M1 helmet Question

[Thunderbolt]

Hi to all, I have a question about M1 helmet.
What differences between European M1 Helmet and USA M1 helmet? Or its is indentical copy?
Tnx for answers!

[NickD]

there are differences mainly the shape original US M1's are slightly higher in shape to the post war clone lids, i have an original M1 & a german clone M1 i'll try to get a good pic of them together to try & show it

well not exactly good pic's but i think it shows (think got got phil brown syndrome)

the US M1 is the dark green one & the german clone is the light green hope this helps out a little

[Thunderbolt]

very good, answer tnx! But what can you tell about Austrian M1 helmet and USA M1 Helmet? A lot of pepole told me that there no differences in them The Austrian M1 helmet has the same shapes as M1 US Helmet (WW2 era) Is it true?

[NickD]

i believe originally the US supplied the Austrian army with M1's after the war before they then started to make their own version which like the others do differ in shape slightly as well as they added metal clips to the inside of the shell to hold the liner in place. i did have an early version Austrian one it was almost the the same as the US ones apart from the rim band was thinner.

hopefully Emile will pop up to give some excellent advise on this matter as my knowledge is very much limited to early US M1's

[Panzer 3]

Hi Nick,
You are right with the copies of the M1, the U.S, sold thousends of helmets to various countries after the war. Then they were copied
By Germay ect, i think you will find that Austria, had the same helmet as the german M1,. I was issued one of these helmets when on attachment to the germans, and the liners are held in by
the inside top of the helmet the helmet it self was in one piece.
hope this helps.
dave.

[NickD]

hiya dave
thats why if im buying an M1 i try to stick to a front seemed version as they were US made only

[Panzer 3]

Hi Nick,
Just a bit of info, might come in handy some time. The U.S, M1
Helmet. McCord Radiators and Manufacturing Company,
Detroit Michigan. Total Number of helmets,= 20,000,000.
Schueter Manufacturing Company St Louis Missouri,
Total number of helmets,= Aprox, 2,000,000. Liner production topped 33,000,000. during world war 2.
Here is a pic of my M1, with firestone liner 1943 issue.
dave.

[Panzer 3]

hi nick,
Yeah it is getting hard to find a really good front seam fixed bale these days, original anyway. The helmet i have i bought back in
about 67, iv had it for ever it seems, it cost me £3.00 then,
god know how much it,s worth now. It is one of two from my first collection but i love it,. i tried for a good M1 from the states a week ago but lost it, the only thing is they want far to much for postage, This old boy is a front seam fixed bale, with firestone liner. If you check the nape strap you will find a code number on them, this will tell you the year of manufacture. you can check the codes on the net. good luck hunting your helmets.
dave.

[85ronnies]

Guy's sorry to but in and please forgive my ignorance but what is the liner made frrom,
cheer's Ronnie

[Panzer 3]

Hi Ronnie
the liner of ww2, were made of fibre, it is an early form of our fibre glass G.R.P, glass rienforce plastic. This type went on through the
wars up to the vietnam war. Then they started to make them in
a solid plastic form, Ugly looking thing compared to these.
This type of M1 went out of issue in the mid eighties when Kavlar came in. But there are still a lot of third world countries that still use the old M1, In the early ww2 they made the front seam fixed bale type, but in the late part of the war the Rear seam swival bale came in, so this makes the front seam more collectable
and expensive.
dave