The spacer looks it's best white, so when you stain the wood just mask off the spacer and the black palstic grip cap and forearm tip. The Reminton M700 has a tough polyurethane finish that can be a bear to remove. Strippers strong enough to sut it are only the very harshest and I usually hate to put anything on a stock that might soak in and harm the metal at some point in time. Using a propane torch, just heat a small area of the stockenough to cause the finish to bubble or curdle. using a knife edge or a scraper scrape off the damaged finish. The heat from the torch will weaken the platic finish to the point it will scrape away easiliy if done while still a bit wam. Be very careful and DO NOT SCORCH the wood, as it will hard to remove the scorch mark. Don't worry if a little bit of the finish remains, the inial sanding will easily remove it and it won't clog the paper since the heat has altered the plastic finish's properties. The checkering may not be cut, it may be pressed. In either case it's very hard to clean the finish out of the checkering pattern. The easiest is to use acetone (a powerful solvent, use only outside) and a light wire brush. The acetone will soften the plastic over a bit of time and it may then be removed with the light wire brush. When the checkering is fairly clean, as clen as it's going to get, I mask it off with tape. Put a layer of masking tape over the checkering and rub it down well. Go around the outside edge of the pattern with an exacto knife to cut just the tape. Remove the tape on the outside of the pattern and press the edge of the remaining tape down well. Once the old finish is off I sand with a 1/4 sheet orbital sander (a block is fine) and 100 grit paper. This will remove the last vestiges of the destroy plastic finish and level the wood's surface. If there are dents in the wood they should be removed at this time. I steam the out. The ordital (or block) is then used with 220 grit paper. Until the woods surface is smooth and all the 100 grit paper scratches are removed. The last step is to sand with a block and 220 paper only moving the paper back and forth WITH the grain flow. This will eliminate all the scratches remaining on the wood. After the each block sanding step (100 grit and 220 grit) the tight areas are detail sanded with 'shaped blocks'. I use a set made of hard rubber and available from woodworker supply house but round shapes can be done using a correctly sized piece of rubber tubing. These are very helpful in the flutes at the nose of the butt stock. A shallow 'V' shape is handy for the back of the pistol grip and close in on the bottom of the buttstock near the back of the pistol grip. Very carefully go over the wood and sand away any scratches from the previous sanding steps. I stain the stock at this point using a solvent based stain from Brownells called 'Pilkington's - CLASSIC SPIRIT STAINS'. The pre-64 is a redish brown that I really find atractive. After the stain has dried I use 00 or 000 steel wool and polish the surface of the stock. This will even out the color and the stock will look almost as if it already was finished. It will in effect be polished by the action of the steel wool. Check carefully as any scrathces will really stand out now. But are still fixable. After the finish is applied they will show up even more and fixing them will be nearly impossible. I hope this helps. If your interested I'll explain my rubbed oil and wax finish. It's durable and easy to maintain and goes on fairly quickly!! Works with the poly finishes also.
