Out of curiosity, does anybody know if it is possible to take the black finish off an upper? I was kind of thinking about making an all-silver rifle (the no-black black rifle) and using the DPMS stainless lower with a stainless barrel. I don't think there are any companies that make a non-finished receiver but are there any solvents out there that will strip the finish down to the aluminum?

I say bead blasting, will remove finish.

Stripping the color also means stripping the anodized coating. Doing so will expose bare aluminum which is very soft. It will be subject to corrosion, scratching, pitting and will loose wear resistance. Depending on how much shooting you do, your fire control holes will eventually elongate and distort.

If you're hell-bent on removing the coating, make sure you have it clear-anodized afterwards. This will give you the silver color and will restore the properties inherent in anodizing.

All processes to remove the anodizing is destructive, whether it be bead blasting, sanding, or chemical removal. a weak solution of lye will remove anodizing. If using a chemical removal process you have to be careful as the process eats away at the anodization, and will eat at the raw aluminum once the anodization is dissolved. This will increase the size of all holes, in the lower. Becasue of this, it is usually only a 1 time process. Doing it too many times will destroy your lower.

Hmm, ok. I might just try using some of the aluminum painting/coating stuff from Brownells. Thanks for the help.