Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~23~
Carrying sting for rifle or similar firearm
this invention relates to carrying slings for rifles
or similar firearms.
Hunting rifles, shotguns and military weapons are
usually provided with a pair of mounts for a carrying
sling. These mounts (often called swivels) generally
take the form of metal loops for receiving a webbing or
leather strap, one mount being provided at the front of
the stock and the other being provided at the rear of
the stock adjacent the butt.
Known rifle slings generally consist of a single
strap or loop of leather or webbing material that ox-
tends between the two mounts and enables the rifle to
be carried over the shoulder. The disadvantage of this,
however, is that the rifle cannot easily be brought to
the firing position from the carrying position, since the
rifle has to be unslung from the shoulder, brought to the
front of the body and then raised to the firing position.
This is a particularly difficult operation when the hunter
is wearing bulky clothing or carrying other equipment, such
as a back pack.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to
provide a sling for a rifle or similar weapon that enables
the weapon to be moved easily and quickly from the carrying
position to the firing position.
.....
I
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided
a carrying sling or a rifle or similar weapon provided with a
foreshock sling mount and a butt sling mount, said carrying
sling comprising: an elongated flexible strap made of woven
synthetic fixer and having first and second ends; means for
attaching the first end of the elongated strap to said fore-
stock sling mount; a butt attachment member having a first end
for attachment to said butt sling mount and a second end pro-
voided with a narrow slot for receiving said elongated flexible
strap; and a frictional slide member provided on an interred-
tale section of said elongated strap between said means for attaching the first end and said putt attachment member, said
frictional slide member comprising at least first and second
adjacent parallel slots defined respectively between at least
first, second and third adjacent parallel bars located progress
lively further away from said butt attachment member, wherein
said strap has an end section near said second end thereof
which passes around said first bar extending once only through
said first slot and doubles back and is attached to an adjacent
section of the strap, and wherein said intermediate section of
: said strap passes over said end section located around said
first bar, once only through said first slot, over said second
bar, once only through said second slot and over said third
bar, said intermediate section of said strap being free of
obstructions which prevent the sliding of said frictional slide
member between said means for attaching toe first end and said
butt attachment member.
According to another aspect of the invention there is
provided a carrying sling for a rifle or similar weapon
provided with a foreshock sling mount and a butt sling mount,
said carrying sling comprising: an elongated flexible strap
made of woven synthetic fiber of width suitable to permit the
strap to pass through the butt sling mount, said strap having
first and second ends; means for attaching the first end
of the elongated strap to the restock sling mount; and a
frictional slide member provided on an intermediate section of
said elongated strap which, in use, is located between said
~2~Z~
- pa -
means for attaching the first end and said butt sling mount,
said frictional slide member comprising at least first and
second adjacent parallel slots defined respectively button at
least first, second and third adjacent parallel bars located
progressively further away from said butt sling mount, wherein
said strap has an end section near said second end thereof
which passes around said first bar extending once only through
said first slot and doubles back and is attached to an adjacent
section of the strap, and wherein said intermediate section of
said strap passes over said end section located around said
first bar, once only through said first slot, over said second
bar, once only through said second slot and over said third
bar, said intermediate section of said strap being free of
obstructions which prevent the sliding of said frictional slide
member between said means for attaching the first end and said
butt sling mount.
According to yet another aspect of the invention there is
provided a carrying sling for a rifle or similar weapon pro-
voided with a foreshock sling mount and a butt sling mount,
said carrying sling comprising: an elongated flexible strap
made of woven synthetic fiber and having first and second
ends; loop means formed by the strap adjacent its first end
for attaching the strap to said foreshock sling mount; a butt
attachment member comprising a short flexible strap and at
least one buckle provided with slots mounted on the strap in
such a manner that the short strap forms a loop for attachment
to the butt slink mount and a slot of said at least one buckle
may slid ably receive said elongated flexible strap; and a
frictional slide member provided on an intermediate section of
said elongated strap between said loop means and said butt
attachment member, said frictional slide member comprising at
least first and second adjacent parallel slots defined
respectively between at least first second and third adjacent
parallel bars located progressively further away from said
butt attachment member, wherein said elongated flexible strap
has an end section near said second end thereof which passes
around said first bar extending only once through said first
2;2~6
- 2b -
slot and then doubles back and is attached to an adjacent
section of said strap, and wherein said intermediate
section of said elongated flexible strap passes over said
end section located around said first bar, once only
through said first slot, over said second bar, once only
through said second slot and over said third bar, said
first and second 510ts of said frictional slide member
being wide enough to permit the elongated flexible member
to slide readily through the second slot, but narrow enough
to cause bending of the intermediate section and the end
section of the elongated flexible strap passing through
the first slot when the sling is under tension, and said
intermediate section of said strap being free of obstruct
lions which prevent sliding of said frictional slide member
between said loop means and said butt attachment member.
