I like using water based stains for blending lighter areas in with the darker and have found good old Birchwood Casey walnut stain easy to work with. After that there are many recipes out there for adding the red tint so often seen on older factory finishes. I also like a finish that does not build on the surface and lives within the wood itself. For that I prefer Pro Custom Oil gun stock finish. G96 Linspeed can be good too but it will build on top of the wood if you don't watch out. I think that this type of finish requires a bit more elbow grease to do right. There is a good discussion about stock finishing going on right now on the Gunsmithing forum.
Last edited by S99VG; 02/03/16.
