Patent ID: 6302052
Filing Date: 2001-10-16
Classification: B63B

Abstract:
A horizontal shotgun and/or rifle rack assembly for hunting boats, comprising:a gun rack assembly for holding two shotguns and/or rifles in substantially horizontal positions within and adjacent a side of a boat; the gun rack assembly including first and second racks to be removably mounted forward and aft of each other on a side of a boat to receive, support and removably retain barrels and butt stocks of two shotguns and/or rifles;the first and second racks each having upper and lower, upwardly opening, U-shaped gun cradles for receiving, supporting and removably retaining barrels and/or butt stocks of two shotguns and/or rifles and supporting two shotguns and/or rifles horizontally one above the other; the upper and lower gun cradles on each of the racks each having side portions extending upward from an intermediate bottom portion and an upper opening; the lower gun cradle on each rack being spaced below the upper gun cradle on each rack a distance sufficient to permit a shotgun or rifle to be placed in and removed from the lower gun cradles; andthe first and second racks each having mounting means for removably securing the first and second racks to a gunwale of and within a boat with the upper gun cradles of the racks spaced below the gunwale so that a shotgun or rifle retained in the upper gun cradles of the racks is supported within the boat generally below the gunwale and with the lower gun cradles spaced above a bottom of the boat so that a shotgun or rifle retained in the lower gun cradles of the racks is supported above the bottom of the boat; the mounting means for removably securing the first and second racks to a gunwale of and within a boat including means for spacing the upper and lower gun cradles inward from a side of a boat a distance sufficient to keep shotguns and/or rifles retained in the upper and lower gun cradles from contacting the side of a boat; and the mounting means for removably securing each of the racks on the gunwale of and within a boat includes a clamp for extending over a gunwale and removably clamping the rack to a side of a boat adjacent the gunwale.