The one I got from Bubba's is chromed billet although that was 3 1/2 years ago. I haven't had a problems with mine but have heard of some that wallowed out the splines because of billet fit to steel. I suspect they just weren't tighened down enough or the left foot belongs to a gorilla when shifting.
I think you need to look again. I just looked at Softbrake and their shift levers are billet. At least, that's what the catalog says.