1942 "PISTOLE" marksmanship award
Can anyone tell me for what or why this pin/medal was presented? How (if at all) scarce it is? And was there an outer part as well? of which this was the center? I ask as it has the remnants of lead solder (or at least that what it looks like to me) on the edges of the reverse of the pin as well as a shadow or sorts around the edge... a little off center as well.
compliments and regards,
mitch
This one is labeled for Pistol shooting proficiency. I'm hesitant voice too much concern on it as I just don't know a lot about these, but it does seem a bit off. The few examples I'm seeing have round pin holders on the back, and this one's coffin shape I believe is not a good sign on party badges (assuming that applies here and memory serves me well). Some of the details seem a bit soft. And, that odd material around the edge of the back side almost looks like enamel that got on there somehow. But, I'm far from certain on my criticisms, and hope someone else can come in here and confirm one way or another. It does look like a piece with age though, and I hope my concerns are unfounded. Hold tight, others will surely post soon, and I look forward to being wrong and learning more along side you.
As to what these are, hopefully this information will be of some help.
Our own Ade Stevenson has described these as such:
The red eagle is the symbol of the Austrian Tirol region.
These badges were worn by the Tiroler Landesschießen & Kreisschießen together with the Standschützenverband Tirol-Vorarlberg.
Shooting Competions were held in Gau Tirol-Vorarlberg between 1941-1943 at nine locations: Bregenz, Landeck, Schwaz, Reutte, Bludenz, Imst, Kufstein, Kitzbühel & Dornbirn.
In 1944 an additional seven more were held at: Lienz, Bozen, Brixen, Schlanders, Salurn, Meran & Bruneck.
These badges could be worn on the lapel of the jacket but also interestingly they could also be worn on cap band of the traditional Tirolian mountain hat.
It's a Tiroler Landesschützenabzeichen [Tyrolean Shooting Badge]
This would be the Gauleistungszeichen in Gold [Gau Proficiency Badge in Gold] for 1942 in the pistol category.
The higher grade of the Gaumeisterzeichen in Gold mit Eichenlaub [Gau Champion Badge in Gold with Oak Leaves] had an additional outer wreath of oak leaves.
I don't know whether that wreath was separately attached (looking at photographs of these badges - I don't own one myself - some appear to be one piece and some two-piece...) so I can't rule out the possibilty that this is actually the higher grade with its wreath missing.
See these threads for other examples of such badges:
Marksmanship Badge Question
Marksmanship Badges (German-Occupied Austria)
Do you think this one is a good one HPL? It seems like my question of the pin placement coffin shape may not always 100% apply unless the top and bottom edge is slightly curved.... Still, I can't find any examples with this placement style....
Hi there, i'm far from expert on these. For me the pin holder is wrong, & it doesn't seem to be a repair job. Also the arms of the Swaz are deformed, which seems strange. Hopefully i'm wrong too. Stewy
Sorry; I cannot comment on authenticity.by avenger
(For what it's worth, Hermann Historica had such badges with this type of pin plate for sale, though.)
Hmmm... I'm a jeweler manufacturer/designer by trade so when you wrote the above, I quickly realized that the shadow/halo effect on the back could easily be the result of a wreath that once was there... ditto the small bit of lead solder used to attach it. As to your thought on whether these were one or two piece, I'd point out that they were inexpensive objects so why make two dies/molds for the two levels of awards when all you had to do for the higher of the two was make an attachable "wreath". The good news is, the fellow I got this from has been bringing me handfuls of medals of every sort, usually WW2 U.S. stuff but here lately he's brought me a lot of stuff w/ more to come so maybe the wreath will show up! And of course it could be a fake badge with wreath but I'll bet in either event one was once there.
And in that vein; how many fakes of this sort have any of you seen?
In this thread on another forum,
MEISTERSCHUETZE, LANDESSCHIESSEN, PISTOLE, etc SHOOTING AWARD GROUP.... - Wehrmacht-Awards.com Militaria Forums
is my badge w/the wreath... the pinback looks like mine as well. Maybe I can get him to have a look at this one of mine as it seems he has a good collection of them for comparison.
Last edited by rynegold; 01-06-2016 at 11:56 PM.
Yeah, I'd like to see Milton's closer up. I think you're right, that his looks like it has a similar pin back to yours. It's a lot harder to find good photos of these than I expected it would be. I see them come up for sale at WAF every now and again, and just never was compelled to go after one. But, I know they're around.
As to fakes, there's fakes of just about everything TR related. If the conman have a dime to take, they have a piece to make, and these enamel badges aren't exempted. So, it's always good to scrutinize even the cheaper items. I'd rather find out something I suspect is 100% good after all, than find out something I thought was good isn't. That goes quadruple if you go into SS stuff. There you'll find the really high quality fakes, and one must be quite vigilant about it, and study the materials before investing.
Hello Mitch,
it looks like a good badge to me.
As a matter of interest is it magnetic?
Cheers
Doug
Here is an example of a '43 award with the same pin mounting and still has the wreath attached.
This is not one of my badges it is just off file.
Doug
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