I recently bought a Yildiz over/under and the wood on the stock is awesome. I want to protect it before I hit the field this fall.

Put a coat of wax made for wood on it. It will keep out moisture. A thin coat of varnish or polyutethane on the inside of the forearm also as the wood there is not usually sealed very well if at all.

I also just rec'd a over/under for Christmas. The action is really stiff and requires considerable effort to open and close the action. Did you experience the same?

Been using Johnson's Paste Wax for a lot of years...this is the stuff that comes in a yellow short fat round tin. Will protect the stock from the weather and hand-handling marks, but nothing is going to make it scratch/dent proof.

I'll also tend to put a coat on both the metal and the wood when going out in damp weather and NOT buff it. Yeah...dries to that dull haze. Shine/reflections may not spook game, but it's been lucky for me.

Like ribbonstone says, Johnsons paste wax works well both on the wood and the metal and it's not very expensive. I've always buffed mine shiny first though. Some stock finishes may streak if not buffed off. It still leaves a coat of wax on the wood and metal.

I also just rec'd a over/under for Christmas. The action is really stiff and requires considerable effort to open and close the action. Did you experience the same?

I don't own a Yildiz, but several of my Beretta's have had this problem when new. It will shoot in and loosen up. Keep it greased.

Here is a link to a thread at SGW that will help you with this problem;

http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=127652

Good luck with your new shotgun.