WWII M1 McCord helmet/Firestone liner

[Tesla]

Hello All,
      I am new to collecting M1 helmets and I wanted to share pictures of the first one I recently purchased.  I normally collect Army Air Corps wings and was talking with my elderly neighbor who also turned out to be a history enthusiast.  I was telling him about some of the wings I have and he mentioned he was given a German helmet when he was a boy by one of the returning veterans from World War II.  He surprised me a couple of months later by giving me the helmet (M42, Heer and completely untouched)  It's the only German item I have but I thought it would look nice opposite an M1 helmet.  I read alot about them and here is the first but definately not the last.  I think I have a new obsession...

McCord shell, heat stamp 548.  Front seam, fixed bales, OD3 chinstraps, brass buckle, no stress cracks and original paint.  The original net has worn into the paint and I added an original unissued net back to the helmet. 

The liner is originally an Inland but was finished by Firestone.  The A washers are green painted brass and it has an original sweatband (SMC) with the green brass hardware.  The nape strap is also original (marked but I can't make out the maker) and the liner has the green buckle chinstrap.  There is a slight break in the liner chinstrap, but I'm not going to be taking the helmet apart again.   Any advice on helmets would be greatly appreciated; I want to learn.

[The Rooster]

Greetings Tesla and welcome to M1 Helmets !!!

I got out of wings over a year ago and into M1 helmets. Caution my friend. Its just as addicting as wings.

I thought I would not buy as many as I wound up buying because unlike wings, they are not as easy to store.

I think I have close to 40 now !

Thats a real nice one you have there ! Kuddos !!!

[Radio Operator]

Definitely a great first helmet, the basic M1 with a net will always be the classic look to me. One thing to always look out for are helmet parts from WW2 - Vietnam era, sweat bands, liners, chinstraps, nape straps, covers, etc. It's pretty likely to run into a nice M1 that is missing something and parts from those eras are only getting older/more expensive, so if you see them and can get them for a good price it will never not be a bad purchase. There will also always be someone looking for parts too, so they aren't hard to sell either if you need the space. 

[Tesla]

Thanks very much for the advice.   I have a MSA liner that I am currently working on getting all of the parts back in place and it's been alot of fun finding them.   I want to get a Vietnam issued M1 as my father in law was a Marine there in 1965.  I have to learn alot more before I do that though...