Bought a Blue Sky M1 Garand when they first came out. Beech or birch and the walnut oil based stain I tried was a waste. Looked like someone just painted the stock. Back down to bare wood and there is a product that is applied to the wood prior to doing the actual staining. I used an wather based stain and the stock came out great. Got many good comments at the range. Funny thing is that as you rotate the stock you can see the stain eith loose or gain as far as the stock is turned. About 8 coats of tru oil did the rest. Frank