Ironwolf, I'm pretty sure it was a AAA+. piece. I'm glad you ask about the finish. Every year at Friendship, Jim Klein has been telling me about using Danglers orange stain on a stock first and then staining over the orange. Well, I finally tried it and I love it. You'll think you have made the mistake of a lifetime when you are looking a vivid orange piece of wood but it seems to make a difference. Normal staining after that with Dangler's stain, The stock is burnished with antler tip and then 8 coats or so of Forneby low gloss tung oil.
Melsdad,
The hole is called a grease hole or tallow hole. It is filled with grease for patches. You might even see some with 2 holes. Some even had a smaller hole for sticking a patched ball in for a quick follow up shot I recon.
Charles, I really like doing something on the muzzle. It the part of the gun you look at every shot.