Firearm support

#The present invention relates to firearm supports, and more particularly, firearm supports commonly referred to as shooting sticks for use to steady a firearm for accurate shooting.

#Rifle or firearm supports have been in existence since the advent of firearms for improving firing accuracy. Such supports, sometimes referred to as shooting sticks, are in the form of a mono-pod, a bi-pod or tripod leg configuration. They are either directly attached to the rifle, as disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,345,706, or they can be independent support devices on which the rifle is rested. US Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0094911, discloses a rifle support which is attached to the rifle sling as opposed to being attached directly to the rifle. The advantage of this latter configuration is that the collapsible legs in a stored position may be oriented along the sling. In this latter disclosure, the collapsible leg or legs have an elastic member extending through the tubular legs so that the elastic member resiliently biases the leg to automatically deploy to a fully extended position when released from its containment to the rifle sling. However, a problem encountered in this particular arrangement is that the deployment of the leg or legs is extremely noisy and can thereby readily scare off game within hearing distance.

#It is an objective of the present invention to provide and improve the shooting support for a firearm which is easily carried and deployed, and which can be readily and quickly secured to any firearm or rifle without special adaptation.

#Other objects and advantages appear hereinafter in the following description and claims. The accompanying drawings show, for the purpose of exemplification, without limiting the scope of the invention or appended claims, certain practical embodiments of the present invention wherein:

#FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation of the firearm support of the present invention as secured to the sling of a conventional rifle, and having a single leg shown in the deployed position and supporting the rifle in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

#FIG. 2 is an enlarged right side rear view of the upper end of the single leg support structure shown in FIG. 1 with portions thereof sectioned away to illustrate the interior workings;

#Referring first to the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional firearm in the form of rifle 10 is provided with a conventional elongated sling 11 which has two opposite ends 12 and 13 attached in spaced relationship to the firearm 10 between a stock end 14 and a barrel end 15. The firearm 10 is shown as being supported on firearm support 16 of the present invention for sighting and shooting the rifle 10. In this embodiment, the support 16 is shown in the form of a single pod or leg 17 which is telescopically collapsible in two or three segments as desired. The leg 17 of firearm support 16 is pivotally secured at pivotal axis 18 to shooting support attachment 19 which is removably securable to sling 11 at a desired position therealong. Leg 17 depends from attachment 19 whereby it may be pivoted from a storage position with the leg 17 extending along and substantially in alignment with the sling 11, similar to the dual pod arrangement illustrated in FIG. 4, to the deployed position illustrated in FIG. 1 wherein the leg 17 is at an angle relative to the sling 11 for engaging a ground surface 21 with the distal end 22 of leg 17.

#Shooting support attachment 19 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is identical in structure to that illustrated in more detail in FIGS. 3 and 4. The support attachment 19 is provided in the form of a clamp having a lower clamp portion 23 hingedly connected at 24 to upper clamp portion 25. Attachment 19 is further provided with a forearm rest surface 26 positioned on the side of the sling 11 facing to firearm 10 as illustrated in FIG. 3 for supporting the firearm 10 thereon when leg 17 is deployed as shown in FIG. 1. The forearm rest surface 25 is preferably made of an elastic material, such as rubber, in order to protect the firearm 10 and to provide good non-slip contact between the firearm 10 and the attachment 19.

#The lower and upper clamp portions 23 and 25 of attachment 19 are clamped together and retained together by means of machine screw 27. In addition, attachment 19 is further provided with a base plate 28 which is secured to the leg set by machine screw 29. A slip washer 30 is a low friction washer made of a material, such as Teflon, and permits rotation of the attachment 19 on top of plate 28 in the horizontal plane as indicated by the arrows 31 in FIG. 4. It should be noted that while attachment 19 permits the firearm 10 to be rotated in a horizontal plane, nevertheless, attachment 19 is rigidly secured at substantially a right angle relative to the leg set in the direction of the pivotal axis 18′ of pivot 18. This prevents canting of the rifle to the left or right.