Good afternoon all, I'm really new to black powder although I've been doing the smokeless kind for over 30 years. I recently got a .50 Hawken kit from Cabela's. Being the kind of guy I am ,I've just spent the last 5 hours trying to find out exactly what kind of finishes were used back in the 1800s. Some kind of oil for the wood...maybe Tung?..and a procedure. I think I know about browning the iron. I even found a recipe for a salt water procedure! All I can find is new products that imitate the original. I wanna know what they REALLY did back then. ANY help is , to say the least, MOST welcome. Thank you and Merry Christmas.