Gun bearer

March 3, 1970

C. M. MARG

3,498,511

GUN BEARER

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INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY

March 3, 1970 c. m. marg 3,498,511

GUN BEARER Filed Aug. 4, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 2

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C. M. MARG

GUN BEARER

3,498,511

Sheets-Sheet 3

March 3, 1970

Filed Aug. 4, 1967

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. , INVENTOR, i/tartes /ffATTORNEYS

3,498,511

Patented Mar. 3, 1970

United States Patent Office

3,498,511 GUN BEARER Charles Morton Marg, 135 Henley Road, Overbrook Hills, Pa. 19151 Filed Aug. 4,1967, Ser. No. 661,755 Int. CI. A45f 5/00, 3/00 U.S. Cl. 224—1 4 Claims

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

The combination of a rigid gun holder incorporating sloping construction for universal accommodation of gun butts of all sizes rotatively secured to an adjustable, shoulder engaging harness in a swivel connection.

This invention relates to the general field of sporting goods, and more particularly is directed to devices designed and adapted as an aid for carrying and transporting rifles, shotguns and similar types of elongated firearms.

The invention relates to a novel and distinctive combination of a rigid gun holder and an attached adjustable harness for carrying a firearm. The device has been designed primarily for use by civilian sportsmen and hunters, but it is noted that the invention could find equal utility when used by military personnel in training and combat operations. More particularly, the invention enables the wearer to carry his riffle or shotgun in an accepted ready position suitable for almost instantaneous aiming and firing.

Since timing is one of the major factors in hunting, and the delay of seconds could spell the difference between success and failure, it is most critical to have the gun ready to shoot at all times. Similarly, in military type of operations, a short delay in firing could even mean the difference between life and death. It should be noted that hunters often walk long distances and carry relatively heavy firearms for long periods of time. Under such circumstances, the arms of the hunter begin to tire and reflexes are slowed to the extent that often, the gun cannot be properly brought to the firing position in the time interval required to take proper aim and to fire when the target is finally sighted.

Prior workers in the field have recognized the need to properly carry a gun at the ready position without unduly tiring the hunter. Some have attempted to provide a gun sling that attaches to the gun and then may be carried upon the shoulder. Such devices are unsatisfactory in that the gun attaching portion of the sling encircles the gun barrel, thereby interfering with sighting and aiming.

Other workers have tried to carry the rifle by attaching to a belt encircling the waist of the wearer. Such devices cause all of the weight of the gun to be carried upon the hips of the wearer, thereby causing discomfort and fatigue. Other gun carriers that are known fasten the gun to the shoulder of the hunter. Such devices provide an adequate aid in carrying the rifle, but permit no speed in bringing the gun to bear when the time for use is pressing. Still other devices carry the weapon upon only one shoulder or upon the neck of the user, thereby causing discomfort after only short periods of use. Other devices are known that carry the weapon too low or require alterations to the gun itself when attaching. As can be seen, many workers have tried to solve the problem, but the very number of devices indicates the need for one, really good, properly designed, workable gun bearer.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved device of the type set forth.

It is another object of the instant invention to provide a unique harness design in conjunction with a rifle support capable of distributing the weight of a weapon over the back and shoulders of the user.

It is another object of the instant invention to provide a gun bearer designed to carry a gun in the ready position to permit rapid aiming and firing.

It is another object of the instant invention to provide a unique gun bearer capable of accommodating weapons of various sizes.

It is another object of the instant invention to provide a novel gun bearer arranged to support a rifle in the verticle position.

It is another object of this invention to provide a novel one-piece harness capable of adjustment to the size of any wearer with or without heavy outdoor clothing.

It is another object of the instant invention to provide a unique one-piece harness that engages only the shoulders of the wearer with no binding about the waist.

It is another object of the instant invention to provide a novel gun bearer utilizing a single strap that permits the harness to be worn in two distinct styles, to give the wearer a choice of style to best suit his physical and clothing limitations.

It is another object of this invention to provide a novel rigid gun holder incorporating an inclined back plate.

It is another object of this invention to provide a novel gun bearer including a swival which allows the gun to swing in conjunction with natural body movements and conditions encountered in the field.

