WWII McCord FB Helmet Ebay find

[anton67]

Hello,
I picked up this FB shell on ebay for $77. It is a McCord and I believe it is numbered 49 A (ealry 1942). I married it to this 50's Capac/Westinghouse liner (fits perfect).
My questions are:
1. Does it look like the bails have been repaired? To me it looks like one leg of the bails was welded at some point.
2. What are the divits below the rim or bumps above the rim where the bails are located?
Thanks
Anton

[VolksJager]

Good looking shell,bales look fine to me but not sure on the dimples, maybe a way to keep the rim in place?

Jason

[Masonk]

Hey Mark,
The dimples are common on early production shells. What makes me curious is field repair to the bales. Most M2's (D bales) have this dimple as well. With the field mod and dimple, I wonder if this may have once been an M2?

[anton67]

So if it was a D bale it would be more collectable than I thought, right?
How did I do price wise Eric? Also, I agree with you that the modification was likely done during service and not aftermarket because of the rust.

[Masonk]

An M2, even a former one, would certainly be more collectible. Weld spots on D bales were a specific distance apart, however I can't recall off hand the distance. May be worthwhile to look it up and take some measurements. You may want to compare yours with some unmodified M2's to compare similarities. At this point, it's only speculation.

As for price, for an early production fixed bale with over 90% of it's corking, I'd say you did well.

[Masonk]

Looking at the photos on my PC (instead of my phone) I wonder if I jumped the gun on the M2 theory and what we're seeing is just excess solder. I believe a field repair would have also removed the paint and corking from the reverse side.

[anton67]

So you think it was a field repair and not a D bail, is that what you are saying?
Still a nice early helmet with lots of corking, right?

[aj4010]

I do not think it was ever a "D" bail. A nice fixed bail it is, and for the price, a steal. Do it justice and find a nice WW2 liner to put in there. A field repair is possible, but maybe it is more likely that there was a bit of overspill at the factory.

Best Regards,

Andy

[moaning minnie]

its always been stated that front seamed shells with one dimple each side were strutured for M2 conversion,but as McCord most likely stock piled these lids for M2 conversion,then with the obvious stainless steel bales being too fragile,stopped production and reverted these shells back to fixed bale,the welding looks more like a production hitch rather than a field repair,still a great looking early desirible lid,cheers dave.these pics are from an original M2 field repair belonging to an 82 airborne recipient,dave.