Original U.S. WWII M1 Helmet Used in Film Saving Private Ryan - Naval Beach Engineer Special Brigade - U.S. SPR Marked
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Original Item: Only One Available. This is one of the original prop helmets used during the filming of "Saving Private Ryan". There is an original property department stamp on the inside of the shell, U.S. SPR, and the outside was painted with an Engineer Special Brigade marking on the front. The shell itself is an original WWII Rear Seam Swivel Bale helmet with a very faint heat lot stamp 42 / S, denoting manufacture by Schlueter.
The helmet was reconditioned for film use, fitted with reproduction chinstraps, and marked with the markings. Like most helmets used in the production, a variety of shells and liners were used. Liners used were a wide variety, ranging from original WWII production, Vietnam era, 1980s, foreign clones, etc. The particular liner in this helmet is a Vietnam War era.
There is unfortunately no provenance we can provide for this helmet, aside from the “U.S. SPR” marking and the source from which it came, which is why we are able to offer it at such an attractive price. It should be noted that when these items were originally sold back in 1998, none of these items were accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity. They were originally sold on the reenactor market, as reenactors at the time, it was believed, would make the ideal customer who could repurpose these goods.
This helmet is attributed to the production of Saving Private Ryan and retains the interior “U.S. SPR” property marking and film-applied Engineer Special Brigade insignia. The set combines an original WWII Schlueter rear-seam, swivel-bale shell with reproduction chinstraps and a Vietnam-era liner, reflecting the mixed components commonly assembled for film use. Although no certificate or documented chain of ownership accompanies it, the surviving production-style markings and known source give the helmet continued interest as a possible screen-used or production-used film prop.
The M1 Helmet
The Ordnance Department selected McCord Radiator and Manufacturing Company of Detroit Michigan to produce the steel M1 helmet bodies. These bodies were made from a single piece of Hadfield Manganese steel that was produced by the Carnegie-Illinois & Sharon Steel Corporations. Each completed raw M-1 helmet shell weighed 2.25 lbs each. The total production of M-1 helmet shells during the war reached 22,000,000. Of these about 20,000,000 were produced by the main contractor McCord Radiator and Manufacturing Company of Detroit. Although McCord was supposed to be the single source of M-1 helmet shells, by the summer of 1942 a second company was enlisted to help the production effort. This was Schlueter Manufacturing of St. Louis, Missouri. Schlueter began production of its M-1 helmet shells in January 1943. Schlueter produced only 2,000,000 M-1 helmet shells during the war (both fixed and swivel).
The early M-1 helmet shells had a set of fixed (static) chinstrap loops called "bales" and a stainless steel rim. These rims were both rust resistant and had "non-magnetic qualities" that reduced the chance of error readings when placed around certain sensitive equipment (such as a compass). In October 1943, issues with the fixed bales breaking off resulted in a change to the "swivel bales" that this helmet has. In 1944, to deal with paint wearing off the very shiny stainless steel rim, the material was changed to manganese steel in October, and then the seam moved to the rear in November.
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