Zonie, I understand what you are saying, and I have seen many postings warning about the use of steel wool and freckling. I don't have a set procedure or sequence on how I proceed with the steps in finishing, and usually just have at it with whatever my gut tells me. I almost always use steel wool at some point, I have never had freckling. On the gun shown, if I remember correctly, after applying the heat to turn the wood I slathered it with linseed oil while the wood is still hot, let it set for a while, wipe it down good, let it sit over night and then have at it with the steel wool. I have never neutralized the aqua fortis, and have seen only had one gun that showed the merest indication on the barrel that it was still working. On that one I did not use linseed oil, which led me to believe that maybe the oil may neutralize any active acid that was not used up in the reaction. I could be wrong in this as I am not a chemist and am not disagreeing with your caution, just offering observations from my experiences.
Robby