Cleaning up a painted scope

[shibbershabber]

Hey all,

anyone have experiences with removing paint from a scope?

I recently had the pleasure of picking up a Nikon 4.5-14x40 scope, side focus, mil dot... its awesome.
Best part is, I got it for the price of a used Tasco!

However, it is about 90% coated in OD paint... it looks like a rattle can job.
Id like to get the paint off of it.

1. Not worried about the finish underneath. Ill probably send it out for Duracoating or something.
2. Not worries about glass, I can protect that just fine.

What I am concerned about is solvent getting into the moving parts. Such as the zoom adjustment and the side focus knob. This isnt a cheap BSA, so I assume that it is built well and watertight... I am still wondering about this. Ive read stories of people just scrubbing away with acetone and a rag without any issues. But I like to think Im a little more meticulous than that.
Are my fears of solvent getting into the cracks unfounded?

Let me know what you think, or have done in the past. I'll post some pics when I get started.

Thanks!

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[DieselScout]

When I was looking at stripping a gun I kept coming back to Citristrip. I never ended up using it as the wife like the camo pattern. Regardless threw lots of searches and it kept coming up.

 

[jbett98]

Let the guy who is going to apply the new finish recommend what to use, or, let him deal with it.

 

[ARKLITE881South]

Take it outside, couple of rags, good old hoppe's #9 apply, start wiping it off. Ive used hoppe's on stocks, scopes, ect. You don't have load the rag up, just take your time, i'll look like new. I did this to a 7mm mag that i bought new, cammoed all up and hunted with it for yrs. Decided to sell it, did the hoppes thing, and it looked like brand new when i was done. Trust me, hoppes works.

 

[DieselScout]

Let the guy who is going to apply the new finish recommend what to use, or, let him deal with it.

This is true and depending on the finish it may have to be blasted anyway.