I remember one time a friend of mine bought a shiny new Browning Medallion(blued). It was a bright sunny day. I saw the rifle giving off a glare at 300 yards. That was the day I started buying matte equipment only. I do not know why Marlin makes their SS so shiny. But personally I do not like it either. And before you say anything bad about Marlin's, I really like my Marlin 1894's, 39's, 1895's and so on. Just not in SS. Tom.