When I got my CMMG M4A1 SOCOM   back in Oct. '07, I didn't think a lot about the fact that the whole weapon was painted black.   Now, two
years later, almost.  the paint is starting to bubble and flake off in certain areas.  This is mostly in areas where lube would accumulate.
Now i'm thinking about stripping the whole weapon, and just letting the natural anodizing and parkerizing  show through.  I mean after all, this
is a U.S. weapon and not European.   If it winds up looking sucky under the paint, it can always be repainted to whatever...maybe even
camo.    The carry handle has already been stripped, and it came out looking just fine, IMHO.   I'm not concerned about the originality of the
piece for resale, so whadda yunz think....CMMG owners and ARFCOM  carbine junkies ???   BTW, all my other ARs are natural metal colors,
and I got no problem with that.  

Natural metal colored....????

Silver?

Natural colors for ARs :    Black - anodized Aluminum....well, unless you're into Sandstrom 9 retro.  And the various shades of Parkerizing on the
ferrous parts.  All indications point to the same type of finish under the paint on my CMMG product,  which brings up a question I should have asked in the first place,  why even bother painting the weapon black overall ???  Optional camo, maybe, but overall black?  I don't get it.

Just let it age.

If paint flaking off is how it ages then so be it.

If you really WANT to paint your gun, then go ahead and paint it.

I just happen to like the way guns age with time, and with use.

Its a CMMG, so it has a lifetime warranty, just ship it to them and they should refinish it or replace it. They're good like that.

Maybe that they where trying to cover up something? Bad finish

Well, today is Sunday,  and after Church Fellowship, I got home with nothing to do, so.....I grabbed the Big CMMG and stripped it !   Yup ,  a couple of
hours later, and two applications of Zip Strip, and all the black paint is now history.   What was underneath?   Surprise !  Nothing you wouldn't find
on a Colt, Bushmaster,  or whatever.   Seems CMMG simply likes to get out the spray can.   The finish on  the steel parts is a beautiful dark Park job
with one tiny exception on the bottom of the F/S, where the weld was polished over.   The Aluminum parts were equally well done in a satin black
anodizing job.  Nothing at all to bitch about here,  It all looks first class, and certainly main stream AR practice.