Well I got a Mosin Nagant 91/30 2 er 3 weeks ago and the old shellac finish scraped off with a fingernail. I figured since I got this gun to mess around with I'd put some new finish on it. I ended up putting some red mahogany stain and semi gloss on it. Didn't like it, and I didn't use stain-prep so the birch didn't take to it well anyways. I decided to move back to square one and get down to fresh wood via sanding. I'm not completely done removing the stain, but I figured out I really liked the look of the stock without stain. Any ideas on how to finish 'er up, while keeping the wood's natural appearance? Mebbe boiled linseed oil, or tung oil...?

Top to bottom, original shellac, 1st stain, no finish (or almost no finish)