I'm stuck between one of two finishes for this side project I've got going.  I'm going with either a polished or bead blasted finish on stainless steel.  I know a lot of people like the bead blasted since it's flat.  Any thoughts?

I like the flat grey look of bead blast. Polished stainless turns any gun into a pimp gun.

LOL, I HAVE A PIMP GUN...i never knew this. My bushmaster has a stainless steel barrel...will this make it a pimp gun?

However, my Beretta 92FS is Bead Blasted Stainless (INOX)

But to answer your question, It completely depends on what you're working on... For example, to me a shiny beretta (like tauruses') look like crap, but i love shiny Desert Eagles, or my shiny AR barrel...
But you can NEVER go wrong with that nice non-glare look of bead blasted.

To answer your question, It

A stainless barrel on a AR isn't pimpy its a waste of money. It will wear out twice as fast as a chrome lined barrel, it harder to clean and isn't any better than a chrome molly barrel. I will disagree on one thing you said, a polished Desert Eagle = pimp daddy.