Scope and trigger system for a rifle

A collimating scope for attachment to a rifle such that the scope has an objective lens that is positioned above the barrel of the rifle and an ocular lens that is below the barrel of the rifle and that is proximate the opening of the barrel. A grip extends downwardly from the scope and has a trigger thereon that is mechanically connected to the trigger of the rifle for firing the rifle from the trigger on the grip. A pair of braces are provided, one for the torso of a user, the other for a thigh of the user in order to rest the scope and its attached rifle on the back of a user so that the user may lie prone and below the rifle and be able to scope a target and fire the rifle from this position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a collimated scope for attachment to a rifle wherein the ocular lens of the scope is located below barrel of the rifle upon which the scope is installed and wherein the invention has a trigger actuator that connects to the trigger of the rifle wherein the trigger actuator allows a user to fire the rifle proximate the front of and below the barrel of the rifle.

2. Background of the Prior Art

The business of sniping is a lonely and deadly affair. Oftentimes, a sniper will lie in wait for hours or even days at a time waiting for his quarry to happen along. One of the fundamental characteristics of this profession is the need for complete secrecy. Staying stealthy helps prevent the discovery of the sniper by the target and other bad guys and also helps protect the sniper once his presence is discovered by the discharge of his weapon and return fire is commenced. In order to remain out of view, snipers stay low in brush and are oftentimes camouflaged so as to blend in with the natural surroundings. Additionally, a sniper tries to put substantial distance between himself and the anticipated strike area of the target. In this way, should return fire be commenced, a relatively large distance between the enemy and the sniper renders the return fire substantially less accurate than at close range. Additionally, by being far away from the enemy, the enemy will have difficulty determining from whereat the incoming shot originated. As the sniper has the skill and the time to line up a shot as well as a long-range precision weapon, the relatively large firing distance is not a major obstacle.

Even with the above precautions, the sniper is not completely safe. The enemy returning fire may see just enough of a muzzle flash from the rifle or may get lucky and see the scope of the rifle and aim toward the anticipated barrel of the rifle in hopes of hitting the sniper located therebehind. A relatively inaccurate weapon may still find its way to its mark.

Therefore, in order to further protect a sniper from being hit by return fire, it is desirable to get the sniper out from behind the scope and barrel, as that is the location where return fire will be directed if the sniper's location is discovered. Ideally, the sniper needs to be sufficiently underneath the scope and barrel so that should his scope and weapon be seen, directed fire at the scope and weapon will not strike the sniper.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The scope and trigger system for a rifle of the present invention addresses the aforementioned needs in the art by providing an apparatus that allows a sniper to be located underneath the weapon and to fire the weapon from this location. Additionally, the scope can extend substantially further back along the length of the weapon relative to standard scopes in order to give a much greater focal length for the scope thereby improving the effectiveness of the scope. This is all achieved without worries about rifle balance.

The scope and trigger system for a rifle of the present invention is attached to a rifle that has a body, a barrel extending forwardly from the body, a stock extending rearwardly from the body, a grip encompassing a portion of the barrel, a barrel rail located on an upper surface of the body, and a rifle trigger extending downward from the body for firing the rifle by squeezing the rifle trigger. The scope and trigger system for a rifle comprises a collimating scope that has a first straight leg with an objective lens, a second straight leg that is generally parallel with the first straight leg and with an ocular lens, and a diagonal leg that connects the first straight leg with the second straight leg. The objective lens and the ocular lens are in light communication with one another. The first straight leg is connected to the barrel rail and is positioned above the barrel of the rifle and the second straight leg is located below the barrel of the rifle whenever the scope is attached to the barrel rail. A hand grip extends down from the scope. A trigger is pivotally attached to the hand grip. A linkage is attached to the scope and to the trigger such that squeezing of the trigger causes the linkage to squeeze the rifle trigger. The linkage comprises a lever that is pivotally attached to the scope and a cable that connects the trigger with the linkage such that the lever is positioned to touch the rifle trigger and wherein squeezing of the trigger causes pulling on the cable which causes the lever to pivot toward the rifle trigger and squeeze the trifle trigger. The cable has a tensioning turnbuckle. A torso brace is attached to the grip and that extends downwardly therefrom. The torso brace has a first body member that receives a torso of a person. A shoulder hook that extends outwardly from the first body member and lies across a shoulder of the person. The first body member pivots with respect to the grip. A thigh brace is attached to the stock and extends downwardly therefrom. The thigh brace has a second body member that receives a thigh of the person. The second body member pivots with respect to the stock. The first straight leg is longer than the second straight leg.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawings, it is seen that the scope and trigger system for a rifle of the present invention, generally denoted by reference numeral10, is comprised of a collimating scope12that has a body14with an objective lens16and an ocular lens18having an eye piece20proximate thereto. As seen, the body14has an upper straight leg22and a relatively short lower straight leg24that are joined by a diagonal leg26. A first mirror28is located at the back of the upper straight leg22(opposite the objective lens16) and a second mirror30is located at the juncture of the lower straight leg24with the diagonal leg26. A first prism32is attached to the forward surface of the diagonal leg26at the juncture of the diagonal leg26with the upper straight leg22. A second prism34is attached to the rearward surface of the diagonal leg26just below the first prism32. The scope12works in standard fashion. Light L enters the scope12through the objective lens16and travels through the upper straight leg22and is reflected by the first mirror28toward the first prism32, the first prism32redirects the light L to the second prism34which directs the light L to the second mirror30, which reflects the light L to the eye E of the user S through the ocular lens18. Appropriate focus means are provided on the scope.

