For what it's worth, I've come to like the matte blue SPS finish. When I first received the gun I had the same opinion as Dixie Rebel. Apart from its roughness, the finish rubbed off on cleaning cloths so bad I almost took it back. The first couple attempts at wiping it down with oil resulted in a bunch of lint and brown residue.

In response I took the gun apart and brushed/rubbed the exterior with Simple Green. This took off all the brown residue. I followed with various random treatments of CLP / Rusteprufe (cleaning new rifle more fun than law school). Consequently the finish smoothed down to a consistent texture. More importantly the splotchy brown hue is now a deep black and has the appropriate "blue" appearance under light.

The conclusion of this highly important post is that the SPS matte finish can be improved if you are really bored