Thread: Deglossing scope?

I'm poking through an AR rifle build (my first AR... I swore I'd never have one after I left the service 20 years ago..but here I am), and I've got my lower built, and the upper on, and I rooted around in the safe, and the only scopes I wanted to put on the rifle were gloss finish.

Frankly, I'm a really big function before form guy, but even my grandmother who came over to visit while I was putting the scope on mentioned the stark contrast between the matte AR and the glossy scope.

Has anyone here messed with de-glossing or 'matting' a gloss finish scope to mount on a matte rifle?

If so, what did you do, and how did it turn out?

Thanks in advance for the replies.
Mark

Well Duracoat is one of the first things that comes to mind for a "professional" finish.

If you are truly a form over function guy Krylon works great too.

sell the glossy scopes and get matte ones

if your scopes are warranteed you will void any warrentee

you can't use any bake on finish cause that will damage your scope

you can beed blast but be very very careful that could damage your scope however a beed blast then air dry duracoat would give you the desired finish you do risk damaging your scope and you will lose some of the value of the scope as anyone buying it will question why and how and was it done right and now has a voided warrentee ect .

if you sand it with sand paper you may be able to rough it up enough to hold a finish but the results and cost are hardly worth it

just buy a matte scope

I second the bead blast. I too hate glossy scopes, and have blasted all of mine.

Tape the lenses with blue painters tape, several layers. Hold scope about 15 - 20" away from the nozzle while blasting. Only takes a minute.

One of the guys at the range had traded one of his bench guns in for a new tactical rifle - he was going to take his $600 scope that had been on the trade in gun and get a can of spray window frosting from home depot (used to make clear windows opaque like frosted / sand blasted glass). Not sure how it turned out or how the coating held up but it sounded like it would work.

You could always just run a scotch pad over the thing and rub out the gloss. Kinda like a reverse-polish.

if it was me, and for some reason i couldn't get rid of it and had to use it, i'd use a 320 grit and flat spray paint. you can very easily mask the glass.

Originally Posted by Velzey

I second the bead blast. I too hate glossy scopes, and have blasted all of mine.

Tape the lenses with blue painters tape, several layers. Hold scope about 15 - 20" away from the nozzle while blasting. Only takes a minute.

Thanks for all the replies.
As far as the bead blast... Are you able to degloss the finish without having to recoat?
I've got a cabinet and some cheap scopes to practice on, I guess I can just try it and find out.