Quote Originally Posted by Peter Laidlericon View Post
It's very unlikely that dry rot has got to the lower handguard when the remainder of the wood was drenched in oily stuff. It MUST be worth removing the retainer spring, degrease the wood, patch it and reassemble properly.
I will have a look at it in any case peter. The lower handguard i suspect is not from this stockset. Very different grain and cross section, possibly sanded thin in the past And may have been glued together before as well. The timber is white and powedry beneath the spring, almost crumbles when touched. I might keep this aside and when the time comes to slip-patch something else, use this as the test bed