Gun Stock Refinishing Project: Marlin Model 60

My brother gave me his old Marlin Model 60. We both received one of these guns back in 1983 from our father. My brother decided he really didn't want his any longer, and asked if I'd like to have it. Of course, I said yes. The gun hadn't been cleaned in quite a while, so I did a complete strip to clean up the old gunpowder residue as well as some areas of minor rust. The metal components cleaned up pretty well. The stock, however, was another story. Over years of storage and moving, the stock had some dings, scratches and gouges. The butt plate was pretty scratched up and was showing its age. I had wanted to put an ATI Fiberforce stock on one of these, so I put it on my brother's old rifle. It looked pretty nice, but I couldn't help thinking about that old stock. I wondered if I could pull off a refinish. Since it was already pretty banged up, I figured it wouldn't hurt to try. I did some research on YouTube to learn a bit about refinishing. It didn't look that tough, just time consuming. I decided I could do this a little bit at a time, since I wasn't in a rush. I got my refinishing products and got started. This video shows some snapshots and video clips I gathered during the project. I've brought them all together here to give you an overview of the project rather than a step-by-step since there are plenty of those types of videos out there already. The point is, that even a newbie like me can pull of a project like this armed with a little information, the right products and the guts to get it started. In the end, I have to say I'm pretty pleased with the final result. I've removed the ATI stock and put the original back on. It looked so nice, I couldn't get myself to put that ATI stock back on the rifle. The bluing does still need some touch-up, but I think I'm going to leave this as is. I learned a few things on the way, which I'll apply the next time I refinish a stock (or any piece of wood for that matter). Taking your time is important. But the nice thing about a project like this is that you can start and stop as time allows. Overall it took me about 4 weeks from start to finish. I'd do some work in the evening or on the weekend and put it aside until I had time again. Take a look at the video and let me know what you think. I'm sure some of you with far more experience could probably spot some mistakes. I'm open to (nice) constructive criticism or suggestions. Of course, comments telling me how awesome this looks are welcome too. Now I need a new gun stock refinishing project. I've got a Mosin Nagant that could use some touch-up and needs some stock repair. Maybe I'll take a shot at that one. Thanks for stopping by!