Hello all, first time on this website. I recently picked up a Type 99 Arisakaicon in pretty good condition, except that the stock appears to have been varnished at some point. The gun store owner who sold it to me seemed to think that it would be simple enough to remove the varnish with some steel wool. However I don't know a thing about wood except that it grows on trees so I was hoping I could get some knowledgeable advice on whether it's possible to restore the original finish and if so how best to do it safely.

I'm hoping that the original Japanese lacquer is still present and the varnish was just applied directly over it. The stock still seems to have its reddish color under the varnish, and on the underside of the handguard where the unvarnished wood still has its original color the parts that were varnished seem to match the color of the rest of the stock, so I'm hoping that means the rest of the stock wasn't refinished either besides the varnish. But I'm wondering if anyone has a better way to tell whether the original lacquer is still present underneath?

Assuming the original finish is still there to be restored, the next question is how to remove the varnish without harming the original lacquer? I tested it a bit with some fine steel wool and the edge of a coin but it seemed resistant to both, which based on what I've read suggests that it might actually be polyurethane rather than varnish? Again I know next to nothing about wood so any advice on how to tell the difference and how to remove it gently in either case would be welcome.

Hopefully my question wasn't too rambling for anyone to actually answer it. I'll include some pictures of what the stock currently looks like. I don't know if they'll be helpful at all since it's hard to pick up the proper color of the wood with the camera. Thanks in advance.
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