I ended up hitting it with a semi gloss clear coat and it made the colors pop even more. So I actually kind of like it now! Enough to probably just leave it how it is.
I think your stock turned out great.
Since
@Geno C. tagged me, I guess he wants me to post a few pics up, so here goes.
This was my first attempt.
Two more a couple days later.
And the last one I did a couple of weeks ago.
For anyone wanting to do this, it's easy as hell.
Clean and mask the stock.
Start with the darker colors and go to town on it.
The base coat color can give a difference in color depth.
I started with either black or FDE.
@TampaBud started with a green base on this one.
If things get messed up, let it dry a bit and paint over it.
Vary the pressure on the sponge and you'll get different effects.
I like to overlap the colors a bit. Some people like them completely separated.
As pointed out above, the matte or satin clear coat really makes the difference.
To make things easier, I sprayed paint into paper bowls and it made dabbing and wipe off easier in case I got too much on the sponge.