(I was originally going to post this somewhere else but imo it is too long so I have decided to make a separate post)

 

Supposedly large 4 digit heat stamps with no letters were made by R.J. Stampings and the small 4 digit heat stamps with no letters were made by Parish Pressed Steel. However I am beginning to believe that it is a widespread misconception and that it is actually the other way around for a few reasons.

 

1. If the shells with large heat stamps were made by R.J. Stampings, why do they have 12 crimp spots and iirc (as I can't seem to find where I saw the helmets with chinstraps) factory issued Vietnam era chinstraps on shells with lot numbers as late as at least the 5000s when the other shells that are confirmed to be from R.J. Stampings based on them having white tape residue, have heat stamps from 0### and up that are about 1.2 cm by 6mm and don't have those extra crimps. This is important because the lot numbers for helmets with large digits go up to at least the 8000s and the ones with small digits go up to the 9000s and the shells with lot numbers around the 1400s and up have factory issued 1972 pattern chinstraps.

 

2. The heat stamps and the crimp spots are similar to those on shells made by Parish Pressed Steel during WW2 which makes sense if Parish was Infact the one to make the shells with large heatstamps during the Vietnam War as they might've done things similarly to when they produced helmets during WW2.

 

Some people tried to ID Parish and RJ helmets based on the shape of the chinstrap loops weld spots, however RJ Stampings shells with tape residue have weld spots that look like those that were supposedly exclusive to Parish and others have the shallow or deeply stamped ones that are typically found on shells made by RJ. And I believe whilst looking into this about a year or 2 ago I found that RJ Stampings shells have a few small variants of chinstrap loops which would discount another way to ID a Parish over a RJ shell but I could be wrong so I will have to check again later.

They also tried comparing the font, however heat stamps with tape residue and small digits also have the font that is supposedly an identifier of Parish made shells.

 

Simplified comparison

Large heat stamps

-Goes up to at least the late 8000s

-Have 12 crimp spots similar to those on Parish helmets made during WW2 which have 13 iirc.

-Factory issued Vietnam era Type l OD Cotton chinstraps if I'm not mistaken helmets with lot numbers as high as at least the 5000s have them

-Not particularly important but chinstrap loop weld spots similar to those on Parish helmets made during WW2 but those weld spots are pretty generic.

-As far as I've seen these never have ink stamps but I have not seen many of these

 

Small heat stamps

-Have white tape residue

-Heat stamps are 1.2cm by 6mm

-Lot numbers as low as at least the 1400s have factory issued Type 1 Ground Troop Chinstraps.

-Occasionally have ink stamps

 

We can know for certain that the small heat stamps were used by R.J. Stampings based on the assumption that tape from the factory is exclusive to shells made by RJ which 1980s shells in NOS boxes from Canada have.

It doesn't make sense for the same manufacturer to be manufacturing helmets with 12 crimp spots and the earlier chinstraps at the same time as those with much less crimp spots, tape, and chinstraps from 1972 onwards. I suppose you could argue that the large heat stamps came first but I'm pretty sure I've seen early shells with small heat stamps that had Vietnam era chinstraps so if that is true than that eliminates it as a possibility. I will have to confirm this again later as I do not remember.

 

Things that support the claim that the large heat stamps are from R.J. Stampings:

 

-The helmets with large digits that I have seen with what I believe to be factory issue chinstraps don't have P markings (or any markings). Which may be important if PPS installed their own chinstraps on the helmets. However I would imagine that they still would've used other manufacturers chinstraps even if they did make the P marked chinstraps.

-I have seen a really small heat stamp with a lot number in the 8000s on the WAF forum that had Vietnam era cotton chinstraps. Though this doesn't really prove anything as Parish could've switched to small digits later on, the chinstraps could've been replaced at some point (lots of people do this to shells made by R.J. Stampings but this could also apply to any of the examples I have mentioned that supported my theory), or there is a poorly stamped I or 1 that can not be seen as the shell was a bit rusty.

-Ingersoll heat stamps vary in size so it is not abnormal for both to be made around the same time but it is still weird that only the large lot numbers would have 12 crimps.

 

Also in theory if it is true that RJ made shells with large digits:

Perhaps machinery was obtained from Ingersoll by RJ Stampings after Ingersoll stopped making helmets as the heat stamps appear to be a similar size but that still doesn't explain why they have 12 crimp spots but the ones with small digits don't.

If RJ Stampings made both than how would one ID a Parish made shell as RJ Stampings shells appear to feature everything that one made by Parish does.

 

Another thing is that I'm not sure if all the contracts for R.J. Stampings have been posted yet as it seems that the forum's list of contracts were exclusively based off of boxes that were found and not what was listed on the NARA website. Which reminds me that on another forum someone claimed to have purchased a helmet from a place that had a box of helmets made by R.J. Stampings dated 1984.

It would be nice if someone who has already looked through Nara for all the contracts could confirm whether those were the only contracts. Otherwise I will look through NARA again for any other contracts later if someone hasn't already confirmed whether any others exist.

 

There also seems to be 2 main beliefs for what a Shell made by RJ Stampings has:

1. That it has large digits and a different font than a Parish made shell

Or

2. That it can have either small (even the same size as a shell supposedly made by Parish) or large digits but with a different font and no ink stamp.

 

This has been bugging me for a while and I've looked at hundreds of helmet shells and forum posts to try and confirm whether or not the claims were true but it is somewhat confusing as it seems that one misconception possibly led to more misconceptions using the previous misconceptions to support them.

 

Something to keep in mind as well about this is that as far as I can recall, I have only seen a few dozen helmet shells with large heat stamps (so perhaps some do have tape residue). Most of which didn't have chinstraps so I didn't have much to go off of unfortunately.

