[kymasabe]

Suggestions.....after sanding and resanding your stock, take it to your bathtub and submerge it in water for a minute. It'll cause your stock to get fuzzy, raise all the little hairs in the grain. Let it dry a little, then resand all the fuzzies off with 000 steel wool.

Personally, I like the U.S. wood stocks and colors so I finish my stocks with MinWax Red Oak 215, then apply a paste I make of equal parts turpentine, boiled linseed oil, and beeswax, warmed over a no-flame heat source until the wax melts, stir the mixture, and let cool to a paste. When cool apply paste to the stock, rubbing it in with your hands, heat from your hands will begin to melt it and it'll be absorbed into the stock. Gives it a nice "Garand" finish and color, provides excellent weather protection as water just beads off, and paste can be reapplied at any time.