American Kit Accuracy Discussion

My 1968 dated Nam helmet liner is that sort HS. Its kinda look a likey wood.

you mean these green ones-- attachment is not available --

Yeah thats it..although mines slightly darker in colour

Following on from all this M1 liner talk if posted this--

viewtopic.php?f=42&t=6719&p=109103#p109103

Hope its of use to someone

Ah! Sorry. I wasn't being clear.

I was referring to :

Dev, I am going to venture that yours in a 'Nam era one. Simply because the fiber of the liner doesnt look like the wartime/Korea wood-ish color and is green. I think that postwar/Korean helmets have the brown liner but green webbing whereas Vietnam era helmets have both the liner and the webbing green.

Vietnam helmets also had the high pressure 'wood-ish' liner. They weren't all green plastic, as some are.

HS, I know that WW2 helmets were used in Nam, but the ones produced starting in about the late 50s-early 60s(guess) were made with the greenish fiber liners. This is because the profile of the helmet was streamlined and that is why postwar shells look different from wartime ones when they dont have a net or helmet cover.

The greenish(and orangy)liners were i believe made from early to mid 60s definately not 50s as the brown WW2 type fibre liners were still being made up until 1958ish

Cool. I have a WW2 era liner and shell that was refurbished with Vietnam green webbing and metalwork. I guess it was just a case of phasing stuff in and out and there was always crossover.

When were the plastic liners used ? also whats the difference between the pistol belts with brass fittings and the ones with black fittings ?

I assume the brass fittings are older... plus they would have been blackened anyway. The paint has probably worn off.

The later stuff is some nickel alloy.

My original belt has a mix of nickel and brass on it.

When were the plastic liners used ? also whats the difference between the pistol belts with brass fittings and the ones with black fittings ?

I've got a feeling the plastic liners were the last upgrade. Are they one referred to as the NATO liners late 80's early 90's?

Wait till you see the liner I have coming with the new lid. I have no idea what the hell it is. weirdy plasticy, strangey thing.

Does it look like this by any chance pat? lol

No, that looks better. Anyway dont know why I'm even talking about it as it getting dumped. I have managed to get a Para liner with straps off Ebay.

you can pick up good para liners off of ebay quite cheap, they come up quite often, i got mine for 20 posted, its a nam one but does the job ( sort of )

Tom.

When were the plastic liners used ? also whats the difference between the pistol belts with brass fittings and the ones with black fittings ?

When you say green plastic do you mean this type??

If so they were NEVER used by the US-they are a post war Nato thing but dont be confused as some are stamped/embossed in the crown with US and a date.The US stands for something like ULBREICHT S????? or other which is an Austrian maker who made loads of these liners for various Nato countries.

Ah ok thanks, it's just I have a few lying around the house.

Ah ok thanks, it's just I have a few lying around the house.

Nothing wrong with them to be honest for Airsoft use.

I saw one once when a guy had painted the inside brown-just the one colour and it looked great.

also whats the difference between the pistol belts with brass fittings and the ones with black fittings ?

none....
from WW1 through to the intro of the M56 web gear the ball type fasteners on the belts were blackened brass as standard..which had a tendency to wear off with use...though you can find some blackened steel ones from the korean war era....as usual for US manufacturers they used the the stocks of the brass ones until they didn't have any more which is why i've seen early vietnam gear with brass buckles...
the only difference would be in the grommets and the color....

Not entirely true im afraid,WW1 and early WW2 M36 belts used all Brass hardware as it was in plentiful supply.As soon as the US entered WW2 like in most other countries Brass was harder to come by and rationed thus in around 1942 belts were made with blackened steel or cast buckles and sliders although you can sometimes see a combination of both when an item has been repaired or reissued.
Brass then made a reapearance during Korea and Vietnam as it was no longer scarce.(What i was told by some serious collectors of US webbing )