"Sticky" sight

[Elm Creek Smith]

My brother gave me a BSA Multi Reticle (reflex) Sight that he never used. (It's 6 to 10 years old and never had a battery in it.) The problem is that it is STICKY on all the non-metal surfaces. Is there anything I can use to clean it off and restore the surface to normal?

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[CharlieWH2O]

Try 99% rubbing alcohol.

 

[Elm Creek Smith]

Apparently BSA uses some sort of paint on the pot metal body of the sight that gets sticky as it ages, and when you rub it with alcohol what doesn't smooth out comes off in flakes! The mount is steel, it has an aluminum bezel around the reflector, the light source is housed in plastic, the battery case/light setting control and the reticle selector are aluminum.

I may go ahead and strip all the paint off and repaint it with Birchwood Casey's blackening pen. If it will hold zero, it might make a good backup for my Mini 14.

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