The finish on mine (R-15 and R-25) are both very good in my opinion. If you drag it over gravel, sure it will scratch off, but I guess so would a matte finish AR as well. I mean if you use it and take care of it, I don't mean baby it, it should last and still look real good. But I guess if you are real rough with it, like dragging it on the ground and such, it might get looking haggard. I don't think you would need to strip it if you wanted to finish it, I would just paint it with some Doubla Colour engine block paint (just for the heat), it is available in many colours. I really like my R-15 and R-25.