[TheJoker]

I've got a 1943 bnz Mauser. As I'm looking it over really closely, it has what's left of a coat of varnish, but I'm betting that is not original.

I'm wondering what the correct finish would be for this rifle.

[twtalbot]

You are correct. The correct finish for a K98k stock is the residue of years of being handled by grimy hands. Seriously, the laminated stocks were issued unfinished.
BTW, congrats on the bnz (Steyr). My 147 (Sauer) and byf (Oberndorf) are looking for a bnz to play with.

[wcassidy]

if you're going to put something on it when the lacquer is removed, go for BLO

[TheJoker]

Is that a laminated stock under all that varnish? That never ocurred to me! Pix are posted in the Mauser role call.

[Dookiebutt]

I seem to remember reading about soldiers rubbing dirt, motor oil, and some gun cleaning product they also used on flesh wounds into the wood to darken it and camo it up a bit.