Abulg1972
Ultimate Member
That may be, and the gun may look different in person, but from what I can see in the photos, the finish that's on it appears to be semi-gloss polyurethane, rather than old-school varnish. Also, you'll notice that there's a darker patina toward the grain ends of the the furniture, and the wood is not very patinated at all when you get away from those ends. Usually, an unmolested finish and the wood beneath it darkens pretty evenly.
In the last two photos it looks like the finish that's on it now has been flowed into old scars. Again, it's hard to be certain from photos, but that's how it looks. When a scar or scrape happens to the original finish, you don't get the flowed-in appearance that seems to be there. Of course, since there are so few of those showing on your stock, it's tough to tell for sure, but you should be able to look specifically for that when you examine the rifle ... is that finish going into the scar on the wood, or is the scar going into the finish?
Again, it's hard to tell for sure from photos, and that's all we have to work with, but what you showed really looks like someone stripped that stock, probably sanded it a bit, and then put on a couple of coats of modern semi-gloss finish. You'll have to make that determination, though. You're the one who can hold the gun in your hands and examine it.
I understand and I'm not defending this one way or another. The pictures were taken with my iPhone inside my home. The rifle does look different in "real life". It basically looks unissued, and there are very few marks on the stock. Either way, I'm just going to leave it as is and enjoy shooting it. It is a nice looking rifle that I got at a cheap price ($375). I'm not too worried about whether the varnish does or doesn't detract from its value, etc.
Thanks for your insight.