It is stated in the above that the elongated strap is
further connected to the frictional slide member at or near
to its second end. By "near to" we mean closer to the
second end than to the first end because, when the free
second end of the strap emerging from the frictional slide
member is doubled back against the strap and secured by
a buckle or the like, the second end may in fact be
1~3ZZ~6
-- 3
spaced by quite a large distance from the frictional slide
member.
By "frictional slide member" we mean a member that can
slide along the elongated strap when pushed by hand but
which generates sufficient frictional force between itself
and the strap that the member does not slide along the
strap under the weight of the rifle or similar weapon
A preferred embodiment of the invention is described
in the following with reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which:
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a rifle fitted with
a carrying sling according to one embodiment of the
invention parts of the sling being shown on an enlarged
scale and in cross-section for clarity, and the sling
being shown in the carrying position;
Fig 2 is a side elevation similar to Fig. 1 but
with the rifle omitted and the sling shown in the firing
position;
Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a typical rifle sling
mount;
Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a buckle of the type
used as attachment members and the frictional slide member
for the sling of Figs. 1 and 2; and
Figs. 5 to 12 are simplified views of the various
ways in which the sling of Figs. 1 and 2 may be used by
a hunts man.
Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, one embodiment of a sling
according to the invention is shown generally by the
numeral 10.
The sling 10 consists of a first elongated flexible
strap 11 having a first end 12 and a second end 13, and a
second short flexible strap 14. The straps are connected
to five buckles 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 which are all ides-
tidal and of the type shown in Fig. 4, i.e. provided with
a pair of parallel slots 15. The buckles may be made, for
example, of metal or plastic.
~32:Z~6
-- 4
The sleep 11 adjacent its first end 12 passes through
foreshock mount 22 provided on rifle 23 and the rear most
end of strap 14 passes through butt mount 24. Mounts 22
and 24 are of the type shown in Fig 3 having a metal loop
25 for receiving the strap and an attachment mechanism 26
for connection to the rifle.
Buckle 16 acts as an attachment means permitting
the first end 12 of the strap 11 to be fastened to the
foreshock mount 22. Since the strap 11 should not slip
through the buckle under the weight of the rifle, the
strap is passed back and forth through the buckle several
times in the manner shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The buckle
16 should preferably be positioned as close as possible
to the foreshock mount 22 for reasons that will become
apparent later.
Buckle 19 serves a similar purpose in attaching the
short flexible strap 14 to the butt mount 24. Again,
the strap is passed back and forth through the buckle
to prevent slippage and the buckle should be located
as close as possible to the butt mount 24.
Buckle 17 is located on the strap 11 and acts as a
frictional slide member. That is, it can be moved by hand
along the strap, but there is sufficient friction between
the buckle and the strap that the buckle will not move
accidentally, e.g. under the weight of the rifle when the
rifle is suspended from the sling. The frictional force
is provided by the fact that the strap 11 bends sharply as
it passes through the parallel slots of the buckle and by
the fact that the strap 11 is passed again through one of
the slots near its free end 13 as shown in the drawing.
This reduces the available width in one of the slots of
the buckle and causes one section of the strap 11 to bear
against another.
The main function of buckle 18 is generally to provide
a narrow slot 27 for receiving the strap 11. The strap
~23~2~Ç;
-- 5 --
may pass freely through the slot, but the slot is surf-
iciently narrow that the strap cannot twist or otherwise
deform in the slot. The short strap 14 and the buckle 18
thus acts as a member for attaching strap 11 to the butt
mount 24. This is found preferable to passing the strap
11 directly through the butt mount 24 for two reasons.
Firstly the metal loop 25 of the butt mount is usually
quite wide so that the strap 11 may twist or deform in
the loop when carrying weight, and hence bind in the loop,
thus preventing free movement of the strap through the
loop. Secondly when the sling is to be disconnected
or connected, this can be achieved by undoing buckle 19,
rather than undoing buckles 17 and 20 as would be the
case if the strap 11 passed directly through the butt
mount. This is simpler and does not result in possible
errors in reconnecting the strap through buckles 17 and 20.
over although the use of the short strap 14 is
preferred for the reasons stated above, the invention,
in its broad form, covers an alternative embodiment (not
shown) in which stray 14 is eliminated and strap 11 passes
directly through the butt mount 24. This is satisfactory,
particularly in those cases where the slot in the butt
mount is quite narrow so that twisting of strap 11 does
not take place.
Returning to the embodiment shown, it will be noticed
that two layers of strap 14 pass through slot 27 of buckle
18 as well as one layer of strap 11. This serves to
reduce the width of the slot for the reasons given above,
but does not cause the undue friction as the strap 11
passes through the slot.
Buckle 20 is provided as a means of anchoring the
second end 13 of the strap 11 to the strap itself and
as a means of enabling the total length of strap 11 to be
varied. Thus, by loosening the layers of strap in buckle
20, drawing the second end 13 to the right as shown in
the figures and then tightening the buckle, the effective
~L~3~Z2~6
-- 6
length of strap 11 is reduced. If desired, the resulting
excess material can be cut off the second end 13.
