I don't think your stock looks too bad as it is. But, if you want to "refresh" it, that would be easy to do. I would never strip this stock and start over. It's minor dings and scratches are honest wear and part of the life and history of the gun. The really nice thing about a shellac finish is that it can be softened with denatured alcohol and moved around. I'd rub it lightly with fine bronze wool dampened with a little alcohol. Blot the bronze wool on paper towels so it's only damp with alcohol, not dripping. If you use too much alcohol, or rub too hard, you'll remove the original finish. You just want to thin it and move it around. Keep wiping with paper towels so the alcohol isn't allowed to lay on the wood and work too long. If you do this gently, your stock will quickly look more even. Then you can use a cloth pad and fresh amber shellac to build up the french polish more evenly. Your best bet is the internet for french polish technique. Parker purists will say that Parker finished originally with two trays; one with shellac, and one with boiled linseed oil, dipping the pad in both. There is more to the technique than that. The BLO was only used to keep the pad from sticking. It's not really supposed to be a mixture of shellac and BLO. Actually, a few drops of olive oil on the pad works much better.
Dave
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