Dome stamps.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Guys, having owned my FJ lid two years (early spanner bolt, single decal M38, size 68 shell) I have just discovered it has a dome stamp in it. I have never played around with it for fear of tearing the leather liner and of course have not taken the liner out. But with the aid of a flashlight I have now seen the stamp. Just wondered how many helmets you guys have seen that are dome stamped?
Cheers, Ade.

[Ralph A]

Well, let's see...

...got my flashlight; looking in the dome of my Luftwaffe M40DD..wait...there's something there...

Made in North Korea??? I've been had!

Seriously, my helmets have no dome stampings.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Ralph, thanks for the reply .
Anyone else seen a dome stamp in an FJ M38, Willi, John....?
Cheers, Ade.

[John Hodgin]

Hi Adrian,

Sorry to be slow to reply to your question.

Yes, I've had an M-38 with a very nice dome stamp. Chris Mason now owns this particular helmet, it's the DD M-38 Chris included in the Kurtz book. Because it was so obscured by the liner I never photographed the stamp. If memory serves, this is the only M-38 I've ever had with a dome stamp.

Regards,
John

[Willi Z.]

A couple of my FJ helmets have dome stamps that are visible. But honestly, I have not checked all of my helmets. Helmets tend to gather dust and dirt in the dome area, so I won't be able to tell unless I clean them........which is something I would never do.

In my early years I used to buy original shells with original paint and remeber having seen several with dome stamps. These shells were used by re-enactors years ago when good repros were not available.....and the shells were in the $300 range. I recall having had an early DD M38 shell in size 66 that had a very clear dome stamp. Though it would not be corecct to draw an absolute opinion based on this, the dome stamps could be an early feature.

Willi

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Guys, thanks for your replies. I will try and take a photo, but I am not sure how it will come out due to shadow created by the liner.
Cheers, Ade.

[John Hodgin]

Hi again Adrian,

Like Willi, I have to admitt that I had not really looked for stamps in my helmets. It's just something I don't like doing, pulling the liner aside to see. However I just did, and already found three with dome stamps. One of these has a steel liner band, not aluminum, so dome stamps are not exclusive to very early helmets.
Regards,
John

[Willi Z.]

Gee John, now I am going to look at mine.... and may even note how many have steel vs aluminum bands. How about zinc? I never really focused on these areas before....may make an interesting topic of study.

Willi