new guy here with a question or 3

[alanint]

I agree with Ed. These are wood grips that have a very heavy coat of varnish on them. This is often a good thing. Many a time I have purchased a Garand, M1 Carbine or the like with heavily varnish stocks. Upon stripping them, you usually find that the varnish has preserved delicate marking and prevented hundreds of dings over the years from marring the stock.
Its like finding an insect preserved in amber!
If you strip these grips they will look much nicer and any markings inside should be well preserved.
There are resources here on the site for doing this properly