Battle damaged badge in gold

[mattc]

Hello Friends,

I have to chuckle about how a guy could take a badge to the range and pop a couple of holes in it and bury it. With bullet rounds a guy maybe be able to do it. Not with large hot piercing shrapnel marks like this on my badge.

Especially, from two angles as on my piece.

Thanks,
Matt

[blutundehre]

Hello Friends,

I have to chuckle about how a guy could take a badge to the range and pop a couple of holes in it and bury it. With bullet rounds a guy maybe be able to do it. Not with large hot piercing shrapnel marks like this on my badge.

Especially, from two angles as on my piece.

Thanks,
Matt

Depending on what kind of round was used IMO could produce this kind of damage. A bullet for all intensive purposes is hot piercing shrapnel, the angel it is shot at would determine if a hole is made or a "scraping" effect. A shot gun with buck-shot may be able to cause this damage IMO
Not saying this is what happened, but just an unbiased opinion.
Still looks great though.

[Gran Sasso]

I was thinking the same thing. How many guys that earned a gold wound badge would recover enough to go back in combat.

I know one personally - dependings on the wounds received over a longer period there was enough time to recover, especially when the wounds were only of minor "damage".
Dont forget, even if you got ill during duty this counts as 1 wound.

[Jean-Loup]

I dont think any bullet could leave damage like this on a badge, exept maybe some kinds of armor piercing bullets that would have been damaged by a ricochet. Bullets have a nice and regular sruface that dont leave marks like on this badge.


"Reminds me of that scene in Saving Private Ryan when they are sorting thru the dogtags and one guy comes across the tag with the bullethole in it.

"Guess these aren't bulletproof.""

The one below is unfortunatly the real thing:

[Jean-Loup]

Discovery of the tag above:

[blutundehre]

I dont think any bullet could leave damage like this on a badge, exept maybe some kinds of armor piercing bullets that would have been damaged by a ricochet. Bullets have a nice and regular sruface that dont leave marks like on this badge.


"Reminds me of that scene in Saving Private Ryan when they are sorting thru the dogtags and one guy comes across the tag with the bullethole in it.

"Guess these aren't bulletproof.""

The one below is unfortunatly the real thing:

Buck-shot ? Nine steel balls bearings? Even if not a shot gun, hollow point flattens and tears, fmj tears as well and with enough grains (30.06) pushing that bullet I would think it would have the velocity, but armor piercing I would think would definitely make a perfect hole as the steel core cuts like a razor and as I said in the original post, I understand a straight on shot will put a hole in it, but it could be hit at an angle, as I don't think a ricochet would have the energy to do much, certainly not tear into it. It may not be probable, but I think it is definitely possible .

Hey Mattc,
I am not trying to rain on your parade, don't get me wrong please
For all I know it could be just as descibed, I don't have it in hand.
This is just an theory, but I'm just looking at it from every angle. Must be the skeptic in me.
Like I said before it is a really neat badge and regardless of how it got damaged I would still display it in my collection.

[Jean-Loup]

What I am trying to say is that reguler bullets made of lead and coper would not do damage like this, as both are soft metals, and even if deformed, they would not leave the irregular marks visible on this badge.

I suspect a bullet made of steel or something harder then lead+copper, that would have been deformed by a previous impact on an irregular surface, could cause this damage...

For me this badge has typical shrapnel damage, though I also find the conditon and colour a bit surprising, but this may have been caused by the badge being cleaned and oiled.

JL