Sometimes one finds milsurp rifles that have lost all finish from their stocks, and left bare wood exposed to the weather. This is especially the case with T-53 Chinese Mosins, which were often buried in caches in the jungle for months or years, then retrieved.
I have one that looks like it was dragged through the swamps of hell. After removing Cosmoline, the wood was very dry. I didn't want to refinish it, so I applied three coats of Howard's Feed-n-Wax.  It didn't change the appearance much, but did moisturize the wood nicely, and added a very slight sheen.  After 6 months, I plan to do it again.
FWIW, this one is a much better shooter than my 1944 Russian M44, although the M44 is prettier!  

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My T-53 was all beat to hell with no finish left on the wood plus it had a sandy, gritty feel like it was sandblasted.
The metal parts were in great condition though. I don't get it. Almost new looking metal but beat to hell wood ???

Anyways I just took it apart and refinished it with amber shellac.

Before:
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After:
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Looks acceptable now.

my .02 cents which is all it is = howards feed n wax

Like Forty5Cal, I shellacked mine with a couple of coats of amber shellac.

i am confused gents..

are we talking about preserving a stock finish or refinishing ?

What the OP did was brilliant and its what i would always recommend.

I like Howards a lot.....but have been using Ballistol more and more...

If he's got stock finish to preserve, then yep - Howards it is.

However, neither of us had any finish left...