First time on the forum and wow is this great!

Under almost all circumstances I am very conservative about messing with military surplus firearms. I have never done anything to a stock other than wiping it down with a rag. I almost always would rather a historic piece stay in that been-there-done-that look. However, I just acquired an SVT 40 with a REALLY ugly stock.

SVT 40 former AVT 40 1943 Russianicon : Other Collectible Guns at GunBroker.com


It looks like maybe someone was part of the way through removing the old shellac. I don't know if I'll even be able to handle it without finish flaking off. There are several topics on this (really awesome) forum regarding removing old stuff with DA and using Garnet or Ruby shellac flakes to simulate an original Soviet finish...which is really beautiful imho.

Should I take a shot at making it pretty? Is the ugly stock preferred? For now, I've decided not to do anything that can't be undone and found SVT wood on eBay to put on it.

SVT 40 original AVT stock SVT40 tokarev

For a reasonable price I can use it for trips to the range so I don't have old shellac coming off on my hands. I figure I can put the original stock in storage for another time.

What would you do???
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