Double barrel shotgun reloader

A device for reloading a shotgun includes a support secured by a strap to the back of the user's hand, and the support along with an internal spring clip releasably holds a shotgun shell in an outwardly extending orientation with the flat, base end of the shell in abutting contact with a flat wall segment of the support. Once the nose of the shell is inserted into the shotgun barrel, the hand is tilted slightly to rock the support relative to the barrel and thereby release a rim of the shell from the spring clip so that the hand can be pulled away from the shotgun with the shell in place in the barrel. In preferred embodiments, the device includes structure for releasably holding two shotgun shells in parallel, side-by-side orientation, and the distance between the longitudinal axes of the shells is equal to the distance between the central axes of the barrels so that the shells may be simultaneously inserted into both barrels and immediately thereafter released at the same time from the device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention broadly relates to a device for loading shells into barrels 
of a shotgun, and specifically concerns a reloading device worn on the 
back of the hand and adapted to release the shells into the barrels as the 
device is rocked relative to the shotgun. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
Hunters using single barrel and double barrel shotguns are often faced with 
the problem of rapidly reloading the gun after initial shots are fired. 
Oftentimes, a number of shells are carried in the pockets of the hunter's 
clothing or in a pouch worn over the clothing, and to reload the gun the 
user must reach into the pouch or pocket to grasp a shell, visually 
observe the shell to determine the nose or forward end of the same, and 
then place the shell within the barrel by grasping appropriate portions of 
the base of the shell in order to guide the nose of the shell into the 
barrel. 
As can be appreciated, a substantial amount of time may be lost at 
inopportune moments while fumbling with loose shells and adjusting the 
grip in order to insert the nose end of the shell into the barrel. 
Consequently, the likelihood of a successful hunting trip may be 
substantially diminished. Moreover, such problems are compounded during 
cold weather when it is necessary to wear gloves or mittens on the hands. 
In the past, others have attempted to solve the foregoing problems by 
provision of a dispenser that is carried on the body and releases 
individual shells in seriatim fashion. My attention has been called to the 
following patents: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,685,600, 4,657,132, 4,583,659, 
4,381,845 and 710,324. For the most part, such devices are unsatisfactory 
because the shells must be grasped by the fingers once dispensed and then 
guided into the barrel of the gun. Moreover, the dispensing operation must 
be repeated if both barrels of a double barrel shotgun are to be reloaded. 
A device for loading cartridges directly into a cartridge chamber of a 
revolver is disclosed in U.S. Pat No. 2,592,415 and includes a plurality 
of spring clips which grasp the sides of the cartridge. However, the 
device illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 2,592,415 is grasped by the fingers 
during loading of the cartridges and should be held in an upright 
orientation since the clip engages the cartridge along a substantial 
portion of its length and thus the cartridges should preferably be near a 
vertical orientation during loading in order to smoothly drop into the 
chamber therebelow if hand manipulation of each cartridge is to be 
avoided. Furthermore, the loading device described in U.S. Pat. No. 
2,592,415 is adapted to load only one cartridge at a time into the 
cylinder of the revolver. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
My present invention overcomes the above-noted problems associated with 
conventional devices by provision of a reloader that is strapped to the 
back of the user's hand and which is adapted to directly load the shells 
into the barrel of a shotgun in rapid, efficient fashion, all without the 
need for grasping the shell. To this end, I provide a device having a 
spring clip which holds a shotgun shell in an orientation extending 
outwardly away from the back of the hand, and the shell is readily 
released from the device once the nose of the shell has been inserted into 
the shotgun barrel and the hand rocked to release the shell from the clip. 
In preferred embodiments of my invention, the device is provided with two 
spaced apart recesses which each receive the base end of one of two 
shotgun shells. The recesses are spaced apart a distance complemental to 
the distance between barrels of a double barrel shotgun, so that both of 
the barrels are reloaded simultaneously as soon as the nose of the shells 
is inserted within respective barrels. Optionally, a single spring clip is 
provided to releasably secure both shells to a support of the device 
although other configurations are of course possible. 
Advantageously, the shells are carried by the support in side-by-side 
fashion along the length of a strap which secures the support to the hand. 
In this manner, the shells are oriented in disposition for efficient 
loading of either side-by-side or over-and-under shotguns. Alternatively, 
the device may be constructed such that the shells are arranged along a 
line extending transversely of the strap as may be desired by particular 
individuals. 
I have found that the device is extremely effective in cold weather when 
mittens or gloves are worn, since manual manipulation of the shells during 
the reloading operation is rendered unnecessary. Each end of the strap is 
provided with hook and pile fastening structure so that the effective 
length of the strap may be varied as desired.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
A shotgun reloading device constructed in accordance with the invention is 
shown in FIGS. 1-6 and is designated by the numeral 10. In broad terms, 
the device 10 includes a support 12 which carries a spring clip 14, and an 
elongated strap 16 is connected to the support 12 for securing the latter 
to a portion of an upper limb of a human body such as the back of a user's 
hand 18 as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. 
