Abstract:
A butt stock for a tactical weapon, rifle, shotgun or other firearm. The butt stock has a butt plate with two or more surfaces. One of those surfaces is generally perpendicular to the direction of the firearm. The other surface is angled to provide a more stable shooting platform for the firearm as well as more comfortable use of the firearm in a tactical shooting position.

Description:
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This is a continuation patent application claiming priority of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/024,356 entitled “Tactical Duostock”, filed Dec. 28, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,104,001 which is a continuation patent application claiming priority to U.S. Pat. No. 6,925,743, issued Aug. 9, 2005 (Ser. No. 10/288,999, filed Nov. 6, 2002), the description of which is incorporated herein by reference. 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention. 
   This invention relates to stocks for firearms. More particularly, it relates to the butt stock of firearms used for tactical or combat situations. 
   2. Prior Art. 
   Most modern firearms have a stock which is designed for shooting the firearm in a classical shooting position. In the classical shooting position, the butt stock is placed in the shoulder pocket of the shooter. The shooter&#39;s shoulders and feet are at approximately a 30° angle to the direction of the firearm and the shooter&#39;s head is lowered and forward such that his cheek is firmly on the top of the butt stock and the shooter&#39;s dominant eye is aligned with the firearm&#39;s sights. 
   Use of the classical shooting position while in a tactical or close quarter battle (CQB) situation exposes the shooter to additional risk. In a tactical situation, a shooter typically wears body armor which protects the front and back of the torso of the shooter. However, it does not protect the arms of the shooter and, as such, if the shooter is confronting a threat in the classical shooting position the firearm will typically be pointed towards the threat, the shooter will be standing at a 30° angle to the direction of the firearm, and as such a 60° angle to the threat. This exposes the opening in the body armor where the non-dominant arm goes through the body armor. Upper torso wounds from small arms fire in combat can enter through this opening. 
   Due to this draw back in the classical shooting position, the tactical shooting position is preferred in a CQB situation. In the tactical shooting position, the shooter stands so that his shoulders and feet are perpendicular to the direction of the firearm. The bottom corner of the butt stock is placed against the shooter&#39;s dominant side, upper chest at the mid-clavicular line, while the shooter&#39;s head is upright and looking forward. The firearm is carried in the ready position until a threat is confronted. In the ready position, the firearm is pointed downward at a 45° angle towards the ground. Once a threat is confronted, the firearm is raised and pointed toward the threat, and the shooter&#39;s shoulders and feet are maintained at a perpendicular orientation to the direction of the firearm. With the firearm in the tactical shooting position, the top of the butt stock is against the shooter&#39;s dominant side cheek and the shooter&#39;s dominant eye is in line with the sights. The tactical shooting position provides the shooter with an optimal amount of protection from the body armor. It also provides the shooter with a better vision for additional threats coming from the non-dominant side of the shooter. 
   The problem with using the tactical shooting position with the firearm stocks on the market today is that the only point of contact between the firearm and the shooter&#39;s torso is the lower corner of the butt stock. This decreases the stability of the firearm and shooter. Another drawback is that this small pointed area of the firearm is placed directly upon the clavicle of the shooter; therefore, any recoil from the firearm is forced into a very small area on the shooter. This increases the discomfort and stiffness of the shooter resulting from this recoil. 
   Many sporting firearms such as shotguns have a stock where the butt stock is offset at an angle from the barrel. This helps lower the butt plate of the stock so that when shooting in a classical shooting position the butt plate reaches down to the shoulder pocket of the shooter while the sights remain in front of the shooter&#39;s dominant eye. Use of an offset angle is helpful when shooting in the classical or tactical shooting position. However, if the shooter must move to a prone shooting position, the use of a stock with a large offset angle causes the shooter to have to raise their head to a higher level in order to place their dominant eye in line with the sights of the firearm. In a CQG situation, this exposes the shooter to additional risk due to the fact that his head is raised. 