Sliding of buckle 17 from the carrying position shown
in Fig. 1 to the firing position shown in Fig. 2 causes
carrying loop 30, which is the outermost stretch of strap
11 between buckles 17 and 18, to be reduced in length and
inner strap 31, which is the innermost stretch of strap
11 between mount 22 and buckle 18, to be increased in
length. That is, part of the carrying loop 30 passes
through slot 27 to become part of the inner strap 31.
At least, this takes place when the tension is removed
from carrying loop 30 as is the case when the rifle is
raised to the firing position, as will be explained below.
This increase in the effective length of inner strap
31 and the fact that the forward point of attachment of
the carrying loop 30 tire. the buckle 17) is moved to
the rear, have the effect of freeing the rifle from the
encumbrance of the sling so that it can be raised to the
firing position virtually as easily as if the sling had
been detached.
The action of the sling is demonstrated by the sketches
of Figs. 5 to 12.
Fig. 5 shows the carrying loop 30 being located over
the head. It should be noted that the buckle 17 is in the
I carrying position shown in Fig. 1.
Figs. 6 and 7 show two possible carrying positions for
the rifle when the buckle 17 is in the position shown in
Fig. 1. In Fig. 6, the weight of the rifle is partially
supported by hand, but in Fig. 7 the weight of the rifle
is completely supported by the sling.
although not shown in the drawings, the rifle can be
carried in yet another way by adjusting the loop 30 and
strap 31 to the same length and then wearing the rifle
as if it were a back pack with the muzzle pointing up-
wards and loop 30 and strap 31 acting as shoulder straps.
However, this way of carrying the rifle is not preferred
I
when the rifle is likely to be needed because it does not
permit the rapid change from the carrying position to the
firing position as described below.
Figs. 8 to 10 show how the rifle can be raised to the
firing position from the carrying position shown in Fig.
6 or Fig. 7. First (Fig. 8), the rifle (in the upside-
down position) is brought to the front of the body and
the carrying loop 30 is grasped just above buckle 17.
The buckle 17 (Fig. 9) is then slid along inner strap
31 towards the butt of the gun. This changes the sling
from the Fig. 1 position to the Fig. 2 position.
The gun can then be turned over and raised to the
firing position twig. 10). The increased length of inner
strap 31r which arises from the movement of the buckle
17 and the removal of the weight of the rifle from the
carrying loop 30, coupled with the movement of carrying
loop 30 in towards the body, allows the rifle to be raised
to the firing position unencumbered by the sling. Indeed t
the inner strap 31 is of sufficient length that it can be
used to support the elbow, if desired, in order to steady
the rifle (as shown in the figure).
Figs. 11 and 12 show the simplest way of readjusting
the sling from the firing position of Fig. 2 to the carry-
in position of Fig. 1. The rifle is held as shown in
Fig. 11 and pushed firmly downwards to the position shown
in Fig. 12. This has the effect of moving buckle 17 back
along the inner strap 31 towards the foreshock mount 22.
By ensuring that buckle 16 is as close as possible to
the foreshock mount 22, sufficient room is available for
the buckle 17 to move close to the foreshock mount 22 and
thus to make the carrying loop 30 as large as possible.
The straps 11 and 14 may be made of any suitable
flexible material, but a woven webbing made of synthetic
fires, such as nylon, is preferred. This material is
durable, light, slightly elastic, and can be seared in
a flame at newly cut ends to prevent fraying. Moreover,
~3Z2~
-- 8 --
the woven surface is somewhat rough, this enhancing
the friction between itself and the slide member. The
material can be of any desired width, but widths of 1
inch and 1-1/4 inch are preferred. The material of the
strap 11 and the material and dimensions of the buckle
17 should be chosen to provide the desired frictional
force, i.e. the buckle 17 should not slip along the strap
under its own weight, but should be easy to slide along
the strap by the user. Woven nylon webbing of about
1/32 - 1/16 inch thickness and a plastic buckle having
a slot width of about 1/8 - 3/16 inch are particularly
preferred. The buckle may have a slightly rough finish.
Although the preferred embodiment has been described
above, it should be appreciated that various modifications
and changes can be made within the scope of the present
inventor as defined by the append ant claims.
For example, although strap 14 is provided as a butt
attachment member, the same function can be achieved by
a non-flexible element such as a short metal or plastic
strip. Moreover, as pointed out above, this strap or
element can be omitted if strap 11 passes directly through
butt mount 24.
Further, instead of buckles 16 or 19, quick attach-
mint clips may be provided at the ends of the straps for
attaching the straps to the mounts.
Bracket 20 may be entirely eliminated at the second
end 13 of the strap 11 sewn or otherwise attached to itself
immediately adjacent the bracket 17. This would be done
when adjustment of the total length ox the spring 13
is not required or if a length adjustment means were
provided elsewhere along the strap 11.
Instead of brackets such as the one shown in Fig. 4,
strap clamps may be employed of the type which grip the
straps between an opposing pair of strong spring members.
