M1 helmet question.

[ruddersrangers44]

Well most Euro clones had steel hinges as far as im aware,so maybe south american or far east like indonesia,only a guess its hard to work out when there's nothing to compare it with,even on "Brendons helmet" site which covers a multitude of M1 versions there's nothing with brass so will have to keep searching for an answer there has to be one surely somewhere...............Jake.

[rap57]

O K . has far as I know ,the U S did not use brass .

[rap57]

American/British Brass D-Rings Military Reproductions American & British Military Reproductions
by
Prairie Flower Leather Co.
brass d ring

$3.00/pair

[Major Tom]

No brass, McCords started with the square fixed then the D-bale which I was told is a mild steel and then Both McCord and Schlueter all went Stainless steel swivel bale late War. As far as I know there always been stainless steel swivel bales on all our M1 helmets late WWII till the introduction of Kevlar early 80's. Please correct me if I am wrong. When I was involved in flag presession's there where stainless steel M1's for parade and ceremony and that is all you see today of the M1's for military use.

[denfly]

Wow, looks like I created something here. There has to be at least one country that did this and I was sure someone on this forum could answer that. Perhaps a country that lacks stainless steel but brass is available? It is without a doubt as close to an american clone as possible. The peak is just right, and that is usually a giveaway. Could it have been made for an amphibian army unit so it wouldn't rust as easy by the sea? Could it have been a prototype on how brass could stand up to the rigors compared to stainless steel?

[Major Tom]

Wow, looks like I created something here. There has to be at least one country that did this and I was sure someone on this forum could answer that. Perhaps a country that lacks stainless steel but brass is available? It is without a doubt as close to an american clone as possible. The peak is just right, and that is usually a giveaway. Could it have been made for an amphibian army unit so it wouldn't rust as easy by the sea? Could it have been a prototype on how brass could stand up to the rigors compared to stainless steel?

don't quote me on this, I am very certain most of our WWII thru Vietnam era helmets have had heat lot stamps or some Identification except for some of the Vietnam era made ones, the rear seams tend to be more stream lined than the WWII versions all I can say is, it was either done outside the U.S. or done privately, we have certain protocols on military specifications of anything fieldgear related within design or within a design from a outside vender that has a military contract with one of our branches, That's not saying that a private vendor expieremented. It would be my opinion that stainless steel would be the best cause of the lighter weight and doesn't tarnish and is aliitle more durable and cheaper, all U.S military special forces usually have the same specs with slight designs differences that's including air to land sea to land amphibious units. anaquated out dated technology would have been redesigned before being issued for any military occupation or campaign. Your helmet I cant say it is or isn't never seen that version before.

[rap57]

Hi .That helmet is a repo , if you go back to #13 and clic on the link , you will see it was made by a British co. with brass d bales, that's why there's no heat stamp those brass d bale sell for 3.00
Bob

[denfly]

These are not D rings, they are the squared rectangular type. Hard to think someone went through the trouble to change the stainless steel for brass. Unless it was at one time repaired in some depot that used brass instead, that could be a small reason for the replacements.

[Major Tom]

These are not D rings, they are the squared rectangular type. Hard to think someone went through the trouble to change the stainless steel for brass. Unless it was at one time repaired in some depot that used brass instead, that could be a small reason for the replacements.

If its a repro, the best way to tell is by turning the helmet upside down looking inside the helmet with both hands on either side squeeze the helmet with some pressure if it flex's its a repro if it doesn't and is still ridged during this test it most likely original. The fakes are made of 16 or 18 guage soft steel so its bendable and cheap to manufacture, the original M-1 like its nemesis the German shell are made with manganese silicon steel very tough stuff won't bend try it out let us know what happens. look really hard at the inner brim for a heat lot mark there could be just a lot of paint build up so seeing it will be quiet impossible. No Chinese company is going to spend the big money fabricating managanese steel helmets, too expensive!

[rap57]

O k . I use the wrong terminology . I know there not d rings its still a fake ,look it up on that web page