Wallace Gusler ( former head of the gumaking shop in Williamsburg, Va.) told me that all the guns for restoration were mostly bees wax soaked into the wood via keeping the wood close to heat. ( In the W'burg shop this meant ribbibg the stock down well with bees wax and rotating close to the forge until the wax was melted. This stock was kept rotating close enough to the fire so the wax remained somewhat liquid and was soaked into the stock. After allowing to cool, it was well rubbed down with burlap or wood shaving to remove surface wax & sat in window for a few weeks to allow drying/ageing. Periodically, the stock was given a good hard hand polishing by hand. "Palm to wood." Takes a long time but is original. FWIW, Ken