Ditto the hand rubbed coats, it insures that each coat is thin and fairly level. Ditto the light rub down between coats with 4/0 steel wool or a white 3M buffing pad to take off dust nibs and keep the finish truly flat. In fact, after the wood is well sealed, maybe 3 or 4 coats, I like to wet sand with 600 to 1000 grit silicon carbide paper (Walmart's Automotive Paints department) and a cork or rubber sanding block to keep the finish dead flat - sanding until most of the shiney places are leveled does it.
To keep the finish coat free of defects I also polish off the last coat shine with steel wool or the white pads until ALL of the gloss is gone. Then I use automotive Polishing Compound (not the coarser Rubbing Compound) to bring back the shine. This way, you can make it glitter like a Weatherby! May take 8 to 10 hand rubbed coats but it's there if you take the time!
Let it not only dry but harden between coats. at least a couple of days for the first couple of coats, then a day for each one after that should be long enough. Let the last coat harden at least a week, two weeks is better, before giving it the final polishing and hand buffing. A final coat of wax looks really nice but it won't last long if you allow gun oils to get on it.