Contrasting colors are nice, but the wood isnt the greatest and leaving it light doesnt work for me. When I refinish a stock with checkering I use a liquid finish remover especialy in the checkering. When the varnish or whatever is softenid I brush it out with one of the fine wire wire brushes that come with most gun cleaning kits to get the old finish out of the checkering. I then repoint the checkering with Dem-Bart checkering tools.
I use walnut stain, usualy MinWax oil stains with a little red oak added. The red oak stain adds a little vibrancy to the finish. Any good oil finsih will work. Tung oil is great and tough. Several coats of stain, let dry. Finish with as many coats of oil as it takes to fill the pores. I thin the first few coats so it sinks in to the wood for maximum protection. 4xxxx steel wool rub between coats then finish with fine grit paper.
El Lobo
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