Retread Austrian M16 No.1

[ahrtal]

On another trip down Memory Lane, a company in England back in the late 1960s was offering "WWII Transitional Helmets for a good price.  I bought one on gamble, and got what I paid for--almost.  The helmet had been repainted and had fake decals, but the interior paint was original, and Police green.  Also, the liner was a bit strange.  It looked like a police liner, but had the five holes in each finger, as well as WW1 liner rivets in the original configuration.   I noticed a scratch on the Heer eagle of red, so I thought, "What the Hell...."  I removed the fake paint and decal, and found the original paint underneath, with remnants of a silver shield on the left, and the shield associated with the SS and police on the right.  For years I wondered what it's story was.  I found out many years later when I accidentally bid on a similar helmet on eBay.  It was an early post-war Austrian Sicherheitswache helmet!  It must have been very early, as it appears an original WWII  M31 leather liner was attached to a new linerband, and original WWI liner pins used---even with the larger rear pin in the rear.  It is a huge size shell, but I cannot make out the shell size.  At least it wasn't turned into a colander!

[Davejb]

Have you tried measuring the external circumference just above the flair, then take off a cm or two, the closest to a known size will be the one you want, its got to be either a 66 or 68 shell if its that big

[Bil4338]

Looks like an eight finger leather, so I'd assume this to be a size 66 shell.eight to eight and a half would fit that size, a nine finger and you're talking about a size 68.