original 03a3 remington stock with cartoushes

i have a cmp remington 1943 model with a march 44 barrel , all remington marked, my question is ; the stock has lots of character, cant see through the old finish very good, can see the cartoushes, and the stock has a x stamp by magazine. also has same number on stock and bolt. do i refinish the stock to look store bought new or just keep it oiled and leave as is? It shoots great. is a 4 groove original barrel. definately dont want to sporterize. bad ju ju. it matches my 651xxx SA all matching Garand. stocks look very similar.. thanks for the chance to mingle, 1st post. ron

Cleaning the stock with a liquid strip won't damage anything and will help to clean out the stock cartouches. Also some of the dings may raise. You don't have to sand anything though. There's threads on this very thing in this forum if you look...

If you make the stock "factory new" it will never match the condition of the metal. I'd clean it a bit (concentrated Simple Green) to remove grime & grease and then finish it with Tung Oil. The Army switched to Tung Oil in 1938 si TO would be appropriate. I had a late Remington A3 with original metal finish but someone had varnished the stock. I stripped the varnish (not the best job anyway) and finished it with TO.

thanks guys, i might try the liquid strip. will have to get more information on it though.. now if i can get my elevation blade to quit slipping.. . . . ron