No4Mk2 questions

Good morning,

So, I like the Long Branch that I purchased from Brian Dick so much that I obtained a PF-54 serial No4 Mk2 as well. Worried the Long Branch might get lonely among all the Garands and all that...

The new one was purchased by the fellow I got it from, as one of the still-wrapped-in-the-grease rifles. He cleaned it up years ago but never shot it, but I intend to so I've done a basic strip & cleanup, but have a few questions for the group:

First, I've treated the wood with RLO, warmed a dish of it up in the oven and kind-of slathered it on the wood pieces over a period of several hours. It soaked up a lot as you might imagine. Should I continue repeating this, or just fill up a big pan with RLO and let the wood soak overnight, or what? The interior absorbed a lot of oil but the exterior took very little. The beech seems to have a very dense grain and a very smooth/tight exterior finish.

Second, is it appropriate to coat the action body and barrel under the woodline in grease, as the Long Branch is, and as everyone on here says to do with the older rifles? I mean, was the Suncorite finish intended to be treated the same way?

Third, the screw that goes across the back of the fore-end: how tight should that be on re-assembly?

The fire control mechanism and bits are pretty clean so I left that alone and in the action body. Ditto for the bolt: unscrewed the bolt head, didn't see much cosmoline or crap, so I put the bolt head back and don't intend to strip it further.

Thank you! I appreciate the knowledge.

Regarding the RLO, the system I use to good effect on milsurps with "dry" wood, is to go over the wood first with a red scotchbrite, to open up the grain and give the wood a very nice tactile feel.

Then cut the first coat of RLO with white spirit by 50%, (this acts as a rapid catalyst) and allows the oil to really penetrate the grain deeply before the catalyst evaporates. Follow this with neat RLO treatments for a couple of days, thus giving the finish superb depth.

Then finally wipe off the excess and buff up to a fine lustre finish with a micro fibre cloth.

I find the above process gives a superb feel and finish to an old milsurp, works for me anyway..

Regarding under the woodwork, I tend to use a thick oil to protect the action, 3 in 1 works for me.

If I happen to have the stock removed from any of my U.K. deactivated rifles etc I normally coat the metalwork, after cleaning, with a generous layer of lithium motor grease. Obviously wipe any excess grease off that surfaces.

Orn197: regarding the screw at the rear of the forend, I believe it's only meant to be tightened to light resistance at which point it's just starting to compress the sides of the forend and no further. It's only purpose is to stop the rear of the forend from spreading apart upon firing.

Ridolpho

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Flying10uk

If I happen to have the stock removed from any of my U.K. deactivated rifles etc I normally coat the metalwork, after cleaning, with a generous layer of lithium motor grease. Obviously wipe any excess grease off that surfaces.

---

A friend of mine swore by floor wax for metal under stocks.

The MoD way was XG279 grease or it's equivalent coating all of the underlying metal which has been discussed at length on this forum if someone can resurrect it. It won't hurt the baked Suncorite finish.

OK cool, thanks for the responses. I mostly just wasn't sure if they dropped the greasing requirements after Suncorite became common, or what.

Sounds like it might finally stop raining tomorrow... maybe I'll play hooky from work for a while and go shoot!

Does anyone actually know if grease in contact with wood has any negative effect on the wood, please? I have often wondered this but have not seen any evidence on whether it does or doesn't.

No adverse effects whatsoever. We used to lather it on, just as Brian at BDL says in thread 6. As for floor polish....... Sorry L-E. I'll keep that for floors ansd use XG279 for steelwork under the wood. I realise that we're not in the harsh tropics but grease was the only stuff that would keep corrosion at bay