IAB Opinions Wanted

[Alexjager]

Hello.
I have this bronze IAB. I am not quite sure of the maker. As you can see
in the picture the rifle has a groove cut in it. Could this have been cut by mistake when the badge was being hand finished?

Any opinions would be appreciated.

[Alexjager]

Rear

[Alexjager]

Side

[robert60446]

Looks like a good RK IAB to me.
@rifle has a groove cut in it - IMO this is not production related damage.

[Alexjager]

Thanks for your reply. What do you think of the cut on the rifle?

[robert60446]

Thanks for your reply. What do you think of the cut on the rifle?

Alex, to be honest with you, my guess would be as good as yours...

[MIKE12550]

Alex, thats a very nice badge. I think that damage was after production. Why would anyone hand finish a badge with a flaw as glaring as that. I can see hand finish marks on reverse clearly. I really like it and bronze IAB's are getting tough to find! That badge has character!
Mike

[Bruce Simcox]

Hi Alex......

......just one question, if you don't mind.

Does the groove on the rifle have the bronze finish as well??......From the images provided......it looks like it does on my monitor.

If so......then we may have a different ballgame.

[Alexjager]

Yes there is full finish in the groove. I didn't notice it before but the back of the badge in that area has a crack in it. you can see that in my side view photo. There is also a chip in the bottom back side of the swastika which has full finish on it. It almost looks like the badge took a hard hit before the finish was applied. Does that sound possible?

[greg.hays]

Very odd indeed as the finish does seem to be original ie....applied after the damage. From the pics it seems that way, doesn't really look like it was refinished. Anything is possible, the more badges I handle the more I start to believe that at some point quality control just went to doo doo, especially with some of the more common designs........like RK, SHuCo, UU ect.....

[Philippe DB]

Hi Guys,

Well as far as I'm concerned this badge was hit by a blunt object explaining the intact finish.

Don't forget, these were combat badges and all things considered I always find it amazing how few of them with "battle damage" are arround.

KR
Philippe

[Graeme]

Nice looking badge with plenty of character

regards
GRaeme

[skip]

Alex,

the badge is probably made by Rudolf Karneth or "RK". You also find the GABs with the same setup.

As for the dent, probably like Phil already mentioned, it most likely had a hit with something blunt, I think I can see some spots were the finish has broken of in the dent. Right?

Skip

[Graeme]

The front damage probably occurred at the same time as what appears to be a large impact on the reverse (central region of reverse)

cheers
Graeme

[Alexjager]

Thanks everyone for all your comments