Hungarian M90 vs. M70 ?

[kyron4]

I have a Hungarian M70 with the shiny IR paint and a "m90" with flat green paint and a 4 color Hungarian camo cover dated 2007. Both are unissued. Is the M90 just a M70 without IR paint ? Is the M90 it's own designation or is it still just a M70 ? Thanks

[Greg Pickersgill]

This might help - it is a note I got from Hungarian collector Tamas Baczoni some time ago -

-

"M50 helmet for the first version, produced from 1950 to 1956.

There was a second production of the M50 helmet in the 1960s (minor differences from the M50).

The new helmet was the M70 (with the 'complex' liner, Y-chinstrap and shiny plastic coating) introduced in the 1970s.

There was a big uniform-reform in 1965, but then no helmet was introduced, so the M65 designation is a misunderstanding.

The latest version was the matt-painted M70, first produced in 1989-90 (hence the name, however the designation M90 was never used officially). This helmet is still in use today, recently under replacing by different types of kevlar helmets."

[Greg Pickersgill]

I should aff that the only differences I have been able to see in the first and second series of M50 is that the first (at least out of the factory) has sewn-on chinstraps, and the second rivetted. But then there are also repaired straps. It may also be true that the chinstraps of series 2 are made from lighter-gauge leather, and a lot of them seem to have the outer side finished 'shiny' and dyed red-brown.. Also the second series probably - based on my observation - has a more matte paint job. But then the M50 generally has a variety of different versions of green so it is hard to say for certain.