The name of
the pin is due to the story which happened during the commanders'
classification shooting in the summer of 1932. The shooters
standing in a line near their targets reported their results to
K.Voroshilov (the People's Comissary for War and Fleet, the head
of the Revolutionary War Council of the USSR). The commander near
one absolutely clean target plead his bad revolver in excuse.
Voroshilov took his gun and having gone back to the line of fire
scored 59 points having done 7 shots. Giving the gun back the
Commissary said: "There is no bad gun, there are bad
shooters". This case was published in a local paper and
became well-known. There began a mass movement under the slogan:
"Shoot like Voroshilov". On the 29th of October, 1932,
the presidium of the Central Council of the Society of Assistance
to Defence, Aircraft and Chemical industry confirmed the
statement about the title "Voroshilovsky shooter" and
on the 29th of December the title was established. In May 1934 in
order to improve shooting skills the Central Council introduced
two degrees of the title "Voroshilovsky shooter". For
the pin of the second degree higher requirements were worked out.
In July 1934 "Young Voroshilovsky shooter" appeared. The pin was produced by
different organisations among which the Leningrad mint. Almost
700 000 items of the pin were manufactured by the mint and the
whole number of the rewarded is from 6 to 9 million according to
different sources. One can find pins of various sizes, from 25 mm
to 50 mm. Of course the pins of the second degree are the most
exceptional, the one especially rare is "Voroshilovsky
shooter" with the inscription "PKKA" (WPRA = the
Workers' and Peasants' Red Army) on the place where the
abbreviation of the Society of Assistance to Defence, Aircraft
and Chemical industry was usually written. The pin "Young
Voroshilovsky shooter" is different with the representation
of the young pioneer fire instead of the red soldier against a
star. The comparative sizes of these pins can be seen on a
special picture.
For those
who are interested in details I can add that the target on the
pin may be all-metal and plated and the colour of the enamel on
the target is sometimes blue instead of usual black. The most
wide-spread are the pins of the size 35*40 mm. Others can be
found more rarely. The "Young Voroshilovsky shooter" of
small size (15-20 mm) is more rare. The numbers were put on the
pins as well as on the nuts of the fastening. There appear pins
made of copper, nickeled copper and steel. And on receiving the
title a rewarded was given a certificate of standard type. The
pin was the same for those having fulfilled the norms of rifle,
revolver, gun shooting and machine-gun firing. In the Workers'
and Peasants' Red Army they rewarded by the title
"Voroshilovsky shooter" from 1934 till May 1939, when
the reward "For excellent shooting WPRA" appeared, and
in the defense organisations the title was being given until the
beginning of the Great Patriotic war.
The name of
the pin is due to the story which happened during the commanders'
classification shooting in the summer of 1932. The shooters
standing in a line near their targets reported their results to
K.Voroshilov (the People's Comissary for War and Fleet, the head
of the Revolutionary War Council of the USSR). The commander near
one absolutely clean target plead his bad revolver in excuse.
Voroshilov took his gun and having gone back to the line of fire
scored 59 points having done 7 shots. Giving the gun back the
Commissary said: "There is no bad gun, there are bad
shooters". This case was published in a local paper 
and
became well-known. There began a mass movement under the slogan:
"Shoot like Voroshilov". On the 29th of October, 1932,
the presidium of the Central Council of the Society of Assistance
to Defence, Aircraft and Chemical industry confirmed the
statement about the title "Voroshilovsky shooter" and
on the 29th of December the title was established. In May 1934 in
order to improve shooting skills the Central Council introduced
two degrees of the title "Voroshilovsky shooter". For
the pin of the second degree higher requirements were worked out.
In July 1934 "Young Voroshilovsky shooter" appeared
. The pin was produced by
different organisations among which the Leningrad mint. Almost
700 000 items of the pin were manufactured by the mint and the
whole number of the rewarded is from 6 to 9 million according to
different sources. One can find pins of various sizes, from 25 mm
to 50 mm. Of course the pins of the second degree are the most
exceptional, the one especially rare is "Voroshilovsky
shooter" with the inscription "PKKA" (WPRA = the
Workers' and Peasants' Red Army) on the place where the
abbreviation of the Society of Assistance to Defence, Aircraft
and Chemical industry was usually written. The pin "Young
Voroshilovsky shooter" is different with the representation
of the young pioneer fire instead of the red soldier against a
star. The comparative sizes of these pins can be seen on a
special picture.
For those
who are interested in details I can add that the target on the
pin may be all-metal and plated and the colour of the enamel on
the target is sometimes blue instead of usual black. The most
wide-spread are the pins of the size 35*40 mm. Others can be
found more rarely. The "Young Voroshilovsky shooter" of
small size (15-20 mm) is more rare. The numbers were put on the
pins as well as on the nuts of the fastening. There appear pins
made of copper, nickeled copper and steel. And on receiving the
title a rewarded was given a certificate of standard type. The
pin was the same for those having fulfilled the norms of rifle,
revolver, gun shooting and machine-gun firing. In the Workers'
and Peasants' Red Army they rewarded by the title
"Voroshilovsky shooter" from 1934 till May 1939, when
the reward "For excellent shooting WPRA" appeared, and
in the defense organisations the title was being given until the
beginning of the Great Patriotic war.