1944 German Sniper Smock

Hercules

Hercules

Senior Member
I have been looking for one for a while. Seen quite a few bad ones along the way. Someday, I will get a M44 uniform and use this smock over it on a display possibly. There is not a lot of information on these. These are reversible white in color as well for Winter Fighting. Was not easy to find one I liked. A couple of guys from the Max Show were helpful as well. Not really a 98K, but those are kind of over priced compared to other WWII items lately. Kind of nice to branch out a little. At least this is German Sniper related. Anyone else have one of these here? Thanks for looking.

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Oh well, I would not know how to tell original or repro since I never touch clothing, but I am sure it would look great in a display with a sniper rifle in his hands. Thanks for sharing!
 
Reversible clothing was not well liked by German soldiers because when worn on the camo side the white inner side tended to show and disproportionately cause head wounds as it made a good target, as shown n your photos. That said I’ve never seen one of these before but it takes a brave man to buy any ww2 German camo so bravo, maybe the Soviet era stamps are a clue and will give some info.
 
First, I will point out that it is an ongoing popular misconception that these were issued as "sniper" smocks. These were occasionally worn by snipers but they were actually a general issue item within the Wehrmacht. The veils proved very unpopular overall and were eliminated from later production smocks.

I have a mint unused example. The veils were a fine mesh and easily damaged when snagged, fortunately mine had not sustained any damage since it was stored very well.

Hercules, can you please show a close up of the sleeve ends? Originals should have a raw edge without a hem. I can't see yours well enough in the first picture.
 
mrfarb said:
Reversible clothing was not well liked by German soldiers because when worn on the camo side the white inner side tended to show and disproportionately cause head wounds as it made a good target, as shown n your photos. That said I’ve never seen one of these before but it takes a brave man to buy any ww2 German camo so bravo, maybe the Soviet era stamps are a clue and will give some info.
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Ha Ha. Yeah, what I figured.
 
You need a late turret or lsr to display with it, and some later type field gear.
 
Rheinmetall said:
First, I will point out that it is an ongoing popular misconception that these were issued as "sniper" smocks. These were occasionally worn by snipers but they were actually a general issue item within the Wehrmacht. The veils proved very unpopular overall and were eliminated from later production smocks.

I have a mint unused example. The veils were a fine mesh and easily damaged when snagged, fortunately mine had not sustained any damage since it was stored very well.

Hercules, can you please show a close up of the sleeve ends? Originals should have a raw edge without a hem. I can't see yours well enough in the first picture.
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Here’s your photo.

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Looks good to me ///// items like these poured out of the former Soviet Union when it collapsed, accountability disappeared and museums were looted for artifacts to sell in the West
 
Very nice, looks 100% legit to me, with the face veil still present. Markings are correct. Those look like Soviet film studio property and inventory markings. When the wall came down and the Soviet Union collapsed, plenty of really cool German uniforms and soft headgear came out of museums and ex-Soviet film studios and were so stamped.
 
Thanks for the interest. I like it. The pocket markings are RBN manufacturing Numbers (Not Pictured as I had to cut picture for forum size limits) and smock size markings. The other markings are on the back and are not legible besides numbers. Hard to say capture, unit, or other? Film Studio?.

This came out of Europe. I could not find one here in USA I liked. It will go on a display when I can source a M43 or M44 tunic and pants. I have the rest to put this together.
 
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