Bushmaster, I stained it with a dye stain (not what you'd find at Home Depot or Walmart. You'd have to go to a woodworking store. The theory is that the pores in Maple are so small that the particles in regular stain (pigment) are too large to soak into the wood and wil congregate in any tool marks that remain. Then it will lay on the surface and will wipe off when you wipe the stain. Dye stain has much smaller particles that will soak into thepores of the wood. It USUALLY comes as a powder that you mix in either alcohol or distilled water, depending on which type you choose. I hate the color that it came out..I wanted a more reddish color like you see on the super fancy muzzleloader stocks, but oh well. I ain't making another one because, as you know, maple's so damn hard to work with...