MT: I like to get the wood stripped of finish and whatever stain there may be so I can see the wood grain before deciding on what kind of stain, if any, to use. Aqua Fortis is okay, but Its like Henry Ford old saying, " You can have any color car you want, as long as its BLACK!" If done right, aqua fortis tends to make maple brown, and walnut black. Done wrong, you get a green stock with maple, and a walnut stock that looks like mold is growing on it!
Why not let the wood grain tell you what stain to use? If you have a nice figured stock, why make it Black or dark brown? Don't we have enough dark brown replica rifles around yet? The most striking woods I have seen on guns has been left natural, or blonde, when it comes to maple, persimmon, and Black Locust. Whether a rifle, or shotgun, or even grips for a revolver or pistol, they always stand out, and make even a cheap gun look fine!
Others have looked better using a bit of red or cherry stain to make the grain jump out, under a light coat of walnut, or brown stain. I have seen guns that have an orange tint to the stocks that are quite attractive, although Orange is not usually a color I would choose to use. One I saw had so much fiddle back it reminded of a picture of a Stradivarius violin I once saw- quite elegant( and rather orange).
And then there are plain grained woods that are so boring to look at that you might as well hit them several times with AF and make them as black as you can. If you want to give that wood something to look at, use inlays, or do some carving on the wood.
Let the wood make the decision for you when you have all the old finish removed, and you have had a chance to look at the grain, and wash the stock to see if it has fiddleback. Sometimes, boning a stock will bring out fiddleback that is otherwise hard to see at all.
