i used a paint/stain remover when i did mine...it had alot of hard plasticy clearcloat on it and came off with the remover.....i had no checkering to deal with though........but the point in refinishing a stock is to sand down all the nicks and scratches right???? so either way your sanding it........the point of sanding is to smooth the wood and remove dings and nicks..or make them less visible..........then you would apply a new finish......not sure how to get around the checkering.......it would be hard and could mess up your sanding to sand upto it but stop...sanding over it would only smooth it out a little bit id think??i been wondering how to sand checkering myself........but i know that it needs sanded...or else i wouldnt be refinishing the stock