Part 2: Survival Doc refinishes the stock on his field grade M1 Garand from the CMP. General George S. Patton called the M1 Garand "the greatest battle implement ever devised." The M1 Garand was the first semi-automatic rifle to be generally issued to the infantry of any nation. It was the standard service rifle of the United States Armed Forces from 1936 until 1957, when it was replaced by the M14. However, the M1 Garand continued to be used in large numbers until 1963, and to a lesser extent until 1966 (when it was replaced by the M14. The M14 was replaced by the M16 rifle in 1970.) John Garand, a Canadian, was the designer of the M1 Garand. It is now available for American civilian ownership through the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP.)
The M1 was used heavily by US forces in World War II, the Korean War, and to a lesser extent in the Vietnam War. Most M1 rifles were issued to Army and Marine troops, although many thousands were also lent or provided as foreign aid to America's allies. Currently South Korea has one million M1 rifles that it wants to return to the U.S. but the gun-grabbing Obama administration is blocking the re-entry of these pieces of American history.
To order from the Civilian Marksmanship Program (thecmp.org) you must be a US citizen who has proof of citizenship, age, membership in a CMP-affiliated club and certificate proving competitive shooting participation. I recommend the Appleseed Project (Appleseedinfo.org) where you can get two day weekend training for only $70. The Appleseed Project is sponsored by the Revolutionary War Veterans Association (RWVA.org.) Yearly membership in the RWVA fulfills the membership requirement of the CMP and allows you to retake the Appleseed markmanship weekend as many times as necessary to shoot an expert rifleman's score, earning a rifleman's patch.
The CMP Mission: To Promote Firearm Safety and Marksmanship Training With an Emphasis on Youth. The CMP (full name the Corporation for the Promotion of Rifle Practice and Firearms Safety) was created in 1996 by Congress with these key mandates: (1) To instruct citizens of the United States in marksmanship; (2) To promote practice and safety in the use of firearms; (3) To conduct competitions in the use of firearms and to award trophies, prizes, badges, and other insignia to competitors.