Front Seam Swivel Bale WW2 M1 Helmet

Product Description: WW2 M1 Helmet with front rim seam and swivel chinstrap bales. The orignal OD Green paint on the helmet rates at approximately 98%. Both bales are intact, with no damage. The chinstrap is intact, with signs of light wear. The helmet liner’s exterior is very nice, in an almost factory condition. The interior of the liner is complete, only missing the small leather liner chinstrap. This WW2 M1 Helmet is in excellent condition.

Historical Description: The US military adopted the M1 helmet in 1941, near the outbreak of WWII. This helmet was a replacement for the outdated 1917 pattern “Kelly” helmet, which saw only limited use very early in WWII. WWII production M1 helmets featured a rim around the edge, made of a separate steel strip, with the seam in the front. Early helmets had chin strap bales that were fixed, and simple wire fittings that were brazed into place. Later wartime production helmets had a more complex “swivel bale” chin strap attachment system. The M1 helmet had a removable liner, initially made of a pressed composite material with a cloth color, later replaced with a more rigid liner made out of a plastic material that did not have a cloth cover. The shell itself was made to be one size fits all, and was made by only two manufacturers, while the liners were made by a variety of different companies. For camouflage purposes, the United States Marine Corps issued a cloth cover for this helmet, while the US Army generally used a helmet net for this purpose. M1 helmets existed in a variety of paint finishes, including gray helmets for US Navy use, and were further customized with a variety of indicators such as rank or unit assignment.

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