SteveOz,
Here are some links with great info on stock refinishing.
http://riflestocks.tripod.com/refinish.html
http://riflestocks.tripod.com/seal.html
http://riflestocks.tripod.com/fgrain.html
http://riflestocks.tripod.com/sfinish.html
I found the rifle on Gunbroker.com , It had an old rusted/pitted barrel, heavy rust around the nipple, a little rust on the hammer, and some fouling stains in the wood around the nipple. The wood looked nice in the photos, other than a few dings and dents. Considering the condition of the rifle, I won the auction for $255.
I stripped the old polyurethane (plastic) finish off with a strong chemical stripper made to remove epoxy, paint, etc. I got it at Home Depot, don't remember the name. It contains Methyl alcohol and mineral spirits, among other things. This was much less work than sanding, and left the shape and contours of the wood 100% original. Most of the finish wiped off with a rag. I used steel wool to remove the few small stubborn areas.
After stripping the stock I swelled the wood in the dent, ding, and scratched areas. I used a dropper to soak a few drops of water into wood grain in the dents and dings, then placed a damp rag over the area and ironed it with a hot clothes iron. This worked great and I was able to remove all of the dents and dings. Then I used 400 grit sandpaper on a sanding block to smooth up the surface of the swelled areas.
After letting the moisture dry out of the wood for several days, I sealed the wood. This entailed diluting Tung oil with mineral spirits, 4 parts mineral spirits to 1 part Tung oil. I painted it on liberally and let it penetrate deep into the wood. I actually did this again two days later.
Next I filled the grain. This involved wet sanding the small areas of the stock with 320 to 400 grit wet/dry paper soaked in 2 parts mineral spirits/1 part Tung oil. You sand until the sanding dust and oil gets sticky and forms a sludge. Then you lightly wipe the sludge diagonally a crossed the grain. Don't wipe to hard. You want the sludge to fill the grain and tiny imperfections in the surface. Continue this until the whole stock has been sanded and filled. You can do this 6 to 12 times, and progress down to 400 to 600 grit paper. Let dry a day between each wet sanding session.
You now have a hand rubbed oil finish. You can leave it as is or apply a surface finish. I applied a surface finish of three coats of Tung oil, buffing with 0000 steel wool after each coat.
It is a little work, but very worth while and satisfying. I really look forward to posing with this rifle for field photos.
