French M51 OTAN

**MySonsDad** · 05-22-2013, 11:30 PM

Our latest pickup......

Russ & Son

**Walkwolf** · 05-22-2013, 11:51 PM

Nice helmet - Great condition !

I recieved a rubber camo 'foliage' cover for one of these
as a birthday gift a few years ago.........

**meyle77** · 05-22-2013, 11:54 PM

Very nice !

**37Webbing** · 05-22-2013, 11:58 PM

How did they manage to ruin the pleasing design of the M1?!

But a very nice and mint helmet. I like it, and still need one for the collection.

**MySonsDad** · 05-23-2013, 12:14 AM

by Walkwolf

Nice helmet - Great condition !

I recieved a rubber camo 'foliage' cover for one of these
as a birthday gift a few years ago.........

Steve, are you refering to the "salad" cover? We have one of these on or French M78 but I think I'd like to get one for this lid as well and then do something else for the M78......they are certainly DIFFERENT!

**James C** · 05-23-2013, 06:36 PM

Russ another superb addition to the shelf ,i know how long you've waited to pick one up and you bidded your time well ,its a beaut ,i cant decide if its unissued or issued but judging by the slight wear mark here im swaying towards issued but if so the owner took great care of her ,im really fond of this model and in my opinion even though its a 2 part construction like the us m1 its worlds apart in design and shouldnt be compared to the m1 ,every collection should have one

thanks for sharing ,james

**37Webbing** · 05-23-2013, 07:34 PM

by col james

Russ another superb addition to the shelf ,i no how long you've waited to pick one up and you bidded your time well ,its a beaut ,i cant decide if its unissued or issued but judging by the slight wear mark here im swaying towards issued but if so the owner took great care of her ,im really fond of this model and in my opinion even though its a 2 part construction like the us m1 its worlds apart in design and shouldnt be compared to the m1 ,every collection should have one

thanks for sharing ,james

Or perhaps he had so many stars he did not bother to use it...

**Spitace41** · 05-23-2013, 07:40 PM

Nice helmet. These were also used by the South Africans I believe.

**MySonsDad** · 05-23-2013, 08:19 PM

by col james

,i cant decide if its unissued or issued but judging by the slight wear mark here im swaying towards issued but if so the owner took great care of her

James, thanks for the nice comments. yes, she sure does look pretty crisp and to be honest, the only real "wear" the helmet portrays is the leather swearband which may have very well been added at a later date, it actually has a broken clip that you can not see in the photo. As for the condition of the rest of the shell and liner, other than norma paint nicks from being stored and bumped over the years, it looks fresh out of the box. So my question is, were there surplus examples of these earlier M51's laying around? Seems to me that if in fact there were, they be of later vintage, but I really have little knowledge of the history of these helmets, will be interested in hearing others input.

Regards,

Russ & Son

**James C** · 05-23-2013, 08:28 PM

hi russ ,i can confirm my 1954 dated m51 of which could be your examples twin sister is in timewarp condition also ,bearing hadly any wear and tear ,i cant fully explain the reason for this with so many found in this condition i think we need greg to comment further on the subject of the mle 51 , regards james