It is another object of this invention to provide a novel gun bearer that is inexpensive in manufacture, rugged in construction and trouble-free when in use.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention will be had by referring to the following description and claims of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein like reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the invention in use.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view showing a preferred front harness arrangement.

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view showing a modified front harness arrangement.

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view showing a modified front harness arrangement.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged front elevational view of the gun holder.

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view taken along line 6—6 of FIG. 5, looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged rear elevational view of the gun holder.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged top plan view of the gun holder.

FIG. 9 is a front elevational view showing a modified gun bearer for side use.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged top plan view of the gun holder of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged front elevational view of the gun holder of FIG. 9.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged rear elevational view of the gun holder of FIG. 9.

FIG. 13 is a cross section of view taken along line 13—13 of FIG. 10, looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 14 is a cross sectional view taken along line 14—14 of FIG. 10, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Although specific terms are used in the following description for the sake of clarity, these terms are intended to refer only to the particular structure of my invention selected for illustration in the drawings and are not intended to define or limit the scope of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings, I show in FIG. 1 a gun bearer constructed in accordance with the instant invention comprising in combination an elongated flexible har70

3,498, 3 ness 10 connected to a rigid, shaped, gun holder 12 through a swivel loop 14.

As best seen in FIGS. 5-8, the gun holder 12 comprises a flat, generally rectangular back plate 16 and a gun socket 18 extending forwardly therefrom. A swivel bolt _ 20 rearwardly secures the loop 14 to the back plate 16 in any well-known manner to readily permit the gun holder to swivel about the harness 10 so as to accommodate any position that a rifle or shotgun 22 may assume during carrying or transporting operations. io

The gun socket 18 inclines forwardly from the back plate 16 and is hollowed to provide a gun receiving recess 24. The socket floor 26 is generally flat and inclines forwardly and downwardly from the backplate 16. The floor 26 forwardly joins a toe receiving recess 28 which declines 15 at a greater angle than the socket floor itself to provide a secure area to firmly accommodate the toe 36 of a gun butt. The forward wall 30 of the gun socket 18 is accurately formed to lock the gun butt in the gun socket, in cooperation with the back plate 16. As shown in FIGS. 5 20 and 8, the back plate 16 is provided with a vertical, medially positioned trough 34 to receive the heel 38 of the gun butt 32. It is the essence of this invention to fabricate the lineal distance between the recess 28 and the base of the vertical trough 34 smaller than the front 25 to back distance at the base of the average gun stock. In this manner, the toe 36 of the butt will be forced into the recess 29 and the heel 38 will ride in the trough 34 until wedging contact is made. The heel 38 will wedge higher in the trough 34 in the case of larger gun butts 30 and lower in the case of smaller gun butts. In all instances however, the wedging action is exactly the same and the gun butt 32 is retained securely between the recess 28 and the trough 34.

Right and left side walls 40, 42 complete the gun 35 socket 18 and extend respectively between the back plate 16 and one side of the accurately curved front wall 30. It is contemplated that the gun holder 12 can be manufactured of separate wooden members which are adequately glued and otherwise secured in well-known manner to ⁴⁰provide a unitary structure of the strength required to carry a rifle or shotgun. Alternately, the gun holder may be molded of a suitable plastic material, such as polyethylene, to provide a rigid, hard, gun holding assembly. A hole 44 is provided at the lowest point of the recess 28 ₄₅for drainage purposes during inclement weather conditions.

In FIGS. 1-4, I show the harness 10 which is unique in that it is fabricated from a single, continuous strip of webbing, preferably tWo inches in width for optimum ₅₀comfort when carrying a heavy weapon over long distances, and which is further unique for its adoptability into two distinctly different methods of attachment to the torso of the user as hereinafter set forth. As seen in FIG. 2, the gun bearer 12 is medially positioned at the 55 front of the wearer and the harness 10 is adjusted with its center point at the swivel loop 14. The equal segments 46, 48 are respective placed over the right and left shoulders of the user 50 and are crossed in the back. The harness ends 52, 54 are then brought to the front about θθ the waist of the user and the end snap fasteners 56, 58 are engaged upon the waiting parts which are secured near the center of the harness 10. A plurality of snap fasteners may be spaced near the harness ends 52, 54 as at 60, 62 to permit harness length adjustment to accommodate vari- ₆₅ous torso sizes. Further adjustment with this type of arrangement is possible, as shown in FIG. 3, by crossing the harness ends 52, 54 in front of the body as at 64. In this manner, the snap fasteners 56, 58 are engageable upon the waiting part retained within the opposite harness seg- γθ ment 48, 46 and thus results in substantial shortening of the effective harness length. It is thus seen that adjustment by utilizing the spaced snaps 56, 58, 60, 62 and further adjustment by crossing the harness ends 52, 54 is possible to suit the comfort of the individual user. 75

