That is actually old gun oil in the wood. And, heres a tip-it is going to cause problems, big ones, if the gun is put to use.
Give your brother the gun at Thanksgiving. Tell him he can use it just a bit before you have some work done to it. After he shoots it a few times, have a pro leach the oil out of the head of the stock, strip, refinish it and rechecker it at the same time.If Bro needs a bend in the stock, this would be the time to do it. A good one for this work would be Cole Haugh, he imported those guns at one time. His prices for this work are super.
The metal would look fabulous with a rub down with 0000 steel wool soaked with Kroil. Just a gentle wiping motion, don't get too ambitious or you will need someone to polish and blue it. You can get both at Brownell's, or pony up for the bronze wool they sell, but, I haven't discovered a big difference in results with the procedure I described.
My brother will be taking the Stevens BSE 12 gauge I bought for him 30 seasons ago out for the MN. deer opener this Saturday. He used to shoot on my trap shooting/beer drinking leaque with the same gun, but, a shoulder injury about ten years past put him into the team mangers position, in charge of the beer drinking aspect of the team. The gun has eaten thousands of full house loaded slugs over the years with nary a glitch, and performs like an actual purpose built slug gun for reasons nobody can adequately explain.
Good luck. You are a pretty decent brother. If I was single, I'd ask if you had any sisters.
Best,
Ted
