M1 US helmet dated 1945

[Nige H]

Another theory I been banding around in my head for years about M1's is localised stressing due to uneven tempering or uneven hardness. The reason I say this is a had a mid production M1 many years ago which showed the first stage of stress cracking without actually failing. Or in other words had developed a series of ribs and flats around the neck and back of the skull region of the helmet, giving the appearance of the shell having been made from a series of flat plates and not pressed out.

Nige.

[Bugme]

Another theory I been banding around in my head for years about M1's is localised stressing due to uneven tempering or uneven hardness. The reason I say this is a had a mid production M1 many years ago which showed the first stage of stress cracking without actually failing. Or in other words had developed a series of ribs and flats around the neck and back of the skull region of the helmet, giving the appearance of the shell having been made from a series of flat plates and not pressed out.

Nige.

Actually the nape area of the helmet that your speaking of here suffered from these mini-stress cracks just the same as they did in the front brim area where the huge cracks are usually found on the defective helmets. The front brim had more work hardening than the nape area thus, where there is more stress there are bigger cracks.

[Nige H]

Yes I wonder however was at time of manufacture or during use that these cracks developed, as I would have thought that given the quality control on M1's this must have been a fault that only showed up in these helmets at a later date. As again I always assumed that the flats and ribs forming in the pressed shape are in fact really the first signs of metal fatigue developing in the steel, due to localised over hardening which would only fail with actually use of the helmet. Again helmets that I have had over the years that show these hair line fractures, tend to have seen a lot of use, many having been reissued for latter conflicts, its obvious when looking at the shells that the steel has become brittle in specific areas over a period of time and these fractures have developed post production, so is this due to further work hardening during use due to the flex in the shell or just the uneven localised stress distortion from the day the helmet was pressed out at the factory, finally showing up as metal fatigue some years later on.

Nige.

[tony touch]

hi, my name is Guillermo, i am from spian

are you looking for an M1?, i have one

the serial number is 1230 E, you can read it perfectly in the pictures that i can send you...and it is compltelly the same that the pictures of helmets on this web site.

my helmet is the same than the pictures from 1941 to 1945.

http://www.helmy.w8w.pl/amerykanski%20wz.M1.htm

if you are interesting you can write to my adress; and i can send you the original pictures of my helmet.

thanks

guiyermis@hotmail.com