Best way to restore this H&R?

[Malpaso]

I believe this is a Shikari, from what information I've been able to find on line.   It is marked Harrington and Richardson, Inc. Worc. Mass. USA AL308XXX, which makes it a 1973 manufacture(?). It is a .44 mag. Most of the Shikari info I've found is about the .45-70 model, so I'm still mostly in the dark about it.

I picked this up a while back intending to use it to shoot Frontier class CAS. Ended up getting away from CAS and never did anything with it. As you can see, someone laminated some decals (both sides) on the stock. What is the best way to restore it? Is it worth trying to keep it as original as possible?

[mcwoodduck]

First I would try some goo gone on the stickers and see what happens with a plastic scraper.
If the finish looks different once the stickers are removed, As in you can still see them after wiping the stock with some furniture polish.
I would remove the stock, dust up the finish with 320 grit sandpaper and give it a coat of varnish. Use the foam brushes with the wooden handles.  The foam brushes with the plastic handles seem to come apart with the varnish.  Pull the varnish from one end to the other.
You can also hit it with the 320 and then with wet dry 1000 grit and then polish if you do not want to paint/ varnish.

[LaOtto222]

Using a sticker remover is the best way. I have never used Goo Gone, but have use WD-40 to remove stubborn labels. You have to keep the label soaked in it for  a couple of hours and then try it, if it is not enough, soak it longer. Eventually it will soak off. Use an old rag and soak the WD-40 into it until it is ready to run out. Rub it real good on the label and put a little more on the rag and set it on top of it. After soaking for a while rub it off with the rag, if it does not come off, repeat, it will come off eventually. Try it on a small area first to make sure it is not going to harm the finish.

Good Luck and Good Shooting 

[Malpaso]

I should have mentioned that the sticker is not on the surface, it is lacquered over as well. Is this rifle of a value that I should try to keep it as original as possible, or just take it down to the wood and refinish from there?

[wolverine_1]

Don't think they are all that valuable; I got my second on for around $350 if I remember right.  They don't have the strength of the NEF Handi Rifles.  If it is a Shikari, it should say so on the barrel.  My first on (wish I hadn't sold it) had different sights than my second (which are like yours has) and just said Shikari on the barrel.  My second one says Model 155 and Shikari on the barrel. 
Don't know anything about restoring the stock.  Enjoy it. 

[geezer56]

The straight grip stocks come up from time to time in the classifieds here.  Just wait and buy one of them.  I have 2 of the old Shikari's, a 45-70 and a 44 mag.  Haven't played much with the 44, but the 45-70 has been hunted with, hard, for 7 or 8 yrs.  I've killed at least a dozen deer with it.  As for value, a refinished stock may drop value from $250 to $225, not really much.  Mine has been drilled and tapped, so any collector value is long gone.  These are inexpensive guns, and they made so many of them that the collector value isn't likely to ever be enough to put a kid through school.   Just enjoy it and don't worry.

[mcwoodduck]

I should have mentioned that the sticker is not on the surface, it is lacquered over as well. Is this rifle of a value that I should try to keep it as original as possible, or just take it down to the wood and refinish from there?

In that case I would get out the sand paper and slowly work my way through the finnish and then through the sticker. A few nights with an old towel in your lap watching TV will have you through the sticker and ready to give it a quick coat of varnish.
Other option is a heat gun to wrinkle the finnish and use a scraper to pop off the finnish, and the sticker,  then sand the area and prep it for a finnish. 

[hoytcanon]

A few nights with an old towel in your lap watching TV... then sand the area and prep it for a finish.

BTDT sooo many times! Doing it again as I write this on a cocobolo tipped walnut Mannlicher... 

[nanuk-O-dah-Nort]

A few nights with an old towel in your lap watching TV... then sand the area and prep it for a finish.

BTDT sooo many times! Doing it again as I write this on a cocobolo tipped walnut Mannlicher... 

I have a 157 with a "Mannlicher"
the tip hardware is cheap thin plastic.
I'm thinking a nice hardwood tip would look nice.

can you start a thread with your mannlicher project?

[hoytcanon]

A few nights with an old towel in your lap watching TV... then sand the area and prep it for a finish.

BTDT sooo many times! Doing it again as I write this on a cocobolo tipped walnut Mannlicher... 

I have a 157 with a "Mannlicher"
the tip hardware is cheap thin plastic.
I'm thinking a nice hardwood tip would look nice.

can you start a thread with your mannlicher project?

If I did, the thread would be chock full of oops, woes and duhs! I am kinda deep into it now but will see what I can do tomorrow.