It seems to be practically unanimous among CGN M305 owners that the mystery wood stock is not worth keeping.
I must be the only guy who kind of likes it. Maybe I lucked out - BTW the "mystery wood" on mine is mahogany. Not everyone's first choice of wood, to be sure, although technically it is a hardwood.
After degreasing it, and soaking it in near-boiling water for a few hours, I let it dry. It looked like drift-wood. Then I saturated it with ordinary wood sealant from Cdn Tire. It took a while, but it soaked up nearly a quart of the stuff. Then I stained it.
That amount of sealant seems to have made it noticeably heavier, and harder, than it would have otherwise been, had I just put a surface finish on it. I compared it with a buddy's and there's no comparison. His was just degreased and refinished, and it feels like balsa-wood.
Anyway, maybe I just got lucky with mine, but I did put some work into it.
I must be the only guy who kind of likes it. Maybe I lucked out - BTW the "mystery wood" on mine is mahogany. Not everyone's first choice of wood, to be sure, although technically it is a hardwood.
After degreasing it, and soaking it in near-boiling water for a few hours, I let it dry. It looked like drift-wood. Then I saturated it with ordinary wood sealant from Cdn Tire. It took a while, but it soaked up nearly a quart of the stuff. Then I stained it.
That amount of sealant seems to have made it noticeably heavier, and harder, than it would have otherwise been, had I just put a surface finish on it. I compared it with a buddy's and there's no comparison. His was just degreased and refinished, and it feels like balsa-wood.
Anyway, maybe I just got lucky with mine, but I did put some work into it.