I have read that the stock blanks of war time stocks were soaked in BLO/LO for a long time before being turned into a stock and were well saturated, thus the more intense contrast on figuring, be it grain, flame or tiger, as the wood presented.
The application of pine tar on war time stocks also has an effect on the look and preservation of the wood and its features.
The post-war stocks did not have this soaking and are thus more "dry" in appearance.
Member "Dean Dallas" exhibited some wonderful examples of the use of pine tar to make stocks look very nice, but have not seen him here since the new software was installed.
Below are pics of post and war time stocks. As you can seen, even a "dry" post war stock (1st and 3rd pics) can have very nice presentation.
Pics 2 and 4 are 1941 PL marked and show what I would call the deep dunk of the BLO before being turned and use of pine tar afterwards as a rub to keep the wood "good".
A group of 'dry" post war stocks, as they came from Finland arsenal...