Laurel Mountain stain is the best and will reflect wood as you move it to get light to different grain. Deep, like under glass. Tru Oil is best with Tung oil second. Fill the grain until like a glass plate with Tru Oil only. Much work and time. Then thin the oil and use a touch up spray gun to spray a coat without runs. Let get tacky and spray again, over and over so each coat melts and blends with each other. You will get one thick layer that way instead of many hard layers that rub through. Let dry until no odor is smelled, weeks if needed. I have propped the stocks in the truck cab in the sun to speed it up. Do not hurry, it must be dry. Now you can rub it out with what you want without breaking through a layer. The secret is one thick coat, not a thin layer that is hard under another. A $300 plank of fine wood made into a stock is junk if you rub through. I bought planks from a kiln and pre cut them to store and dry much more before inletting and shaping. I hated pre inletted stocks since none fit anyway. They leave wood for fit. I have chainsawed trees into planks to make stocks but the moisture content is critical before the work. I had a white oak struck by lightning and sawed it up. I pre cut a little over, stacked and stickered in the basement for a month, dry, 35 to 40% humidity. Made a pie safe for the wife and in 20 years it is still the same with all perfect fit. Flintlock dried better. Maple plank from a kiln.
