I sanded mine to bare wood and stained it black.
If you actually shoot yours don't use shelac. It'll bubble up when the gun gets hot. My Mosin is my only gun at the moment so when I get together to shoot with my friends I go through alot of rounds. I got mine for a hundred bucks so if the stock gets screwed up it's no biggy. There's always the ATI stock on amazon for 60. I shoot mine like it's a .22 all day. What year and make is yours? I have a 1939/42 russian 91/30. Haven't rednecked it and don't plan to.
Just saw you had a 91/30 in your post sorry cp101