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M1 Helmet and Liner Dating Info


oldcadet
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Hi,

Hoping there are enough experts out there to give me a bit of help in identifying this helmet and liner I recently bought - never bought a helmet before btw. I got it from a seller in the Netherlands who advertised it as a Vietnam era pot with post-Vietnam liner. I did some reading around before/after I bought it and from the stamp in the steel pot (604) can I deduce that this is an RJ Stampings helmet? Also it has some white residue near the bales, which I believe also might mean it's RJ. Does the number indicate year of production? As it was bought from the European continent, I was wary that it might be Danish/French/German etc in origin. Does the stamp/markings rule that out?
The liner has US/78 marked inside the crown - hopefully visible in my photo. Presumably this is the year of manufacture? And in the USA? The straps and bands seem a mixture of fabric and nylon ie the pot chinstraps are nylon. Does this indicate a load of stuff cobbled together over time or some kind of proper 'in-keeping' setup for the era?

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Liner Marking 1.jpg

Pot Marking 1.jpg

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Cap Camouflage Pattern I

It is an RJ Stampings manufactured shell, made sometime between 1970 and the early 1980s, that style of chinstrap was introduced in 1973 and would be considered post Vietnam as extremely few to none made it to RVN before it fell. The number 604 is not a date, it's an internal quality control number used to track all helmets made of the same lot and lift of steel. Samples of each lot number were chosen at random and their protection tested by firing a special .45 acp bullet at it, if one failed the ballistics test all the helmets with that lot number (and thus the same batch of steel) would be rejected.

 

The liner was made between 1964 and 1972 and is a classic Vietnam-era liner. US 78 is another internal quality control number, US means the mold was owned by the US government and loaned to the manufacturer during their contract, as opposed to the company owned molds used in the 1940s and 1950s. 78 is the number of the mold so defective liners can be traced back to the faulty mold and it can be fixed or replaced. 

 

Unfortunately there is no way to date the shell more precisely than the 1970-1980s that RJ Stampings had contracts to make helmets, that information was marked on the shipping box of 20 it came in. But if you want to get a more precise date for the liner a contact number stamped on the suspension, it will start with the letters DSA. Where ## represents the last two digits of the US government fiscal year (July 1st of the preceding calendar year -June 30th (until 1976)) during which the contract was awarded it goes DSA-1-123-A-## for 1962, DSA-1-1234-##-A for 1963 and 1964, 1965 is both DSA-1-1234-##-A or DSA-1-1234, 1966 is DSA-100-1234, then 1967-1977 it is DSA-100-##-A-1234. For example if the number was DSA-100-69-C-4543 then that would mean sometime between July 1st 1968 and June 30th 1969 the manufacturer got a contract to produce liners , after which production would begin. There are all sorts of caveats but in the case of helmet liners production would probably be completed after about a year. So our example would be made in the second half of 1968 or during 1969.

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Thanks very much - so much useful info that I would never have been able to get without your help. Thank you for your time - looks like I haven't wasted on money on something that was totally mis-described. 

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1 hour ago, oldcadet said:

Thanks very much - so much useful info that I would never have been able to get without your help. Thank you for your time - looks like I haven't wasted on money on something that was totally mis-described. 

 

The giveaway on the liner is that the webbing is held in by black A washers dating it as a P64 (1964-72 as stated). If it had removeable webbing, it would be post-1973. There would have been a stamp on the side of the webbing somewhere with a date, but that may be worn off or hidden by the sweatband. 

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Here's a link to more info on the liner: http://www.vietnamgear.com/kit.aspx?kit=604 

The P55 was the earlier version produced from 1955-1963. http://www.vietnamgear.com/kit.aspx?kit=689 

Also as stated, those angled clip-on straps were introduced in 1973 and were the final version until the end of the M1 usage in the early 90s. Here's a quick reference chart that covers changes to the M1 over the years: http://www.hardscrabblefarm.com/ww2/dating_m1.htm

 

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Just checked inside the liner suspension - see photo. Actually matches up exactly with your advice ie 1968-69. Thanks again.

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Yep, 1969 for the sweatband, should be another on the side webbing (if it's not faded out) probably right about where the 2 side clips are that hold the sweatband in place.

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