My son is about 2 weeks away from 6 months old, and handles smooth purees very well with minimal gagging. I gave him a chunkier puree (not massive chunks, just not as smooth as usual) and he gagged and would not eat it. This morning i gave him some banana pieces and ate my half of the banana with him to show him what to do. He made his "hungry face", chewed his fingers etc but made no move to pick up the banana on his tray. I finally put a piece in his hand to show him and he just smushed it, didnt even try to put it into his mouth. Later i tried again with a french fry and he licked it a couple of times, then gave up and dropped it.
I just dont think he's ready for BLW just yet, i think he likes the idea of food but he's not ready to feed himself. So for now i will stick to smooth purees and see where we go from there.