Interesting topic. We’ve had a couple of threads over the past year about putting tacks
in, but that tack design that is big medicine to the fellow who put it in is an eyesore when he tries to sell the gun. Sort of reminds me of the old folk tale about the crone who sold love potions… The potion was cheap. It was the antidote that was expensive.
Tacks don’t drive well into hardwoods. I think a lot of people who tack their hard maple stocks end up boring slightly undersized pilot holes, and I doubt these would steam shut. I would agree with brothers
@deerstalkert and
@necchi in their previous comments. Steaming might help with the compression rings, but the holes will likely need to be filled. Toothpick fillers will present an end grain that will absorb stain differently from the edge or flat grain of the stock.
If it were me, I might try to steam the rings, or I might just try scraping the stock to remove them. I guess I would need to have the stock in my hands to make that decision. I would test my stain and finish inside the barrel channel, and then try to match the color with a shellac stick. Bear in mind, if you test your stain under the buttplate, you’ll be working with endgrain and it might not take stain like the rest of the stock. I would then fill the holes with a shellac stick, complete final sanding, and finish. The problem might be getting your hands on a set of shellac sticks. You won’t need much, but you’ll need a full set of them to find which color works best. I have a set that’s older than I am. My dad bought them, probably in the 1930’s. However, this is precisely the type of job that shellac sticks were intended for. You need an alcohol burner and a palette knife with a thin, flexible blade. If used properly, they work great.
My advice is worth about what you paid for it, and you have lots of other good suggestions to try. I hope you’ll follow up and let us see the results of your efforts. You might just find the antidote to that potion.
Best regards,
Notchy Bob