As can be best observed by reference to FIGS. 3-6, the support 12 is 
comprised of a generally flat body 20 along with an overlying, flat panel 
22 that is secured by an adhesive or other means to the top of body 20. 
The body 20 has a central, flat wall segment 24 which is spaced below 
overlying regions of the panel 22, and also includes a somewhat U-shaped 
channel 26 (FIG. 6) communicating with the space between the segment 24 
and panel 22. The spring clip 14, being of a generally U-shaped 
configuration, includes a bight region that is received in the channel 26, 
while opposed legs of the spring clip 14 extend into the aforementioned 
space between panel 22 and the flat segment 24 therebelow. 
By comparison of FIGS. 5 and 6, it can be observed that the panel 22 is 
formed to present a pair of substantially curved, somewhat J-shaped edge 
flanges 28 which, in combination with the flat segment 24, define a pair 
of recess sections 30 (FIG. 6). The radius of curvature of each flange 28 
is slightly larger than the radius of curvature of a base portion 32 of a 
shotgun shell 34 as can be understood by viewing, for example, FIG. 5. 
When the shells 34 are loaded onto device 10, a flat end 36 (FIG. 3) of the 
base portion 32 of each shell 34 comes into flat, firm engagement with the 
flat wall segment 24 of the body 20. At the same time, a curved end 
segment 38 of the clip 14 engages the circular periphery of a flange or 
rim 40 formed on the end of a base portion 32 of shell 34. Additionally, a 
portion of each curved flange 28 contacts the base portion 32 directly 
above the rim 40 at a location generally opposite from the point of 
contact of the curved segment 38 with the rim 40, as is shown in FIG. 5. 
Finally, the body 20 is integrally formed to present a pair of spaced 
apart, depending sections having rectangular apertures 42 which receive 
the strap 16 for connecting the strap 16 to the support 12. Each end of 
the strap 16 carries a section of hook and pile fastening structure 44, 46 
such as that sold under the trademark Velcro. As such, the effective 
length of the strap 16 may be easily varied to accommodate dimensions of 
the wearer's hand as well as to fit over gloves or mittens. 
Preferably, the recess sections 30 are spaced apart from each other a 
distance corresponding to the lateral spacing between a pair of barrels 48 
of a shotgun 50 that is illustrated in FIG. 1. In particular, the recess 
sections 30 are arranged such that the transverse distance between the 
longitudinal axes of the shells 34 when coupled to the support 12 are 
spaced apart from each other a distance equal to the distance between the 
central axes of the shotgun barrels 48. Consequently, front end portions 
52 of both shells 34 may be simultaneously guided into the barrels 48 as 
the back of the hand is moved toward the shotgun 50 in the manner shown in 
FIG. 1 in order to load both barrels 48 at the same time. The wall segment 
24, being in flat contact with the ends 36 of shells 34, facilitates 
insertion of the shells 34 by preventing unintentional, longitudinal 
movement of the latter relative to support 12. 
Once the shells 34 have been inserted into the barrels 48 a distance 
sufficient for the panel 22 of the support 12 to either come in contact 
with the shotgun 50 or alternatively be located closely spaced to the 
latter, the shells 34 may be released from the support 12 by rocking the 
device 10 in a manner to cause the clip 14 to disengage both rims 40. 
Specifically, the shells 34 may be released from the device 10 by slightly 
tilting the hand 18 in such a manner that the flat wall segment 24 is 
tilted relative to a reference plane that is perpendicular to the central 
axes of the shotgun barrels 48, at which time portions of the rims 40 of 
the shells 34 are moved away from the flat wall segment 24 to thereby 
cause the curved segments 38 to disengage rims 40 and release the shells 
34 from support 12 while the front end portions 52 remain captured within 
barrels 48. 
The device 10 can be quickly reloaded by shifting the shell 34 in a lateral 
direction such that the flat end 36 of the shell 34 slides along the wall 
segment 24 until rim 40 moves beneath the flange 28 and the flange 28 
comes into contact with sides of the base portion 32. During such 
movement, each rim 40 contacts the corresponding curved segment 38 of the 
spring 14 to cause the latter to deflect outwardly in a lateral direction 
sufficient to provide clearance between the curved segment 38 and opposed 
portions of the flange 28. Thereafter, the inherent bias of the spring 14 
urges the curved segment 38 towards the center of the support 12 whereby 
the shell 34 is releasably secured in place on the support 12 between the 
curved segment 38 and opposed portions of the flange 28. 
While the foregoing sets forth a detailed description of a currently 
preferred embodiment of my invention, various modifications and additions 
to my invention can of course be effected without departing from the gist 
and essence of my contribution to the art. As an example, the strap 16 may 
be connected to the support 12 in a perpendicular orientation to that 
shown in the drawings such that the shells 34 are disposed along a line 
extending transverse of the longitudinal axis of the strap 16. Other 
variations may also readily come to mind to those individuals skilled in 
the art. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the invention should be 
deemed limited only by a fair scope of the claims which follow.