This is my father's VH, now mine. It's the one that got me involved here when I first started looking for replacement barrels. Big mistake. Bitten by the bug and suffering some serious "itis".
The stock was really rough, so in the late '70s or early '80s, I re-did the wood and stripped and cleaned all the metal. This wood saw a lot of hunting after the re-finish. It is hand rubbed oil (Lin Speed was the brand). Probably at least 20 coats, cut down with 0000 steel wool between every coat. The wood fared better than the barrels ultimately.
Cheers,
Jack