511

It should be noted that the harness arrangement illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 is particularly suitable for cold weather in that the straps are spaced a distance from the wearer’s arm pits to thus leave adequate freedom when heavy clothing must be worn. Further, it will be observed that all of the weight of the weapon is carried upon the shoulders and little or none of the burden is supported about the waist. By employing two inch wide webbing, utmost comfort may be achieved by thus more widely distributing the load.

In the arrangement illustrated in FIG. 4, the gun holder is also positioned at the front of the user, slightly below the waist. The harness 10 is medially positioned in the swivel loop 14 and the divided halves 46, 48 rearwardly encircle the body of the user 50 below the arms to cross in back as at 70. The harness ends 52, 54 are carried over the shoulders for engagement with the snap fasteners 56, 58. As illustrated additional snap fasteners 60, 62 may be provided as desired to allow complete adjustibality of the harness.

In a modification of the invention, I show a side carrying gun holder 72 in FIGS. 9-14 which may more readily be adapted for military use. It will be appreciated that this same arrangement may also be worn at the front by simply shifting the gun holder to the front. The gun holder 72 may also be optionally worn at the front by arranging the harness straps as in FIG. 2 or 4. The gun holder 72 attaches to a generally rectangular side plate 74 and the holder floor 76 extends at right angles from the bottom thereof to support the weight of the weapon 22. The floor 76 inclines upwardly in a ramp 78 which extends laterally across the gun holder to receive the bottom of the gun butt 32. The front of the floor 76 declines forwardly to form a butt receiving recess 80 to firmly anchor the toe of the gun butt 32. The front wall 82 of the gun holder extends from the side plate 72 and is integrally formed with the side wall 84 and the floor 76 to provide a sturdy structure. As best seen in FIG. 11, the front wall is accurately curved at the recess 80 to securely hold the toe of the gun butt therein. The side wall 84 is relatively low to permit removal of the gun butt over the side with a minimum of interference and without binding.

The harness 86 attaches to the back of the side carrier through a loop 88 which swivels about the swivel bolt 90 to permit adaptability of the gun holder 72 to the most comfortable position while transporting a weapon. I have found it most desirable to employ webbing of two inches in width for this purpose to spread the weight as much as possible.

As shown in FIG. 9, the forward portion of the harness 86 is positioned with respect to the gun socket 72 so as to be shorter than the side harness portion 92. The forward portion 90 is carried diagonally across the chest of the wearer 50 and over the shoulder opposite to the side where the weapon is to be carried. The end 94 of the forward harness portion 90 is then diagonally brought across the back and under the wearer’s arm at the weapon side. The end 94 is then engaged upon the side harness portion 92 by joining the snap fastener elements 98. The uppermost fastener element is usually employed. The side harness portion 92 is carried rearwardly and upwardly over the shoulder, adjacent to the weapon 22 and diagonally downwardly across the back of the wearer 50. The forward end 100 of the side harness portion 92 connects to the forward harness portion 80 immediately above the gun socket 72 by utilizing the snap fastener 104. It will be appreciated that additional snap fasteners may be provided as at 106, 108 to permit complete adjustability of the harness 86.

As indicated in broken lines in FIG. 13, the gun butt 32 secures within the gun holder 72 through the action of the ramp 78 in cooperation with the recess 80. The sole 110 of the gun butt 32 near the heel thereof rests upon the top of the ramp 78 thereby urging the toe of the

3,498,511 butt into the recess 80. Th curved front wall 82, the side plate 72 and the side wall 84 all cooperate to retain the gun butt 32 within the gun holder 72 during the carrying and transporting operations.

Although I have described my invention with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the deails of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.