiment thereof, it will be appreciated that variations and modifications of my invention may now occur from time to time to those persons normally skilled in the art without departing from the essential scope or spirit of my invention. For example, it is not of course mandatory that the catch mechanism comprise a hook buckle such as 27 and a twin loop such as 16. Other catch mechanisms may be suitable if they provide the features of quick and easy detachability together with positive hold in the secured position to insure against unintentional separation of the catch mechanism parts. Accordingly, it is intended to claim my invention broadly as well as specifically as indicated by the appended claims.

What is claimed to be new and useful is:

1. A gun sling for attachment to a gun, comprising in combination,

(a) a continuous one-piece strap having opposite ends;

(b) a first loop;

(c) a catch mechanism having first and second detachably engaged parts;

(d) a pair of swivel loops attachable to a gunstock respectively at the butt end and at a point adjacent to the gun barrel forepart;

said strap being coupled to said first loop and running longitudinally therefrom to and reversely passing through one of said pair of swivel loops and returning longitudinally beneath itself through said first loop and terminating in a securement to said first catch mechanism part which latter is coupled to the other of said pair of swivel loops, said second catch mechanism part being coupled to said first loop, said catch mechanism parts being engaged with one another to secure a gun to which the sling is attached and being disengageable to permit rapid positional shifting of the gun by allowing the strap portion passing through said first loop to slip through the said first loop in opposite directions.

2. A gun sling as described in claim 1 wherein said second catch mechanism part is integral with said first loop.

3. A gun sling as described in claim 1 wherein said second catch mechanism part is integral with said first loop with the operative catch portion being in close physical proximity to said first loop.

4. A gmn sling as described in claim 1 wherein said first catch mechanism part is in close physical proximity to the said other of said pair of swivel loops.

5. A gun sling as described in claim 1 wherein said first catch mechanism part is coupled to the said other of said pair of swivel loops by flexible means.

6. A gun sling as described in claim 1 wherein, said second catch mechanism part is integral with said first loop with the operative catch portion being in close physical proximity to said first loop, and said first catch mechanism part is in close physical proximity to the said other of said pair of swivel loops and is coupled to the latter by flexible means.

7. A gun sling for attachment to a gun, comprising in combination,

(a) a continuous one-piece strap having opposite ends;

(b) a twin loop having spaced apart upper, center and lower bars;

(c) a hook buckle having spaced apart upper, center and lower bars, and a hook extending from the said lower bar, and

(d) a pair of swivel loops attachable to a gunstock respectively at the butt end and at a point adjacent to the gun barrel forepart,

said strap being coupled to said twin loop center bar and running longitudinally therefrom to and reversely passing through one of said pair of swivel loops and returning longitudinally beneath itself through said twin loop between the lower and center bars thereof, then passing through said hook buckle by underlying said lower and upper bars and overlying said center bar thereof, then reversely passing through the other of said pair of swivel loops and again passing through said hook buckle as aforesaid and terminating at its end, said hook buckle hook engaging said twin loop upper bar to secure a gun to which the sling is attached and being disengageable to permit positional shifting of the gun by allowing the strap portion passing through said twin loop between the said lower and center bars thereof to slip through the twin loop in opposite directions.

8. A gun sling as described in claim 7 wherein said strap is imperforate throughout its length.

9. A gun sling as described in claim 7 wherein said one of said pair of swivel loops is to be attached to the butt of the gunstock and said other of said pair of swivel loops is to be attached to the gunstock at a point adjacent to the gun barrel forepart.

10. A gun sling as described in claim 7 further including strap length adjusting means connected to the portion of said strap extending between said twin loop center bar and said one of said pair of swivel loops operative to adjust the length of said strap portion.

11. A gun sling as described in claim 10 wherein the length of said strap is such that when the gun sling is in tight dress condition said strap length adjusting means and hook buckle are each adjacent to different ones of said pair of swivel loops.

5 6 12. A gun sling as described in claim 10 wherein said References Cited strap portion connected to said strap length adjusting UNITED STATES PATENTS means has a part fixedly secured relative thereto, and wherein said strap end terminating at said hook buckle is free of fixed securement to any other portion of said 5 strap, whereby said hook buckle may be shifted toward 1,186,496 6/1916 Randall. 2,296,733 9/1942 Paolino. 1,194,699 8/1916 Badger.

and away from one of the said sw1vel loops by shorten- GERALD M. FORLENZA Primary Examiner.

ing and lengthening the intervening strap loop.

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