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USMC Marksmanship Badges


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Basic Rifleman
1 minute ago, BEAT_NAVY said:

Same difference it just says sharpshooter instead of marksman

I'm still legitimately having a hard time figuring out what point you're trying to convey as it relates to the topic by adding a picture of a sharpshooter badge. 

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Cobra 6 Actual
44 minutes ago, digi-shots said:

At first I thought it was FAIL also… but looking at the last one “Familiar”… maybe the other two that look like FAIL is actually FAM meaning familiar???  I don’t thin this section was for qualification but more for training.. making sure the Marine was familiar with various weapons?  How would you possibly pass or fail with “hand grenade”?

 

Ot does look like he was “unqualified” for bayonet


Perhaps “Familiarization”?

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SgtMaddoxUSMC

Digi- third line might be "USMC Carbine"?

Bill- great badges!  Love the ER and MM-A combo!  If you ever decide to part with them someday.... you know who to call! :P 
 

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Basic Rifleman
27 minutes ago, Cobra 6 Actual said:

Perhaps “Familiarization”?

That makes much more sense! 100% it's the abbreviation for Familiarization Fire. "Fam Fire" is something I heard approximately 45874896573 times at SOI / Camp Lejeune. Can't believe I didn't make the instant connection. My brain washing must be wearing off:)

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Basic Rifleman
On 3/27/2022 at 7:50 PM, digi-shots said:

Also, can you decipher the qualification listing here?   I can make out hand grenade, bayonet and the last line carbine.. but mot the second or third one.  Thanks

Hoping this one gets put to bed before I have to go to bed.... The remaining available options for qualifications during that period are as follows: "Rifle, Small Bore, Pistol, Auto Rifle, Machine Gun, and Howitzer". I think being this training was conducted at Parris Island we can maybe rule out howitzer (unless they used dummy rounds for fam fire).

Line 1. Hand Grenade, 2. T.S.M.G. (Thompson Sub Machine gun), 3. (   ???   ), 4. Bayonet, 5. Carbine

 

 

One thing we can be sure of, by 1944 those rubber stamps had seen better days:))))

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I have a couple of these unofficial small pistol sharpshooter awards and finally found a photo of a WW2 marine with one, you can see how small these are when you compare it to the rifle marksman award bar above it.......

20220404_185133.jpg

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29 minutes ago, SgtMaddoxUSMC said:

What do you mean unofficial?  

I´ve always thought so because of the lack of photos of marines wearing them, were they issued/official? It would be good if they were. 

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We're all still learning. The two enjoyable sides to the hobby, owning a piece of history and learning about it & it's story.👍

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hello Experts.  Which SS badge should I include in my father's awards shadow box?  He was E-2-27 5MarDiv on Iwo Jima.  I had the the H H hallmark on the left in the attached picture (SS Comparison) in my father's shadow box.  However, I found another SS badge from Meyer Hallmark on the right at the Canton, Texas First Monday Trade Days (largest flee market in the country so I'm told).  Notice the different rings.  I've read the whole thread and I'm confused on which one is vintage for the WW2 period.  My father lost most of his awards. 

SS Comparison.jfif

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Bob Hudson
3 minutes ago, colewhit said:

Hello Experts.  Which SS badge should I include in my father's awards shadow box?

Your photos did not post: I'm not sure the forum software software supports  JFIF files. 

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Let me try this again.  Here are the pictures.  The Hilborn Hamburger SS on the left was mounted in my shadow box of my father's awards.  You can see the black velcro.  It's one sixteenth longer than the Meyer SS on the right.  HH has three rings.  Meyer has two.  

SS Comparison.jpeg

SS HH Back.jpeg

SS Meyer Back.jpeg

SS H H Hallmark.jpeg

SS Meyer Hallmark.jpeg

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Flightpath

Hi,

As far as I know, 2 ring is earlier when the Army and Marines used the same awards.

The 3 ring is more typical WW2.

If I'm wrong someone please correct me.

Cheers, John

 

 

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Flightpath

Hi colewhit,

I wrote my post before looking at your photos, when referring to these sharpshooter awards the very outer ring is counted, so your HH has four rings and the Meyer has three.  Don´t be locked into what I have written, please refer to Brig´s post #126 and a couple of other interesting posts, it could be that the Meyer is closer to what you want, the HH might be earlier but still in use during WW2.

cheers, John

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Thank you Flight.  I will re-read Brig's commentary on #126.  At first glance, I agree with you since the 1937 USMC Uniform Regulations appear to have the four-ring (counting the outside now per your remarks) variant listed.  However, I am aware that the regulations were updated.  I do not have a copy of the upgrade.  I do like the quality of the Meyer variant.  In my research, older badges are made better.  The resolution of the sterling stamping process is of higher quality.   Thus, I would like to mount the Meyer in my father's shadow box if it's authentic to his service dates from 1943 to 1946.  Thank you so much for your post.  This is a labor of love for me since the box will be passed down to my children.

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  • 9 months later...
On 3/29/2022 at 12:11 PM, digi-shots said:

At first I thought it was FAIL also… but looking at the last one “Familiar”… maybe the other two that look like FAIL is actually FAM meaning familiar???  I don’t thin this section was for qualification but more for training.. making sure the Marine was familiar with various weapons?  How would you possibly pass or fail with “hand grenade”?

 

Ot does look like he was “unqualified” for bayonet

 

On 3/29/2022 at 12:57 PM, Cobra 6 Actual said:


Perhaps “Familiarization”?

 

Yes. For most of WW2 Marines only shot a rifle qualification.  For other weapons they were given instruction and familiarization courses.  They fired on the familiarization course, but not for 'record'.  In part this was due to compressed training time, and in part due to limited ammunition available.  Looking at the carbine familiarization course of fire, emphasis is on combat situations.  I suspect all of the familiarization courses are similar in that respect.  

 

From the USMC Research Library I was able to find the MCOs for WW2 at archive.org and also a study/review of USMC training during WW2.

https://usmc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=alma991000541569705241&context=L&vid=01USMCU_INST:USMC&lang=en&search_scope=MyInst_and_CI&adaptor=Local Search Engine&tab=Everything&query=any,contains,MCO&mode=basic

 

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