The Russian Mosin Nagant Forum

IMA is having a sale on German M40 WWII Steel Helmets from the Finnish M40/55 Contract. $49.95 (plus shipping) for a scratch & dent, luck of the draw/no choices.

Sale ends at 11:59 pm tonight.

I bought one of these, not a scratch and dent, a regular one. I know I bought it, I remember reusing the packing material from the box it came it. Question is what the hell did I do with the helmet?

Junk Yard Dog wrote:I bought one of these, not a scratch and dent, a regular one. I know I bought it, I remember reusing the packing material from the box it came it. Question is what the hell did I do with the helmet?

Some kid has probably got hold of it and is playing panzergrenadier.

djbuck1 wrote:

Junk Yard Dog wrote:I bought one of these, not a scratch and dent, a regular one. I know I bought it, I remember reusing the packing material from the box it came it. Question is what the hell did I do with the helmet?

Some kid has probably got hold of it and is playing panzergrenadier.

It couldn't be kids. The last kid that trespassed on Jim's place ended up on the grill.

SA1911a1 wrote:

djbuck1 wrote:

Junk Yard Dog wrote:I bought one of these, not a scratch and dent, a regular one. I know I bought it, I remember reusing the packing material from the box it came it. Question is what the hell did I do with the helmet?

Some kid has probably got hold of it and is playing panzergrenadier.

It couldn't be kids. The last kid that trespassed on Jim's place ended up on the grill.

I'd like to have one someday just to repaint and make it into a German WWII repro, but in the end, what would I do with it but look at it? Probably end up selling it, just like most of my bayonet collection...

Found it hiding behind one of the Victrolas, I imagine that what they are selling now is the same thing only with a few dents. The Finn's use these well after WW2, they have new liners, some have no German markings because they were bought from Germany in the 50's when Finland started running low on good helmets. Paint is Finland, not Germany. Familiar silhouette from 1000's of war movies. Thing to remember that whatever sale's bullshit IMA puts in the description these are Finnish army helmets, not WW2 original German , good for display with a Finnish Mosin collection, probably why I bought it.

Say what you want about IMA Jim, but no matter what word spin they place on their products; the never mess with what they received. Unlike Century (or other importers) IMA sells their products as they found them, or cleaned up (not scrubbed and refinished, or modified in anyway) versions of.

joe7170 wrote:I'd like to have one someday just to repaint and make it into a German WWII repro, but in the end, what would I do with it but look at it? Probably end up selling it, just like most of my bayonet collection...

Yeah, that is the way most of these things go as far as Military accessories go though. We buy it just to have it.

I just bought 5 of them - free shipping. We will see what I get.
Seems like it will take up to three weeks to get it.

mrmark99 wrote:I just bought 5 of them - free shipping. We will see what I get.
Seems like it will take up to three weeks to get it.

Maybe because IMA is just over the river in Jersey, but I'm supposed to get mine tomorrow!

I think that a lot of what IMA sells is over-priced, but that's the beauty of the free market. No one says we have to buy-- unless we are talking about government mandated medical insurance. I do agree however that IMA sells most of their merchandise unaltered-- what JYD referred to in his video on the Gahendra rifle as "We found it, now you clean it." And by the way, a year later and I still haven't managed to get mine apart.

Yes, the helmet is a display artifact, just like the SA marked entrenching tool, a beat-up ring and some of the oilers I've purchased, but I value these little bits of history. Certainly I could never wear the helmet (even if I had a reason to), because very few hats or helmets will fit my thick Irish skull.

clayshooter2 wrote:Say what you want about IMA Jim, but no matter what word spin they place on their products; the never mess with what they received. Unlike Century (or other importers) IMA sells their products as they found them, or cleaned up (not scrubbed and refinished, or modified in anyway) versions of.

I just think they get a little flowery with their descriptions sometimes, but I have done business with them for many years, I know enough to cut right to the basics of what they are selling. They did clean up, or refinish/rebuild with new stocks some of the Nepalese hoard. They probably had/have enough spare parts to make hundreds of rifles.

Junk Yard Dog wrote:I bought one of these, not a scratch and dent, a regular one. I know I bought it, I remember reusing the packing material from the box it came it. Question is what the hell did I do with the helmet?

Ya looked in the mirror lately?

entropy wrote:

Junk Yard Dog wrote:I bought one of these, not a scratch and dent, a regular one. I know I bought it, I remember reusing the packing material from the box it came it. Question is what the hell did I do with the helmet?

Ya looked in the mirror lately?

I am not that bad yet.

Not a bad display piece. Decent value for money as far as I'm concerned.

I bought one and reworked it to look original. I changed the liner and chin strap.

I read this thread yesterday. To my surprise, my son in law, who got me started with Mosins, gave me one of the good condition ones today for Christmas. The 79.95 one. Really nice, with a surplus Finnish liner and strap. Along with some PPU ammo for my Nagant revolver, and 54r too. And a bayonet.

By the way, the IMA ad clearly states these are Finnish 40/55 helmets.

dou44 wrote:I bought one and reworked it to look original. I changed the liner and chin strap.

Why didn't you just seek out an original German issue helmet?

GOOD CHRISTMAS