How good is the condition of your stock? Any scratches,dents or scrapes ? They will need to be taken care of as they tend to stand out after stain is applied as the pigment tends to collect in them more than undamaged areas of the stock.That might be ok if the gun is well used and you don't want it to look new but in a relatively unblemished gun it will stand out.That is why you might want to strip it and take out any blemishes in the wood.