asmith - thanks for the information. It certainly seems to work and bring out the beautiful grain! I had a cabinet shop/custom millwork business so I appreciate "nice wood"!
I've used the aquas forte with pretty good success on curly maple but like you mention, when applying heat you have to be careful. I built a custom Hawken a number of years ago and the results were very nice but on the reddish tones. I keep looking at the stains that Track has and I think this next winter, when I'm hoping to build a Ohio rifle, I'll try it out as I'd like to get the "honey tones" I have a decent blank with pretty even curl throughout so would like to get the lighter honey tone to show it off.
You've done a beautiful job and it's 1st class work all the way! I hope you have children to pass these down to as they certainly would be great keepsakes!