Colt LE 6920. I received it used and it has paint in the lettering. It doesn’t look bad but if there is a way to remove it without discoloring the finish I would rather remove it.
acetone, toothpick, and a sams club/costco pack of cheap stiff tooth brushes… theres not a simple solution. can substitute the acetone with a number of things, the tooth brushes with random nylon brushes… but you will have to scrub some.
If it feels like wax, try a blow dryer. If not acetone, as said, or MEK, or brake or carb cleaner should work nicely. Soak, soak, soak, then scrub. The stuff evaporates quickly and a small trickle will keep it wet and allow it to soak in so you can wipe it off easier. Good luck
Keeping in mind that acetone/MEK will also take off the factory finish, apply only to the areas that you’re looking to remove the color fill from.
If you can’t chip it out with a toothpick/dental pick I’d paint over it.
What? Since when does acetone remove anodizing?
Since I did the same thing once to a lower; soaked a rag in acetone and wiped the color fill out, the black dye wiped off with it.
The milspec finish is a Class III, Type 2 Anodizing. Class III means it’s the hardest and deepest Anodizing. The Anodizing process itself does nothing to add color to the aluminum except to turn it a very dull grey. Type 2 means they use a dye to color the surface. The usual color used to dye AR receivers is black. If it were a Type 1 finish, no dye would be used and the aluminum would be the aforementioned dull grey.
So, while the acetone will not remove the anodizing, it may remove the dye
Try “Goof Off”. It’s been very successful for me on a variety of paint removal projects.
What kind of crap guns are you guys buying that acetone changes the color of the anodizing?!
Just about every de-greaser on the firearms market…which pretty much universally contain acetone and toluene…will more than likely be able to take off the type of paint typically used to fill in lettering. Don’t over think it. If the surface looks gray afterwards from the solvent evaporating, rub a little oil on it and wipe it off. You’ll find it will return to a nice flat black.
If by chance someone went fulldipshit and used a crayon…get a heat gun.
Get some Motsenbocker’s Graffiti Remover from Lowes.
Lay the lower down and wet it up. Then put a paper towel over the area and soak it real good. Let it sit for 20-30 minutes.
You may need to use a tooth brush depending on what type of paint was used but it will come out. Rinse off when done.
It will not harm the original finish of the lower in any way.
Repaint over it with Black Paint? Or recolor fill it?
When I had an adventure with color fill…I found Hoppes 9 made a good ‘corrector’. I may have done it wrong but it turned out okay.
I understand seeking the knowledge to know how to remove it but colorfill never bothered me. But in my case I was doing it intentionally. Good luck
If all of the other recommendations fail, spray some Ballistol on it, let it sit for a few minutes and scrub with an old toothbrush. Guaranteed not to harm your finish.
This.Ive done it multiple times.
A word of warning: I would remove any polymer furniture first before using Goof Off. I’m not sure which formulation I used but I had a bad experience with Goof Off on a plastic knife sheath. It started eating through the surface of the polymer and left it kind of frayed and white. Also, be prepared to use a lot. It acts like a thinner, dries quickly and when it does dry, any unremoved paint will set where it wasn’t removed, forcing you to re-Goof Off the area. It can be expensive. MEK should do the exact same thing.
I just used Goof Off on a LMT stock that had 5 coats of paint on it with no issues. Sprayed it let it sit for about 3 minutes and used a sink sponge with the green abrasive stuff on one side and the sponge material on the other to scrub and repeat. Came off and looked brand new.
I’ve never used MEK, I’ve heard that’s pretty harsh stuff.
I’ve also used the citrus based stuff no issues on metal or plastics, for me the citrus took longer and had to use more of it.