Schlueter or McCord?

[MySonsDad]

Picked up the US Navy repair locker painted M-1 shell real cheep off of eBay. Not quite sure exactly what to make of it as it looks the part of a McCord but the dome is the height of a Schlueter in side by side comparisons. It is a swivel bail front seam but it is NOT a stainless steel rim. The heat stamp is barely legible, I think it reads 1093A, which would make sense if it were a McCord as it falls in that one month window were they made front seams with the non-stainless steel rims....but the helmet just isn’t tall enough! The heat stamp is also very high on the visor, just below the rim and I see no indication of an “S” stamp. I took a few photos to show the differences.





Schlueter on left for comparrison


Front seam McCord on right




Nose to nose with a front seam McCord


Front seam McCords on either side


Approx 3/8 inch gap between crown and yard stick



Any ideas?

Russ

[NickD]

its a McCord shell

[MySonsDad]

its a McCord shell

I guess it has to be Nick, it's just that the height threw me off. Finally IDing the heat stamp kind of sealed the deal for me, but the dome height still made me question. Have you ever seen a WWII era McCord with a lower than normal dome height?

[NickD]

to be honest mate i haven't really taken much notice but im guessing little things like this are bound to have happened in such a mass manufacturing situation such as it was in the making M-1s ?

[MySonsDad]

I'm sure you are right Nick, although being a mechanical sort, I don't quite see how a short piece can be stamped from a single stamping machine, but then again, if it were a Shlueter then the same machine would have had to screw up the entire shape ...had to be one or the other and I'm more prone to believe that it's just a glitch in the size. I had a spare, salty, liner sitting in the closet, it fit the shell nice and how has a home! Russ

[moaning minnie]

nicks right from time to time odd things occur without any explanation doesn't mean its not real or in correct just an off day schlueter heat stamps never went above 500,last year on ebay front seam MCcord with a korean type heat stamp,the only one in over 3000 lids i've seen with that type of stamping so just goes to show how the weird and wonderful world of collecting can go.dave