The stripping took varying times and effort. I've attached photos of my Miroku '86 and my Rossi '92. The Rossi had some very (VERY) dark stain on it, making the stock look black. Close examination revealed that the stock was made out of wood, but any grain was barely discernible. The finish pretty much wiped off after letting the Citristrip do its job. I didn't stain the wood, but simply applied Tru-Oil after stripping the finish.
The Miroku and most of the Ubertis took a great deal more effort. As noted, the plastic coating is very durable and likely a good way to protect the wood. It didn't even look too bad, but it did feel like you were handling a piece of plastic. Also, it I did dent it, the plastic finish got air under it and turned white in those spots. I had to do a number of coats of Citristrip and used a rather sharp metal putty knife to (carefully) scrape away the finish. I scraped with the grain and was careful not to gouge the wood. Fortunately, the wood was pretty hard and didn't gouge easily. Each scraping took more of the finish off, then I'd apply another coat of Citristrip, let it work for a couple of hours, then scrape some more. Again, I didn't stain the '86 stock--the wood looked fine, where some of the Uberti stocks were of some very light wood and I darkened them with the leather dye.
I didn't sand either of these stocks. I certainly didn't want to affect the wood-to-metal fit. (I did sand a couple of rough spots on other stocks where it appeared that the gunmaker decided that additional coats of plastic finish was easier and cheaper than smoothing the wood, but I avoided all areas where it would contact the metal.)
In all, I'm happy with how these stocks turned out, although it consumed my mind and time for a couple of weeks. I started seeing the world in terms of things that needed refinishing. I got a glassy stare and found the words "Citristrip" and "Tru-Oil" entering my normal conversation over dinner. I'm glad to have these five rifles and two (no, wait, three) revolvers done.
In spite of the trouble, it was worth it and I'd recommend the process to anyone who is tired of the Uberti red wood and plastic coating.
CC Griff
PS, I mentioned elsewhere that I think that I got the dye on the NWMP carbine a little too dark. When it was stripped, the wood was very light, so I started adding coats of dye a little at a time. It looked about right in my shop, but I should have quit a coat or two earlier. It looks OK, and certainly better than the Uberiti red, but I particularly like the way the 1873 rifle came out. On the other hand, I didn't dye the Henry stock at all and I think it looks good too. They're all a little different, which has its own attraction.
Griff