Meisterschütze HJ shooting badge - ground dug
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It's possible but there is, as far as I know, some controversy on whether M1/102 actually produced this badge during the TR. I would say that this one is a Scharfschütze as there seems to be a little of the silver wash remaining on the edge of the reverse?
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Okay, I haven't looked into the badges that much yet. I also have a sniper badge from the same manufacturer. Perhaps you can see the raw material, which has a golden sheen, on the badge I found in the ground.
I did a deep dive into these Meisterschütze badges some time ago and originally planned to write an article about my findings, although I haven’t worked on it much recently.
In my opinion, only S&L produced the Meisterschütze grades. I believe they made two main versions: one with fire-gilded rifles and wreath, and another with a fire-gilded wreath paired with silver rifles.
My hypothesis is that production initially began with a fully fire-gilded setup both the wreath and the oak leaves, later they swapped to silver rifles. It’s important to understand that the silver grade (Scharfschütze) uses the exact same two-piece construction, featuring an enameled planchet and an HJ diamond with rifles.
From what is known about enamel badge production, it would make logical sense for the wreath (attached to the planchet) to be fire-gilded first, with the HJ diamond and rifle component added later. These rifle elements were likely already being produced in larger quantities for the Scharfschütze badges, making them readily available in the factory.
It would also make sense that swapping the the rifles for non-fire gilded once was done later, as this is a more time-consuming and costly process compared to simply using silver-finished rifles. In my opinion, fire gilding becomes the only reliable feature distinguishing Meisterschütze from Scharfschütze badges.
Additionally, the known award numbers are relatively low around 3,000 to 3,500 pieces. With such a limited production run, it seems unlikely that multiple manufacturers (two or three) were involved. For a badge with only about 3,500 examples, you would expect them to be quite rare.
However, in practice, these “102” marked badges appear frequently on the market, with nearly every dealer and even their affiliates regularly offering them.
I will try to get some photo’s of some examples that I deem original when I get back home
In my opinion, only S&L produced the Meisterschütze grades. I believe they made two main versions: one with fire-gilded rifles and wreath, and another with a fire-gilded wreath paired with silver rifles.
My hypothesis is that production initially began with a fully fire-gilded setup both the wreath and the oak leaves, later they swapped to silver rifles. It’s important to understand that the silver grade (Scharfschütze) uses the exact same two-piece construction, featuring an enameled planchet and an HJ diamond with rifles.
From what is known about enamel badge production, it would make logical sense for the wreath (attached to the planchet) to be fire-gilded first, with the HJ diamond and rifle component added later. These rifle elements were likely already being produced in larger quantities for the Scharfschütze badges, making them readily available in the factory.
It would also make sense that swapping the the rifles for non-fire gilded once was done later, as this is a more time-consuming and costly process compared to simply using silver-finished rifles. In my opinion, fire gilding becomes the only reliable feature distinguishing Meisterschütze from Scharfschütze badges.
Additionally, the known award numbers are relatively low around 3,000 to 3,500 pieces. With such a limited production run, it seems unlikely that multiple manufacturers (two or three) were involved. For a badge with only about 3,500 examples, you would expect them to be quite rare.
However, in practice, these “102” marked badges appear frequently on the market, with nearly every dealer and even their affiliates regularly offering them.
I will try to get some photo’s of some examples that I deem original when I get back home
So here are a few examples that cleary show the fire gilded wreath with silver rifles:
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These are a few examples that i deem to be completely fire gilded:
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