 

Edit: I apologize for the incoherent mess. I have rewritten individual sections multiple times as I am trying to remember what I found a year or 2 ago when I was researching manufacturers.

Too long didn't read version:

If someone could confirm whether or not the claims about R.J. Stampings shells are true that would be nice as I can't seem to find some of the original posts about R.J. Stampings anymore.

 

The easiest way would probably be to look up the contract dates people have posted and compare them to what contracts Parish recieved. Then find out if anyone's posted a helmet they got from a box with that contract with a photo of the heat stamp.

I might look into it again on the weekend but I was also having some trouble with the Nara website.

I recall reading a forum post where someone unboxed helmets that were supposedly from Parish Pressed Steel but I don't remember if they showed the heat stamp or proved that the box was from a contract for Parish Pressed Steel/The Dana Corporation.

 

 

Now for some more unlikely theories:

 

Is it possible that the helmet shells with large heat stamps were made by a manufacturer that is still unknown or have all possible manufacturers been discovered? I ask because I occasionally see people claim that other companies made shells during the 60s or 70s as well and people find new manufacturers for various M1 helmet parts every now and then so perhaps there are still some shell manufactures that have been forgotten due to a lack of an available list (or boxes with contracts and dates) of pre 1975 contracts to confirm their existence. Also the font of the large heat stamps is very similar to those from Ingersoll though with minor differences.

The font being similar (and as far as i can tell pretty much the same in most regards) to the font on shells made by Ingersoll brings up another possibility. What if Ingersoll for some reason was also stamping helmets without an I or 1 at the same time as adding an I/1 to other helmets. Still doesn't explain the 12 crimp spots though.

Perhaps an unknown manufacturer obtained machinery from Ingersoll hence the very similar font and size of the heat stamp but with the addition of 12 crimp spots on the rim.

In my opinion It makes more sense for another manufacturer other than Parish or R.J. Stampings to be manufacturing these than the possibility that these manufacturers were producing helmets with 2 different styles of lot numbers. One of which was only on shells made with extra crimp spots.

 

On an unrelated note I forgot that the list of contracts I know of on the NARA website only have contracts from 1975 and after.

 

Assuming for a moment that all the contracts for RJ Stampings from before 1975 have been recorded and that the helmets I might have seen below 1400 with Cotton Type 1 chinstraps were put together. Perhaps the large heat stamps were used by RJ Stampings before switching over to smaller stamps during an interim period. However I'm still not sure why people came to the conclusion that the large heat stamps are from R.J. Stampings as I don't believe any have been found in boxes with a contract for RJ Stampings.

 

Something else I forgot is if the large heat stamps were made for such a long time compared to other manufacturers during the Vietnam War, than why are they so hard to find compared to the 1970s shells with small digits which would supposedly be made along side them and that are very common and easy to find in good condition. Some people believe that RJ Stampings only made shells with large heat stamps (which as far as I'm aware is well known to be false) but if that was true than one wouldn't expect to see so many helmets with post Vietnam chinstraps from the manufacturer (Parish) that made less helmets than RJ Stampings. 

 

Assuming that the claim of a helmet shell with small digits that were found in a box with Vietnam era chinstraps and a lot number in the 3000s that had a correctly IDed contract to Parish; than the most likely theory to me would be that the shells with large heat stamps were not made by R.J. or Parish, but rather an unknown manufacturer (but I imagine someone would've found them by now if they produced enough helmets to reach the 8000s) or Ingersoll.

 

And one final addition before I forget: Ink stamps of which some people believe to be another identifier of Parish shells, are also found on shells with tape residue.

Sealed crate here.

Here’s a helmet for you to study.

The helmet is an untouched in country Vietnam helmet set. The guy served in Vietnam 66-67. He joined the Air Force in 1954.

The heat stamp is large numbers 3241. 
the cover is dated 65 short flaps

The liner is a  ww2 Westinghouse with a green buckle leather chinstrap

The sweatband is dated 56.

 

hope this one helps 

 

Marty 

 

On 9/26/2025 at 2:01 AM, Nooby416 said:

"Supposedly large 4-digit heat stamps with no letters were made by R.J. Stampings..."
Supposedly is correct. I haven't seen any documentation to confirm that "large 4-digit heat stamps with no letters were made by R.J. Stampings."

On page 83 of his book, Post WWII M-1 Helmets, Mark Reynosa states, "The last contracts for the helmet bodies were awarded to a Canadian firm via the Canadian Commercial Corporation. R.J. Stampings, Co. Ltd., Ste. Annes des Plaines Quebec, was awarded its first of many contracts for the production of the M-1 helmet body on 2 April 1970. R.J. Stampngs continued to be awarded contracts for this version of the helmet body through October 1973." he then states, "The last contract for the m-1 helmet body was awarded to R.J. Stampings Company Ltd., Montreal Quebec, via the Canadian Commercial Corporation in September 1976."
On pages 125-126, Reynosa documents a total of 5 contract that run from April 1970 to Sept 1976 for a total of 1,825,120 helmet bodies. While I've run across numerous helmets that bear the heat stamp formats of the post-WWII McCord, Motor Wheel, Ingersoll Products, Parish and more than 100 of the R.J. Stampings 3-digit format, I've only run across one that is a "large 4-digit stamp with no letters." Interestingly, that heat stamp, which is 1161, is in 2 different sizes and in 2 different locations in this helmet. The numbers in the large stamp are approximately 1/2" while the ones in the small stamp are 1/4". See attached photos.
On a final note, since I have not seen any documentation to support the claim that the "large 4-digit heat stamps with no letters were made by R.J. Stampings," this is an unsubstantiated claim.