I own a bunch of wood-stocked rifles and feel there are some precautions you can take to preserve the fine finish/look of a well-kept rifle. If you're up to it, remove the stock from the action and using a wipe-on type varnish finish, coat all the unfinished portions of the stock. In most modern guns you will likely find this includes every bit of the stock, you cannot see(underneath and close to the action). Be sure to remove the buttpad or plate too.
After re-assembly, on "shiny" finished stocks an application of a hard paste wax(floor wax or similar) will give excellent protection. If it's a matte, or oil type finish, I've found an excellent furniture polish works best of all things I've tried: Natchez Solution it is excellent stuff. The typical polishes you mentioned are fine as well, but these tips will work best, short of re-finishing to a waterproof Polyurethane/Verathane finish, IMO
(If you use a hard paste car-type wax on the metal parts, it's a good weather proofer too)
|