Removing gold finish from receiver

[Opening Day]

Originally Posted by Paul Ehlers

It's hard to tell in the pictures but I doubt it was actually plated being as there isn't any of the gold color in the deep recess areas of the engraving. The acetone test with a Q-tip would be a good starting point for seeing if this is some type of a paint or lacquer. Does the forearm iron or latch plate have any of this gold color? If not, I'd suspect something other than plating.

This might also be some light oxidation which may come off with some oil and gentle rubbing with a soft cloth or something like a new frontier pad. The main thing is to go slow and easy in an out of the way spot & see what might work.

My guess is it is old lacquer that was used to protect the metal and acetone should take it off, I would remove the stock before using the acetone.