re: BLO

BLO will provide a fine finish. As Nathan said, thin coats, wipe off excess after an hour, and buff them out the next day. I use a light buffing with 0000 steel wool after the second coat. A couple of my Mosin Nagants have about 10 coats of BLO and look really pretty for something with a wartime birch stock. It’s not a super-hard finish, but it will dent rather than chip if abused.