well i looked at online diagrams and figured that the stock had to be safe to take off or it wouldnt be together...didnt realize there was a block of metal in the wrist....

got it off and stripped it...sanded it and was actually surprised there werent too many battle wounds...i have no idea how but there wasnt anything REAL bad...ive seen much worse on guns that werent 40yo and through heck....after some light sanding she looked pretty good...some discolored wood and a few scratches and dents that i couldnt do anything with....

got spar urathene on it now...found out my poly wasnt shut properly last time and it was ruined...good thing i checked before i went to get stripper...

i got pics of it before and will take some after and after its assmbled again...metal is still rough...scoped and rings is still kinda cruddy...i cant get to it without taking the scope off and i dont want to take it off in fear of the scope not shooting again...i know it will still need shot when im done with it but hopefully the scope is still on or my buddy can adjust it...im not touching it its probably as old as the gun....

all in all the project is going well....i really love doing stuff like this...i got a good "days" work into it and most wouldnt give you 5$ for the rifle even after im done....but, it looks better and functions great and my buddy will appreciate it....hes going to die when he sees the stock...it aint great...but the scratches, dents and dark spots kinda give it its character back....my buddy will be thrilled i think...hes going to have to wait till tomorrow though...it'll probably be assembled tonite...but i aint going to take it back to him for him to throw it in the barn to get dust stuck in the finish!