   There are numerous patents for firearm stocks with an adjustable butt stock which allows the shooter to adjust the offset angle. These patents include U.S. Pat. No. 146,651 entitled “Stocks for Fire-Arms” issued to A. R. Byrkit on Jan. 20, 1874; U.S. Pat. No. 843,227 entitled “Jointed Gun Stock” issued to Homer W. Munson on Feb. 5, 1907; U.S. Pat. No. 855,229 entitled “Gun Stock” issued to Patrick H. Clarisey on May 28, 1907; U.S. Pat. No. 1,088,362 entitled “Adjustable Butt Plate for Gun Stocks” issued to John W. Perkins on Feb. 24, 1914; U.S. Pat. No. 1,582,395 entitled “Butt Cap for Guns, Especially for Short Rifles” issued to Rudolf Haemmerli on Apr. 27, 1926; U.S. Pat. No. 1,651,299 entitled “Adjustable Gun Stock” issued to Roy V. Stansel on Nov. 29, 1927; U.S. Pat. No. 5,010,676 entitled “Hand Guard for Firearms,” issued to Paul Kennedy on Apr. 30, 1991; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,779,098 entitled “Recoil Absorber and Redirector Mechanism for Gun Stock” issued to Jay. P. Griggs on Nov. 9, 1999. However, these devices require that the shooter adjust the stock to one setting for a classical or tactical shooting position. They must then readjust the stock again for a prone shooting position. In a combat situation, the shooter must rapidly move from one firing position to another. This may entail changing from a tactical shooting position to prone shooting position or vice versa. As such, the shooter does not have time when changing firing positions to adjust or readjust a stock in order to obtain optimum performance from the firearm. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 694,904 (the &#39;904 patent) entitled “Sighting Device for Firearms” issued to William Youlten on Mar. 4, 1902, discloses an adaptor which can be attached to the butt stock of a rifle. This adaptor allows the shooter to operate the firearm from a trench without exposing his head above ground level. The device disclosed in the &#39;904 patent places the firearm above the shooter&#39;s head while in use. This differs greatly from the present invention which allows the shooter to shoot from either a classical position, a tactical shooting position or a prone position. The device disclosed in the &#39;904 patent is only useful for firing from a trench and cannot be used for shooting from a classical, tactical or prone shooting position. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 5,010,676 to Kennedy claims a hand guard or forestock for a firearm.  FIG. 1  of Kennedy discloses an AR-15 or M-16. The butt stock of this firearm has a butt plate which appears to have a first and a second surface. The angle between the first and the second surface of the butt plate in Kennedy is nearly straight. The angle between these two surfaces in Kennedy is approximately 170 degrees. The butt plate of the present application has an angle between these two surfaces of less than 155 degrees. 
   When shooting in the tactical position, the second surface of the butt plate is placed upon the upper chest at the mid-clavicular line of the user. This region of the human body is typically at a 28 degree to 44 degree angle to the vertical. In order for the butt stock to comfortably fit to the user while shooting in a tactical position, the angle of the second surface must be approximately complimentary to the angle of the user&#39;s upper chest at the mid-clavicular line, i.e., the angle between the first and second surfaces of the butt plate plus the angle of the upper chest at the mid-clavicular line of the user must add up to approximately 180 degrees. This is necessary so that the second surface of the butt plate can fit comfortably against the upper chest at the mid-clavicular line of the user while the barrel of the firearm is at approximately a 90 degree direction to the first section and a 90 degree angle to the vertical. 
   When applying the device shown in Kennedy, it suffers from the same shortcomings as that of the other prior art. If the firearm in Kennedy is used in the same manner as the present invention to shoot from a tactical shooting position, the second surface of the butt plate would be resting on the upper chest at the mid-clavicular line of the user. As previously mentioned, this upper chest at the mid-clavicular line is typically from 28 degrees to 44 degrees off of the vertical. With the second surface of the Kennedy device flatly against the upper chest at the mid-clavicular line of the user, the barrel of the firearm would be 18 degrees to 34 degrees above the horizontal. When considering that threats are typically engaged within a 5 to 10 meter range when in a tactical situation such as a SWAT team clearing a house, this would lead to the user shooting well over the head of the threat. 
