I stripped all of mine Mosin 91/30 and an M44 and went straight BLOicon (boiled linseed oil) lots of coats required in my opinion better than stain/paint or that nasty red shellac, That is MY OPINION. Did the same to my Steyr M95 and Steyr Budapest, got rid of stains and BLOicon my Arisakas are next. BLO has proven to be athe best wood finish. MY OPINION