I would rough turn the blank in a duplicator and see how strong the wood fibers are then. If they are easily dented by your thumb nail the wood would be improved by stabilization. But that is costly and can add a ton of weight to the stock. Minor areas can be treated with a very thin super glue too make it stronger. Large areas must be stabilized by acrylic resins under high pressure.
I have turned a hundreds stabilized wood pen blanks on a lathe. It gets into a "plastic wood combo" that can get very strong but also brittle at the same time. If you have to have the blank stabilized you pay by the pound for the finished product. Water will no longer be absorbed by the stock. All the air space is filled with resins. Porous woods can almost double in weight when treated. Try that on a long rifle stock and you could add three or four extra pounds to the project.
