Saad
0000 steel wool is very very fine, almost like cotton. I'm not sure what to say about the fine wired brass brush, try it on the metal under the forend first and see how it works. After you've sprayed light oil into the action as I've directed you shouldn't need any grease. There was a discussion about using grease before on this site. Several people were of the opinion that sticky grease collected abrasives (sand and grit from the environment) and didn't recomend using grease, instead they recomended always using oil.
BTW you might find that your checkering will look very nice after you've thoroughly cleaned the old finish off the stock.
One other thing, be careful about sanding the stock while it is off the gun, if I were you I'd try not to sand it at all. It's very easy to round the edges of the wood where they meet with the metal, a sure sign that the guns been messed with by inexperienced hands.
Good luck with whatever you choose to do.
Steve
