What do you folks reccomend to refinish a wooden stock?

I was told that I should boil it/run it through the dishwasher to clean it up and get rid of the minor gouges/dings in it, then scrub it down, wait for it to completely dry, and stain/finish to my desire.

Is simple varnish, or something like Thompson's Water Seal preferable, or should I stain it, then laquer it?

Many thanks!!

Depends on your final objective. If you like the military oiled finish (which I prefer) you may want to consider the following:

1) Remove old varnish with CITRISTRIP gel paint remover
2) Scrub clean with scuff pads and clean water
3) Let dry completely and smooth surfaces with scuff pads
4) If surface is oily, use acetone to lift old oils or cosmoline to surface. Wipe clean\repeat
5) Stain if you prefer
6) Finish with WATCO Danish oil finish. The natural color is great, and the more coats, the better the appearance. It can also be applied when the firearm is assembled since wipes right off the metal surfaces.

That's just one of many ways to go about it.

Send it to Azex Arms and pay $35?

I took a class in stock making at Yavapai College in Prescott from Bob Sweda. One of our projects was to refinish a really bad stock. I ended up with an old SKS stock with lots of cosmoline in it. Bob said to coat it with Easy Off oven cleaner for a couple of days. Sure enough the easy off pulled the cosmoline almost completely out of it. You then rinse it off and allow it to dry a couple of days and whisker up. Then finish sand and finish. The wood was very light in color but had very few remaining stains. I stained it dark walnut and it looked great.

I also like the oiled military-type finishes myself (I also collect C&R bolt-action rifles):

1) Strip with Klean-Strip aerosol stripper and let dry.

2) Sand gently with 220-grit stearated (dark gray paper backing) sandpaper.

3) If you like, use an alcohol-based dye for color.

4) Apply Behr 600 Scandinavian tung oil finish (Home Depot) with 0000 steel wool, wait 15 minutes, then wipe dry.  Apply repeat coats with a clean rag per the finish instructions (minimum of three).

Air-dry the rags you use to apply the tung oil finish, as it also contains boiled linseed oil.  This can spontaneously catch fire if left wadded up.  You can also use an airtight metal container.

I just hang the rags on a hanger in my garage.

ditto gman method, esp the rag warning (GUnplumber posted a close call of his last years as well)
If you use Formby's Tung Oil, get the low gloss option

You can also use an iron to steam out big dents. For long guns, a space heater at the register flange end of a spare duct is great for de-greasing guns too long for the oven.

Citra Strip and then clean the wood. Let dry a couple days. I then sanded and steel wooled my SAR 1 furniture. Then 3 coats of Minwax Polyshades Antique Walnut, applied with 000 steel wool, then a coat of Minwax paste wax, applied with 000 steel wool. It came out great.