You probably cleaned your gun, like many of us do. But there are some out there who treat a muzzleloader like a smokeless rifle and think "oh stainless" and don't bother to take proper care of it. Since CVA sells to a lot of those new to blackpowder they might have thought the extra protection would be a plus , and the color adds to it overall look versus the stainless look. Just a guess on my part.