   The other option for using the firearm disclosed in Kennedy to shoot from a tactical position would be to have the barrel of the gun approximately on the horizontal. However, this would lead to the same problem as the other prior art. The second surface of the butt plate is not complimentary to the typical range of angles of the mid-clavicle region of a user of approximately 28 to 44 degrees. This in turn causes the user to have to place the bottom corner of the butt stock against the upper chest at the mid-clavicular line, thus causing the recoil from the firearm to go into a very small area of the upper chest at the mid-clavicular line of the user just under that corner of the butt stock. The net result would be little or no improvement over the other prior art of having a single surface butt plate. 
   As can be seen by the geometric analysis above of using the Kennedy device while shooting from a tactical shooting position, the device does not provide any of the benefits of the present invention. As such, the present invention is not merely a discovery of the optimum or workable ranges and would therefore not be obvious to one skilled in the art. 
   This is further underscored by the fact that Kennedy does not have any discussion of the design of the butt stock or how it could be used in a manner which would provide the same benefits as the present invention. When Kennedy is reviewed in its entirety, it teaches away from the present invention by requiring the user shooting from a tactical position to either shoot over the head of the threat or shoot with the bottom corner digging into the user&#39;s upper chest at the mid-clavicular line. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   Due to the shortcomings of the prior art, it is an objective of the present invention to provide an improved firearm butt stock which can readily be used in a classic shooting position, a tactical shooting position, and a prone shooting position without readjustment of the stock. 
   Another objective of the present invention is to provide an improved firearm butt stock which has a butt plate with two or more surfaces where one surface is used for shooting from the classical shooting position or the prone position and another one of the surfaces is tailored to provide a more comfortable and stable use of the tactical shooting position. 
   It is a further objective of the present invention to provide an improved firearm butt stock which has a butt plate with two or more surfaces and that one of those surfaces is adjustable to provide a custom fit of the firearm stock when firing from the tactical shooting position. 
   Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide a collapsible stock with a butt plate with two or more surfaces. One of those surfaces is used for shooting from the classical shooting position or the prone position and another one of these surfaces of the tactical shooting position. Other objectives, advantages and features of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art following a review of the specifications, drawings and claims of this patent. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1 : A side view of a shooter using the classic shooting position. 
       FIG. 2 : A top view of a shooter using the classic shooting position. 
       FIG. 3 : A side view of a shooter using the tactical shooting position. 
       FIG. 4 : A top view of a shooter using the tactical shooting position. 
       FIG. 5 : A side view of a typical shotgun. 
       FIG. 6 : A side view of a typical rifle. 
       FIG. 7 : A side view of a typical rifle equipped with one embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 8 : A side view of one embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 9 : A side view of a shooter with a rifle equipped with one embodiment of the present invention in the tactical shooting position. 
       FIG. 10 : A side view of a shooter with a rifle equipped with one embodiment of the present invention in the prone shooting position. 
       FIG. 11 : A side view of one embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 12 : A side view of a rifle equipped with one embodiment of the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     FIG. 1  shows a side view of a shooter  20  holding a firearm  22  in a classical shooting position.  FIG. 2  is a top view of a shooter  20  holding a firearm  22  in a classical shooting position. In the classical shooting position, the shoulders  24  and feet  26  of the shooter  20  are at approximately 30 degrees angle to the direction of the firearm  22 . The butt stock  28  of the firearm  22  is held firmly against the shoulder pocket  30  of the shooter  20 . The head  32  of the shooter  20  is leaned forward so that the cheek  34  of the shooter  20  is firmly against the top of the butt stock  28  of the firearm  22 , thus forming a cheek weld between the cheek  34  and the butt stock  28  of the assault right  22 . The dominant eye  36  of the shooter  20  is in line with the sights  38 . 
