Ya don't see these much anymore. Fallish of1944 Schluter.

[cap-273]

13 minutes ago, Justin said:

Experience. 

That's not informative.

[Paddyd00]

6 hours ago, cap-273 said:

That's not informative.

Well I won’t speak for Justin but I agree with him. I have never owned a reproduction anything ie J Murray. I only collect real untouched pieces from World War II and I study them. And with that comes …. Experience.
 

Handling them. Knowing a real chinstrap weave from a bad one.  Real factory corking and paint from a strip job and post war application. In this case …. Experience tells me that there are many of these Schlueter unissued later war shells floating around. To take that even further experience tells me that many of these are in the 300 lot number. My unissued Schlueter is 354A … my buddies is 344 … and this guys are 303. Experience tells me that that glossy black paint on the chinstrap hardware is how they look as do the straps. I also know that these came in the exact waffle crating seen here and that original box shown …. Well …. I haven’t seen that fakes yet but I come from the German helmet world as well so never say never. 
 

You have to put all these pieces of the puzzle together …using ones experience to make calls when collecting these helmet. But a for someone with experience these were a no brainer. 
 

Keep reading around here. Studying old topics. Asking questions in PMs. And most importantly … Owning lots of these M1s and you will gain your own experience. 
Z

[ken88]

I agree the chin straps are major in authenticating a helmet, so are weld marks and paint/cork. Some of the best books on the subject, if you are planning on investing in M1 helmets include Helmets of the ETO (brilliant technical guide in there) and The WWII GI M-1 helmet by Pieter Oosterman. Knowledge is key. Never ever take a seller's word. 

 

If you are after a WW2 M1 helmet, the first step in the right direction would be to look for a helmet with a rim that has a seam/joint at the front of it, that has either swivel or fixed hinges with sewn chin straps. Very important. Chin straps should always be sewn in the case of WW2 produced helmets, as lots were repurposed after the war with clipped straps and what not. The rest of your authenticating process is all about being able to tell if e.g. a bar tack and corking is real. This comes down to studying and handling really. If you want the real deal, I'd look for a used helmet first, before looking at mint examples. I'd look for a plain Jane as they say, and would stay away from any kind of markings if it's your first helmet.