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My first M1


TsrorsT
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Heya,

I figured I would start off my time here by sharing the first ever piece of US military history I bought, and intend to keep. 

It's your usual mid to late-war McCord, front seam swivel with a manganese steel rim. The liner is well worn and is of the postwar to early Vietnam type with the OD-7 webbing, though what is notable about it is the regimental and divisional insignia, though poor, and the discoloration in the paint where a lieutenant's bar once stood. The pot itself is average, retaining about 90ish% of its repaint, with a very nice deep green color and some worn, almost warty corking at the crown transitioning into the more intact corking near the rim. 

While I love minty stuff, distinct imperfections in shells and finish are also very cool and fun to collect in my opinion. The interior of the pot has this real bright seafoam green where what I can only assume to be salt water sat and soaked into the more permeable inner coat of paint. The fact there is a distinct line is what intrigues me, I absolutely adore it! There is also a feint name written in white to a 'Dean Wilson', and the unfortunately illegible id numbers below. 

 

I bought this complete set from a collector up in Canada, who told me he picked it up from a show down in Pennsylvania. It has certainly had quite a trip thus far!

IMG_20220216_135251760.jpg

IMG_20220216_135317488.jpg

IMG_20220216_135343238.jpg

IMG_20220216_135412324.jpg

IMG_20220216_135659474.jpg

IMG_20220216_135740432.jpg

IMG_20220216_135755166.jpg

IMG_20220216_135848122.jpg

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my first few m1 helmet pots were $13.00 a piece and liners for them some time wasn't complete were $3.00 a piece corse that was back in 1980 to 1990 

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CavalryCombatant

Nice looking lid, I remember my first one!
 

One minor correction, that’s a stainless steel rim opposed to manganese.

 

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Oh, really? I sometimes find it hard to tell between the two different rims, I suppose I have no real example with a manganese rim then! All the more reason for me to hunt down a nice late 1944 lid, thank you for bringing this to my attention. 

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8 hours ago, donaldnol said:

my first few m1 helmet pots were $13.00 a piece and liners for them some time wasn't complete were $3.00 a piece corse that was back in 1980 to 1990 

Oh geez, sounds like a dream! Unfortunately I wasn't born until decades later, and I sure am paying for it 😅

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On 2/16/2022 at 3:11 PM, TsrorsT said:

Heya,

I figured I would start off my time here by sharing the first ever piece of US military history I bought, and intend to keep. 

It's your usual mid to late-war McCord, front seam swivel with a manganese steel rim. The liner is well worn and is of the postwar to early Vietnam type with the OD-7 webbing, though what is notable about it is the regimental and divisional insignia, though poor, and the discoloration in the paint where a lieutenant's bar once stood. The pot itself is average, retaining about 90ish% of its repaint, with a very nice deep green color and some worn, almost warty corking at the crown transitioning into the more intact corking near the rim. 

While I love minty stuff, distinct imperfections in shells and finish are also very cool and fun to collect in my opinion. The interior of the pot has this real bright seafoam green where what I can only assume to be salt water sat and soaked into the more permeable inner coat of paint. The fact there is a distinct line is what intrigues me, I absolutely adore it! There is also a feint name written in white to a 'Dean Wilson', and the unfortunately illegible id numbers below. 

 

I bought this complete set from a collector up in Canada, who told me he picked it up from a show down in Pennsylvania. It has certainly had quite a trip thus far!

IMG_20220216_135251760.jpg

IMG_20220216_135317488.jpg

IMG_20220216_135343238.jpg

IMG_20220216_135412324.jpg

IMG_20220216_135659474.jpg

IMG_20220216_135740432.jpg

IMG_20220216_135755166.jpg

IMG_20220216_135848122.jpg

I may be wrong but isn't that a French unit crest on that liner? It could have come from a Free French M1 helmet. I don't seem to remember any US units with that particular unit crest.

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CavalryCombatant
14 minutes ago, Mikeym_us said:

I may be wrong but isn't that a French unit crest on that liner? It could have come from a Free French M1 helmet. I don't seem to remember any US units with that particular unit crest.


It’s the 77th Infantry division on the one side, not positive on the regiment but I believe it’s 306th Infantry.image.jpeg.c435ff3ea70864a104a01d2db3e6defc.jpeg

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5 hours ago, CavalryCombatant said:


It’s the 77th Infantry division on the one side, not positive on the regiment but I believe it’s 306th Infantry.image.jpeg.c435ff3ea70864a104a01d2db3e6defc.jpeg

Exactly what it is, sorry I forgot to mention it. The 306th's coat of arms is an artistic rendition of the regiment's achievements during ww1, and was reorganized after ww2 as a training regiment. The evidence of there once having been either a lieutenant decal or insert (which would explain the two holes in the line) would make this an officer's helmet at least in the post war period. 

What I find interesting is how both decals show evidence of having been applied poorly. The 306th crest is cocked to one side, leaving a pale orange shadow where it once was, and the 77th's has the same sort of flaw. The liner itself appears to have been poorly painted as well, probably held the paint gun too close, as there's various points where the paint has dripped. 

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