   The classical shooting position provides a stable platform from which to shoot. It is well suited for hunting, target shooting and other non-tactical situations; however, it is not the preferred shooting position for tactical or close quarters battle (CQB) situations. The body armor  40  typically used in tactical situations protects the front and back of the shooter&#39;s torso  43 . However, the body armor  40  does not protect the dominant or non-dominant arm  44  or  46  of the shooter  22 . This means that if the shooter  20  uses the classic shooting position in a tactical situation, the shooter is increasing his risk of bodily injury by exposing to the threat the unprotected area where the shooter&#39;s 20 non-dominant arm  46  attaches to the shooter&#39;s20 torso  42 . 
   The classical shooting position also has the shortcoming in a tactical situation of limited visibility towards the shooter&#39;s 20 non-dominant side. While shooting in the classical shooting position the shooter&#39;s 20 non-dominant eye  48  typically is closed, also the shooter&#39;s torso  42  is turned away from the shooter&#39;s non-dominant side. Both of these factors make it difficult for the shooter  20  to detect and confront a threat coming from the shooter&#39;s20 non-dominant side. 
     FIG. 3  shows a side view of a shooter  20  firing a firearm  22  from a tactical shooting position.  FIG. 4  shows a top view of a shooter  20  shooting a firearm  22  from the tactical shooting position. The firearm  22  is held in the ready position shown in dash lines in  FIG. 3  until a threat is confronted. In the ready position, the firearm  22  is held at a 45 degree angle pointing toward the ground. The butt stock  28  of the firearm  22  is held against the mid-clavicular line  50 . Once the threat is confronted, the firearm  22  is rotated to a position perpendicular to the body of the shooter  20 . The firearm  22  is rotated about the point of contact between the butt stock  28  and the mid-clavicular line  50  of the shooter  20 . The shoulder  24  and feet  26  of the shooter  20  are perpendicular to the firearm  22 . The head  32  of the shooter  20  is in an upright and forward facing position. A cheek weld is established by having the top of the butt stock  28  firmly against the cheek  34  of the shooter  20 . The dominant eye  36  of the shooter  20  is in line with the sights  38  of the firearm  22 . 
   As best seen in  FIG. 3 , the mid-clavicular line  50  of the chest of the shooter  20  is at an angle. Therefore, when the tactical shooting position is used with a firearm  22  with a prior art butt stock  28 , only the lower rear corner of the butt stock  28  is resting against the shooter&#39;s  200  mid-clavicle  50 . When the firearm  22  is fired, this small area of contact must absorb all of the recoil generated by the firearm  22 . 
   It is also important to note the angle of the mid-clavicular line  50  of the chest can vary greatly from individual to individual. This variation and angle is largely due to differences in the development of the pectoralis muscles in the chest of the individual. This angle can typically range from 28° to 44°. The shooter  20  must use this small area of the mid-clavicular line  50  of the chest to steady the firearm  22 . 
   Many firearms such as the shotgun  52  shown in  FIG. 5  have a stock where the butt stock  54  has an offset angle  56 . This helps raise the sights  58  such that when the firearm is shouldered the sight  58  are in front of the shooter&#39;s  20  dominate eye  36  while allowing the rear surface of the butt stock or butt plate  60  to be low enough to engage the shoulder of the shooter. 
     FIG. 6  shows a firearm  22  typically known as the M16 or AR15. This is the same firearm seen in  FIGS. 1 through 4 . It should be noted that the butt stock  28  of the firearm  22  does not have a stock offset angle such as the shotgun  52  shown in  FIG. 5 , rather the butt stock  28  of the firearm  22  extends directly back from the receiver  62 . 
     FIG. 7  shows a firearm  22  equipped with one embodiment of the present invention, an improved butt stock, the tactical duo stock  66 .  FIG. 8  is a side view of the embodiment of duo stock  66  which is shown attached to the firearm  22  in  FIG. 7 .  FIG. 9  shows a shooter  20  holding a firearm  22  in the tactical shooting position. The firearm  22  is equipped with the same embodiment of the tactical duo stock  66  as shown in  FIGS. 7 and 8 . The forward end  68  of the duo stock  66  is constructed to attach to the firearm  22 . It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the forward end  68  of the duo stock  66  can be adapted to many different forms in order to attach various different rifles, shotguns, and other firearms. The duo stock  66  also has a butt plate  70 . The back end  70  is made up of an upper section  72  and a lower section  74 . The butt plate  70  could be comprised of a separate plate attached to the rear of the duo stock  66  or it could be the rear surface of the duo stock  66  without any separate pieces being attached to the duo stock  66 . 
