Yes, mine is the early, rivetted version. As I can see on the images of that first version above, there is that green paint. While the paint on my bipod is similar, and has been laid on thick as I have seen on others like mine, it does look like it was painted recently. Images at several auction sites do show these early bipods without paint. In those images, the early bipods seem to have a similar finish to the later model bipods. I am suggesting that the black finish of the second version might also be what was given to or has developed on the first version bipod. This is leading me more and more to removing the thick, newish, green paint. Randy