Corrosion or tarnish — what to do

[Ron Scott]

Thanks for all of your suggestions. I decided to stay away from abrasives and instead use an old piece of MidwayUSA Rust and Lead Remover Gun Cleaning Cloth that I found in my tool box. I did the trigger guard as well as the rest of the receiver. They still sell it if you liked the way it came out:

"This marvelous cloth was designed to work on virtually any metal surface to remove rust, tarnish, lead, and other stains. The non-abrasive cotton cloth is impregnated with a cleaning solution, and has hundreds of uses around the shop.

Use it for:

Cleaning stubborn lead and carbon fouling from revolver cylinders.
Removing plastic fouling from shotgun chambers and choke tubes.
Removing tarnish from your favorite hunting knife.
Cleaning your reloading press and dies.
Restoring old rusty tools in the shop to new condition."