Soviet WW2 SNIPER BADGE Russian Combat Medal Red Army Excellent Marksman ORIGINL

Description

WW2 Red Army Sniper Badge (Excellent Sniper award), 1940s issue.
This is GUARANTEED ORIGINAL Badge made and issued in the mid-40s, very likely during the war. This is not a late post-war version of the badge or one of the many fakes we have seen on the market lately!
The badge is in Brass and high quality “Hot Baked” Enamels. It measures 44.9 mm tall x 35.9 mm wide. This variation is among the earliest produced. It features domed medallion and well-defined sculptured tall scrolls of the top ornament with smooth upper edge. The wreath is very detailed. There is a distinctive vertical line pattern under the red enamel with counter-relief clearly visible on the reverse of the badge.
The badge is believed to be one of the scarcer versions by the NKPS factory (People’s Commissariat of Roads of Transportation) that manufactured many of the Soviet military badges during WW2.
The badge is in GREAT CONDITION, very uncommon to find for a Soviet combat proficiency award from WW2 era! The enamel is very nicely preserved and shows nice luster. There are of course some tiny contact marks, few very tiny flakes (very exaggerated in our huge close-up photos) and light scuffs from normal wear. Note that a couple of uneven areas above and to the left of the head of the sickle are not chips or flakes - they are manufacturing imperfections typical of the wartime issues.There are also some internal hairlines to the red enamel in the lower part of the badge, but the enamel is completely free of the usual chips, significant flaking or other glaring damage. All the enamel on this badge is 100% ORIGINAL – there are no enamel repairs that are commonly found on Soviet badges of the period.
The details of the rifles and wreath are extremely well preserved and crisp. The fragile silver finish on the obverse of the badge is almost completely intact, showing just minor wear on the rifle butts and the hammer and sickle emblem. The finish on the reverse is practically pristine. The screw post is full length, nearly 11 mm. The badge comes with a maker marked screw plate which is roughly of the period and fits the screw perfectly, although it is probably not original to the badge.
In short, this is a truly outstanding example of Soviet sniper’s decoration!
Established in May 1942, Sniper Badge is one of the initial seven badges that started the WW2 "Proficiency" series. It replaced the earlier, round badge in a form of a bull’s eye which had been awarded starting from the late 30s. Like the other awards of the “proficiency” series, it was really a medal rather than simply a qualification badge, and during WW2 badges like this could be earned only in combat. After the war, they were awarded to Soviet army soldiers for excellent results in training, and they were issued up until the late 50s. The late post-war versions of this badge however look different from the WW2 / 1940s model we are offering here.
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