A sight mounting clamp36extends downwardly from the upper straight leg22and is secured directly to the body14at its forward end and is attached to the body14by a bracket38at its rearward end.

Extending downwardly from the lower straight leg24is a hand grip40with a non-slip foot42. A trigger44is attached to the hand grip40. A trigger lever46has an upper end48, a medial portion50, and a lower end52with a roller54thereon, the trigger lever46is pivotally attached to the bracket38at its medial portion50just below its upper end48. A pulley56is attached to the body14at the juncture of the upper straight leg22and the diagonal leg26. A cable58extends between the trigger44and the upper end48of the trigger lever46, such that squeezing the trigger44pulls on the cable58which causes the upper end48of the trigger lever46to be pulled forward and thus the lower end52to pivot backward. A tensioning turnbuckle60keeps the cable58in proper tension. A return spring62is attached to the hand grip40and to the trigger44in order to keep the trigger44in a normally tensioned state.

A torso or thoracic brace64is provided and has a generally U-shaped body member66and a standard68extending upwardly therefrom. A connection arm70is pivotally attached to the standard68and has a tensioning adjustment screw72. A pair of rifle gripping clamps74(or other appropriate rifle attachment means) is provided in order to secure the torso brace64to a rifle R. A shoulder hook76, which is curved, extends outwardly from the body member66.

A thigh brace78is provided and has a generally U-shaped body member80and a standard82extending upwardly therefrom. A connection arm84is pivotally attached to the standard82and has a tensioning adjustment screw86. A pair of stock gripping clamps88(or other appropriate rifle stock attachment means) is provided in order to secure the thigh brace78to the stock K of a rifle R.

In order to use the scope and trigger system for a rifle of the present invention10, the scope12is attached to the barrel rail B of the rifle R that is located on the upper surface of the body U of the rifle and secured thereto in standard fashion. The scope12is positioned so that the roller54of the trigger lever46just touches the rifle trigger T of the rifle R whenever the trigger44of the scope and trigger system for a rifle10is in its normally tensioned state. The torso brace64is attached to the grip G of the rifle and secured thereto in any desired fashion such as by screwing the gripping clamps74in order to clamp the torso brace64to the grip G. Similarly, the thigh brace78is attached to the back end of the stock K of the rifle R.

The user S lies down in a generally prone position and positions the scope and trigger system for a rifle10such that the body member80of the thigh brace78receives one of the thighs H of the user S while the torso brace64receives the torso O of the user S. The shoulder hook76rests along a shoulder of the user. The tensioning adjustment screw72on the torso brace64as well as the tensioning adjustment screw86on the thigh brace78are adjusted as needed in order to provide a proper and comfortable fit of the scope and trigger system for a rifle10upon the user. The user S looks through the eye piece20of the scope12in order to acquire a desired target. Upon seeing the target, the user S squeezes the trigger44of the scope and trigger system for a rifle10which transfers the squeezing force, via the cable58in order to move the lower end52of the trigger lever46backwards and act upon the rifle trigger T of the rifle R thereby squeezing the rifle trigger T of the rifle R and firing the rifle R. When the user S releases the trigger44on the hand grip40, the return spring62returns the trigger44back to its normally tensioned state. As this happens, the rifle trigger T of the rifle R returns back to its normal state, causing the trigger lever46to pivot in reverse fashion relative to the firing pivot. The roller54on the trigger lever46helps assure smooth interaction between the trigger lever46and the rifle trigger T of the rifle.

The ocular lens18and the eye piece20of the scope12are below the barrel F of the rifle R in a normally positioned rifle R. This helps keep the head of the user S below the barrel F and helps keep him out of harms way. The trigger44by being below the normal rifle trigger T also allows the user S to stay very low and safer. As the collimating scope12has a very long focal length, due to its being able to extend along a substantial portion of the rifle R, the scope12can be used very accurately at great distances. The torso brace64along with the shoulder hook76and the thigh brace78keep the rifle R very steady irrespective of any imbalance the unusually long scope12may introduce. This eliminates the need for a tripod thereby helping keep the sniper S confined with a relatively small real estate foot print and less likely to be seen.