Nope, no Cosmoline. Thankfully. I'd love to get a carbine too, but my next major purchase will be a new TV . . .
You'll probably get a carbine with old wood; I don't think they reserve the right to rewrap Carbines like they do Garands. You might want to double check, though. If they do, I'd recommend asking for unfinished wood if they can do so. Birch is a BITCH to stain even for a talented woodworker, and it's kind of sketchy that they try to make it look like walnut when it's not. Virgin wood + sanding + boiled linseed oil = nice looking rifles.
I also came across a recipe for "Gunny Paste" which is equal parts beeswax, turpentine, and boiled linseed oil. You have to melt the beeswax in a double boiler, then add the turpentine and linseed while it's melted. Then stir and pour into an empty shoe polish tin or something like it. It comes out the consistency of shoe polish. You rub it into the stock until it gets warm from friction, then buff with a terrycloth towel. Looks very nice and supposedly the beeswax gives a little more waterproofing to the wood.
