Good morning,

So, I like the Long Branch that I purchased from Brian Dickicon 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 cosmolineicon or crap, so I put the bolt head back and don't intend to strip it further.

Thank you! I appreciate the knowledge.
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