Hungarian/Berndorfer M17 SD reissue Heer

[helmet2id]

Jim did they have more than one type of the berndorfer size 64 Hungarian shell.
One that had two pins on each side of the lugs.
chris

Chris, No, not to my knowledge. It seems to me that this helmet is an M18 that was fitted with a different style liner, Finnish maybe? Sorry I can't be of more help on this one. Jim G.

[cricketchris1944]

Thank you Jim for your help,It does have the bear 64 logo.
Chris

[helmet2id]

Hi Chris, With the bear logo it is definitely a Berndorfer. Probably when the helmet was reissued, they simply drilled holes in the steel in front of the lugs to fit in the M31 liner, rather than drill holes in the liner band to accommodate the split pins that could have been fitted through the holes to the rear of the lugs after they had been enlarged (as was done on my helmet). It seems to be a lot more work, drilling through the steel to position the split pins in the "proper" German helmet location, but I have seen similar wasted efforts. I have an Edelstahl helmet that was originally fitted with a civil liner with 4 split pins. It was camoed. and refitted with an M31 liner presumably for combat use late in the War. Rather than drill holes in the liner band and attach the liner to the shell through the 4 original holes, they drilled a 5th hole in the rear of the helmet and affixed the M31 liner with 3 split pins. Again, it seems to have been a wasted effort, but it was done. I like your helmet, another "odd ball" that certainly fits my tastes! Cheers, Jim G.

[cricketchris1944]

Hi Chris, With the bear logo it is definitely a Berndorfer. Probably when the helmet was reissued, they simply drilled holes in the steel in front of the lugs to fit in the M31 liner, rather than drill holes in the liner band to accommodate the split pins that could have been fitted through the holes to the rear of the lugs after they had been enlarged (as was done on my helmet). It seems to be a lot more work, drilling through the steel to position the split pins in the "proper" German helmet location, but I have seen similar wasted efforts. I have an Edelstahl helmet that was originally fitted with a civil liner with 4 split pins. It was camoed. and refitted with an M31 liner presumably for combat use late in the War. Rather than drill holes in the liner band and attach the liner to the shell through the 4 original holes, they drilled a 5th hole in the rear of the helmet and affixed the M31 liner with 3 split pins. Again, it seems to have been a wasted effort, but it was done. I like your helmet, another "odd ball" that certainly fits my tastes! Cheers, Jim G.

Thank you Jim for the great info again.
That is what I was thinking ,but the holes were just so perfect and the same sizes that I had to check to make sure.
Chris

[cricketchris1944]

Hi Jim

I do not know if you saw that ,I was just told about.this is a decal over another decal.
if you look closely you can see it.
chris

[helmet2id]

Hi Chris, Yes, that was the first thing I noticed actually, then the dual split pins!