Good luck on staining the stock. I have had nothing but misery trying to accomplish this task, so much in fact that I have vowed no customer will allowed to darken my doorway with a maple stock. My problem with staining the unfinished wood was that all end grain readily soaked up quanitites of the strain while the other areas accepted very little. Yes, I know it can be done somehow since I see some beautiful muzzle loaders with stained stocks. Problem is I don't know how they did it. By the way, you can add an oil finish over poly but not the reverse.
Phil
