Ordinarily I'd be inclined to agree, but the inner surfaces have the same
finish, and all the manufacturer's inspection marks and date stamps look
fine. A design feature of the rifle is that there is an exhaust gas bleed
inside the handguards, which leaves crud in the wood after use. There's no
sign of anybody ever cleaning the wood in there. If these were refinished,
it was the most thorough refinish job ever, getting into all the nooks and
crannies around the reinforcing hardware, rivets, etc. inside the front
handguards, while not covering the stains. The finish is also consistent
with everything that's known about what FN produced at the time.

"Leon" wrote in message
et...
If I had to guess this is military and the finish has probably been
reapplied at least a time or two through out the years as witnessed by the
first picture showing the varnish that got on the metal.

The finish you are wanting to reproduce very well may not be the original.