M1 steel helmet ?

**ken68** · 11-16-2011, 08:24 PM

Hi all i have had this M1 steel helmet since the late 1980's picked it up at a market . has anyone any ideas if its euro type one or US made one , heres some info , sand finnish / rear seam/ and on the inside forehead area has 7 53 stamped in it. swivel bail.
it has had a dusting of black spray paint years ago hence the color now . the white stuff on the numbers is polishing compound to show it up better

THANKS KEN

**Walkwolf** · 11-16-2011, 08:40 PM

Hi Ken, welcome to the forum.

Straps look like US type. The Canadian Army may have used this kind
of helmet as well. You might want to repaint the outside,
or just leave it be.........

**NickD** · 11-16-2011, 08:47 PM

you have there a US made M-1 dating from the 60's onwards the chin strap dates from the early 70's onwards.

**MySonsDad** · 11-16-2011, 08:52 PM

by NickD

you have there a US made M-1 dating from the 60's onwards the chin strap dates from the early 70's onwards.

Nick, for my own eductaion, can you tell me how you pin this to a 60's or later lid, vs a late war rear seam? Is it by heat stamp or other distictive features? Certainly has a McCord shape but the texture throws me every time as I have read countless articles that indicate only sand texture was used post war. OK, I've got my pen and paper out and ready to take notes...... Thanks, Russ

**NickD** · 11-16-2011, 08:56 PM

its whats known as a low dome the shape of the shell is lower in profile to that of WW2 made shells this style came in to use from the 60's onwards plus the style of heat stamp number gives its away as well.

**MySonsDad** · 11-16-2011, 09:08 PM

by NickD

its whats known as a low dome the shape of the shell is lower in profile to that of WW2 made shells this style came in to use from the 60's onwards plus the style of heat stamp number gives its away as well.

Thanks Nick for the info, I'm learning more and more each day. I knew the later production lids had a lower profile, my eye is just not experianced enough yet to spot the differance in a photo, I still have to line two shells up side by side. Figured the heat stamp was a clue as well however, I have not found a heat stamp chart for post WWII helmets yet. Santa is suppose to be bringing me a new book on M-1's, I think it is one that you recommended to me some time ago.

Thanks again for the info,

Russ

**ken68** · 11-16-2011, 09:13 PM

thankyou so much for the information if you have anymore please share , i searched everywhere to find out what the numbers where ,
thankyou ken

by NickD

you have there a US made M-1 dating from the 60's onwards the chin strap dates from the early 70's onwards.

**NickD** · 11-16-2011, 09:16 PM

there's no chart fort post WW2 M-1 helmet heat stamps as to be honest no one is interested in dating a helmet after this time but yeah there's a guide to WW2 M-1 heat stamps that gives you e rough date of manufacture but this is only for McCord made shells & not Schlueter made shells but i believe there are collectors working on that.

**NickD** · 11-16-2011, 09:19 PM

by ken68

thankyou so much for the information if you have anymore please share , i searched everywhere to find out what the numbers where ,
thankyou ken

the numbers are whats called HEAT OF THE STAMP which was used for quality control purposes if there was any fault in the manufacturing of the shell.

HEAT TEMPERATURE STAMP

Production markings

Often misidentified as a serial number, the "heat temperature stamp" was used by the manufacturer to track helmets during production in the event of a defect. This number can be found embossed at the front of any US M-1 helmet shell. McCord manufactured the majority of M-1 helmet shells (making 20,000,000 helmets) and they did not place any identification marks.