Natural logwood powder is readily available Down Under - mix it with boiling water, slather it on the stock. Bingo, beautiful deep colour. I did find an odd side effect though - it silvers as it dries, and you need to wipe it back after it is dry. Also, it accelerates rust, so NO metal in the stock before oiling. The colour comes out a bit with oiling, but not too much.
Personally, I prefer Jarrah stain - it's a natural Australian wood with a gorgeous red-brown colour. Put onto American walnut, it looks identical to the military colour - I just finished a Keystone C with it - will post pictures eventually. The Keystone was dry and needed some final finishing, and I had to match it to the deep red pre-war handguard anyway. Jarrah stain is solvent based, so penetrates DEEPLY. I won't use water based stain any more. Most stains available in Australia are solvent based - water based are getting harder to find, and I always found poor penetration, especially with oily woods. My C stock looks identical to Johnny P's illustrated rifle - it is the photo I have always used for colouring 03'sI DROOL over that photo.
May I ask why go with a Minelli after-market when original unissued S and C stocks for the 03A3 are readily available? Last time I checked, Northridge was selling the original unissued S stock with handguard for $159 or somesuch.
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