I made a curly maple stock for my Encore and have purchased 2 different kinds of Analine Dye powders (in different colors) and The results on pieces of curly maple scrap pieces are disappointing. The natural color is too light..I want just a little color. I was going to try possibly the Dixie Gun Works Gold and Brown Spirit stain..any experience with this???

I have not tried the DGW stuff. But I have had good success using Laurel Mountain Forge Stains. You can always dilut these with mineral spirits to both aid in the absorption and get even more control on how much color you desire. THe color they show when wet is the color you get after applying finish.

My best luck is with the spirit dyes. Brownells has them. Nitric acid was used on muzzleloaders. I have used it and it works well. It is very dangerious. Lincoln leather/shoe dye is usefull. Flaming the wood also works. It is very difficult to control.

Using a combination of all I have been able get color variation from black to straw on the same piece of wood. That make the fiddleback look very striking. You can't just stain it with some liquid and be done. Maple is very cut and try. Experiment until you are happy.