When i bought my BLR, i talked to my grandpa about the glossy finish of the stock to my grandpa, mentioned to him that i might try to strip it down to look like the old Marlin .32ws he gave me (gorgeous gun) and maybe do some checkering on it. He asked to borrow it a little ways before christmas and returned it to me, stripped, rubbed down with a waterproof brown shoe polish and checkered, exactly like my Marlin. It is beautiful, and the most amazing thing? He does his checkering with a pocket knife, and working in gun sales and custom building, i can tell you, it is flawless. He never ceases to amaze me.