Has anyone ever had any success in making a rather dull looking stock blank look like it was a much nicer stock blank by any method, such as using inks or dyes prior to finishing.

does it have any figure? there's always "tiger striping" ... dunlop has it in his book .. i couldn't get it to work...

i have made my own stain --- 1/2 a dozen fresh walnuts in husk in 70% rubbing alcohol, in a sealed container, left set for 2 months -- it WILL darken the stock, in an actual walnut color

Bone Black to fill pores.

I don't own Dunlap's book, but that tiger striping sounds like something that would be of interest. Anything to put some nice figure in plain jane type stocks.

If you want a mottled flame type you can douse the surface with alcohol and use a rag or paper towel bunched up in an irregular pattern. Dip that in your stain and daube it on the stock creating a mottled effect. An uncle of mine did that to a plain maple stock on a custom muzzleloader once that impressed people so much he felt guilty and sanded it off and refinished it so it was plain again! I would imagine that would work best if the stock color was pretty light to begin with.

Here is how to do it; use Magic Maple stain, which is potassium permanganate and is heat activated. No other stain will work. Apply the stain in stripes or in any pattern you want. It won't show up. Heat it with a heat gun; it will turn from brown, to black before your eyes. Practice. I have only used it on Curly Maple which makes the stripes come out, which is what it is made for, but some guys have painted on stripes with it.

Aquafortis is another option. It's basically nitric acid, works pretty much the same way the Magic Maple does, but does not contain pot perm. Track Of The Wolf carries it.