   The butt plate angle  76  and the offset angle  78  are shown in  FIG. 8 . The preferred butt plate angle is 145°, however, this angle could vary from 135° to 155°. Likewise, the preferred offset angle  78  for the duo stock  66  is 35°, however, this could vary from a range of 25° to 45°. 
   While in the tactical shooting position as shown in  FIG. 9 , the lower section  74  of the butt plate  70  rests against the mid-clavicular line  50  of the shooter  20 . Because the surface of the lower section  74  is generally parallel with the mid-clavicular line  50  of the shooter  20 , any force from the recoil of the firearm  22  is spread across the area directly underneath the lower section  74 . This is an improvement over the prior art butt stock  28 , as shown in  FIGS. 1-4  and  6 . When that butt stock  28  is used in the tactical shooting position, the force from the recoil of the firearm  22  is directed through the lower corner of the butt stock  28  and against a much smaller area of the mid-clavicular line  50  of the shooter  20 . This increased area of impact created by use of the tactical duostock  66  helps soften the impact of the recoil allowing for faster follow up shots as well as reduced soreness and stiffness of the shooter  20 . 
   This increased area of contact between the firearm  22  and the shooter  20 , due to the use of the duostock  66  also provides a more stable shooting platform. This in turn increases the comfort, speed, and accuracy of the shooter  20 &#39;s performance. 
     FIG. 10  shows a shooter  20  holding a firearm  22  in a prone position. The firearm  22  is equipped with a tactical duostock  66 . In the prone position, the upper section  72  of the duostock  66  rests against the shoulder of the shooter  20  as with any conventional stock. 
     FIG. 11  shows a second embodiment of the tactical duostock  66 . In the second embodiment, the duostock  66  has an adjustable lower section  74 . The lower section  74  is pivotally attached to the upper section  72  and/or the body  80  of the duo stock. As shown in  FIG. 11 , there is a hinge  82  which creates the pivotal attachment for the lower section  74 . With the adjustable lower section  74 , the butt plate angle  76  can be adjusted to fit the angle of the mid-clavicular line  50  of the individual shooter  20 . This means a better fit for the shooter  20  while using the duostock  66  in a tactical shooting position. 
   Once the butt plate angle  76  has been adjusted to fit the individual shooter  20 , it can be used like the other embodiments of the duostock  66 , allowing the shooter  20  to move from a prone or classical shooting position to a tactical shooting position, or vice versa, without readjusting the butt plate angle  76 . 
   The adjustable lower section  74  has a plate  86  which is attached to it. The plate  86  runs alongside the body  80 . There is a slot  88  in the plate  88  through which the lock  84  passes. The adjustable lower section  74  is held in place relative to the upper section  72  and the body  80  by the lock  84  holding the plate  86  in place. The embodiment shown in  FIG. 11  uses a cammed lock. However, those skilled in the art could adapt the present invention to use any of a number of locks known in the art. 
     FIG. 12  shows a firearm  22  equipped with a collapsible stock well known in the art. The collapsible stock is equipped with the duostock  66 . The butt plate  70  of the collapsible stock has the upper section  72  and a lower section  74  at an angle to the upper section  72 . The present invention works the same with the collapsible stock as it does with the other embodiments of the invention. It should be noted that the embodiment of the present invention shown in  FIG. 12  could be adapted to incorporate the adjustable butt plate feature shown in  FIG. 11 . 
   The foregoing specifications and drawings are only illustrative of the preferred embodiments of the present invention. They should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the attached claims. Those skilled in the arts will be able to come up with equivalent embodiments of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.