The present invention relates to slings for firearms and the like, and particularly to a sling for carrying a weapon in a generally horizontal position of readiness.
In order to be able to use shoulder weapons such as hunting rifles and the like as quickly as possible, yet have freedom to use their hands, many hunters would prefer to carry such weapons in a forwardly or laterally directed position with the weapon upright and its barrel or main longitudinal axis approximately horizontal. This position is known as a horizontal ready position.
Rifles, particularly military rifles, have long been equipped with slings permitting them to be carried without encumbering the carrier's hands. Such slings are also useful in bracing such weapons during use, to achieve a better aim. Slings have conventionally been located attached to the bottom of a rifle or other shoulder-fired weapon, at least partly because location of a sling mounting at the top of the weapon might interfere with the use of sights mounted low on the top of the weapon. Conventional military type slings, however, do not permit a weapon to be carried suspended by the sling in the preferred horizontal ready position.
Moving the point of attachment of a sling to the top of a weapon so that it might be carried in a horizontal ready position has previously resulted in the sling interfering with the ability to raise the weapon quickly to the proper position against the user's shoulder. For example, when a sling is attached at the top of the rear end of the butt stock, raising the weapon to a horizontal position with the butt end of the stock against the user's shoulder might result in the sling being caught between the stock and the user's shoulder or lying across the top of the cheek rest area of the stock, where it would adversely affect the user's ability to aim the weapon quickly and accurately. Since the ability to carry a weapon in the horizontal ready position can provide a definite advantage in the ability to shoot quickly, either in infantry warfare or in hunting, it is desirable to provide a sling which can be used to carry a rifle in the horizontal ready position, but which does not interfere with the use of the weapon's sights.
A previously attempted answer to these needs was an adaptor kit for attaching the front of the sling strap to the front sight assembly of a military rifle, with the rear end of the sling fastened as a noose extending through the conventional sling swivel and around the butt stock. This, however, left the rear of the sling in an undesirable location during use of the weapon, and the front attachment was likely to be noisy.
Particularly with hunting rifles, it is not uncommon to have stocks made of expensive wood, beautifully finished. Owners of such rifles are, naturally enough, reluctant to attach a sling which might damage the finish of the stock. It is therefore desirable to provide a sling which can be used to carry a hunting rifle in the horizontal ready position without marring the finish of its stock.
For both hunting and military weapons it is desirable to avoid any noisy attachments.
Brokus U.S. Pat. No. 3,606,109 discloses a gun sling including a socket loosely fitted to the underside of the rear of the stock, to facilitate carrying a gun in a horizontal ready position. The socket taught by Brokus, however, is undesirably bulky and apparently does not remain in place unless tension is maintained in the sling.
Moomaw U.S. Pat. No. 2,915,233 teaches a gun sling including a stock-supporting loop or socket which enables a gun to be carried in a horizontal ready position. Raising the gun from a horizontal ready position to a normal firing position with its stock against the user's shoulder, however, completely disconnects the rear end of the sling from the stock, requiring it to be replaced on the stock before the sling can be used subsequently to carry the gun in any position whatsoever.
Johnson U.S. Pat. No. 4,555,051 discloses a sling assembly of the desired type which is particularly adapted to certain military weapons equipped with front sight assemblies that are large enough to be used as a point of attachment for a front end of the sling strap. The sling assembly disclosed, however, is not particularly well adapted to weapons not equipped with such a high front sight assembly.
What is needed, therefore, is a sling assembly which can be used to carry a weapon such as a hunting rifle quietly, in a position of readiness in which the weapon is upright with its longitudinal main axis directed generally horizontally, in which the sling assembly does not interfere with the ability to raise the butt end of the weapon's stock properly to the user's shoulder, nor with the ability to use the installed sights of the weapon, and in which the sling assembly is not likely to mar the finish of the weapon or its stock.