Shoulder-protector for firearms.

Application filed February 3,1904. Serial No. 191,774.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Charles B. T. Benton,. a citizen of the United States, and a resident of East Orange, in the county of Essex and State 5 of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoulder-Protectors - for Firearms, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists of a new and improved io shoulder-protector for firearms, the same consisting of recoil-pad constructed and applied as hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, to which reference is made, and which form a part of 15 this specification, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the butt of a gun-stock having my new recoil - pad applied thereto by the preferred means, a portion of the shoulder-protector being shown in section. Figi 2 is an enlarged 20 sectional plan view of the protector on line x x of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional elevation, and Fig. 4 is a plan view in section of the pad or cushion.

In the drawings, 2 designates a resilient 25 cushion or pad, and 3 a holder by which the pad 2 is held against the butt of a gun-stock 4.

The cushion or pad 2 is preferably of a shape and size to conform to the butt of the gun and is made, preferably, of soft india-rubber.

It is formed with a flexible rubber surface 5, which fits against the stock, and a flexible marginal wall or flange 6, made integral with the surface 5 and cemented, preferably by india-rubber cement, to a face-piece 7. This 35 face-piece 7 may be cemented to the inner surface of the holder 3, which is by preference of soft india-rubber, and provided with a sleeve 9, adapted to snugly embrace the stock of the gun, as shown in Fig. 1. In case the said 4° holder 3 be of india-rubber the face-piece 7 may be omitted and the edge of the marginal wall or flange 6 cemented directly to the inner surface of the holder, which in itself will make an air-tight connection, so as. to confine air within the pad or cushion; but I prefer to employ the face-piece 7, since when this is used there is little or no difficulty in assembling the pad and holder, and the pad may then be re moved from the holder or it may be connected to a holder made of leather or other mate- 5° rial or device for connecting it to the stock of the gun.

The space inclosed by the flexible surface 5 and the flexible marginal wall or flange 6 is divided into small air-cells 10 by the longitu- 55 dinal partitions 12 and cross-partitions 13. These partitions are integral with the surface 5, with each other at the angles, and with the marginal wall or flange 6, and the edges of the partitions are on the same level as the edge 60 of the outer wall 6, so that when the face-piece 7 is applied by cement it closes all the aircells, thus forming separate cells, each having independent air resistance coupled with the resistance of the soft india-rubber to take up 65 the recoil of the gun and protect the shoulder of the marksman or sportsman.

The holder by which the recoil-pad is connected to the gun-stock should have the same curvatures as the butt-end of the stock, as this 7° will hold the recoil-pad so as to also conform to the curves of the stock, and it will add but little to the length of the stock. The cushioning effect produced by the pad is reliable, for even if one or more of the cells should become 75 punctured the practical efficiency of the pad is maintained by the others.