I'm refinishing my stock on my SKS, and just got done with the fourth coat, and I'm not really liking it.  It's not the color I dislike; it just looks sloppy I guess.  Take note this is my first wood project I ever attempted.

This is what I did:

I first used the dishwasher method to clean and strip the stock.
Then I sanded with 150 sandpaper.
Then used Miniwax pre-stain wood conditioner.
Following that I applied my first coat of Miniwax Polyshades (The kind with stain and polyurethane in one bottle) using a foam brush.

After allowing one coat to dry 6-9 hours I then would apply another and stopped on the fourth.
This is where I'm at now.  The shine just doesn't look as good as some on the pic thread, and I found some areas where the stain is some what not even.

Reason for this perhaps is I would stain one side of the stock at a time, so I could lay the other side down and allow to dry.

What did I do wrong?  Any advice would be helpful.

Go plastic!

Rub with fine steel wool between coats.