1871 dragoon helmet help?

[Jeby64]

Good morning all! I recently inherited this beautiful helmet and was hoping to get some info on it. quick google searches lead me to believe the its an 1871 british dragoon, but a few things seem off about it. The color of the plume for starters. and the interior is definitely not 150 years old so Im sure has been redone. It appears my dad started to polish (or he bought it this way) and the front brim is a bit of a different color now. I would like to clean it, but I dont know a safe way to do so. there is a tarnished hand print on the back I would like to remove but dont want to lose any value. If anyone could help me identify what I have, that would be amazing! thank you

 

[coert65]

Well, I personally don't know much about these helmets, but I guess member @RoyalScotsVols will know, and can tell you more about it.
He collects helmets like these, it is indeed a British one.
Good luck!

Regards, Coert.

 

[chinstrap]

I’m afraid it’s a very poor repro of a 6th Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers) helmet. This link shows the real thing, an officer’s helmet, https://www.michaeldlong.com/product/6th-dragoon-guards-officers-1871-pattern-helmet-007/. The other ranks helmet wouldn’t be of the same quality, with a leather lining , but still much better than the one posted.

If you want to have it for display, I don’t think polishing it would do it any harm.