I used this citrus based stripper to remove the old varnish, after a few minutes the varnish lifted, I carded it with a piece of thin plastic
after carding I used another enviro-friendly chemical, bio safe paint thinner to clean the wood (look at me being all environmental-like)
and a close up, the wood has some really nice grain to it
The next step is sanding, I used 220 grit which is strong enough to
remove the last vestiges of varnish and remove and small scratches, when sanding wood stocks remember two things: 1. always sand with the grain and 2. leave the butt pad in place.
Luckily this stock did not have any bad dents so I did not need to steam
them out, here is a video showing how to steam dents out using a
clothes iron:
I then wiped down the wood with paint thinner again and let it dry
I then added my first coat of Birchwood-Casey's Tru-Oil
After the Tru-oil dries you can add the final coat(s), I will only put two top coats on this stock. Be sure to knock down the shine between coats using 0000 Steel Wool.
Here is the gun finished:
Some updated photos taken in natural light
I also did a write up on this gun, you can see it here