Removing gold finish from receiver

[Larry the Gun Guy]

Gold washing was a process done to guns; rifles, pistols and shotguns, at the turn of the century to enhance their beauty and show financial status of the owner. A friend had an engraved Fox that had been gold washed and he took it out in the garage and used a buffing wheel to remove as much as he could. Unfortunately, he also smoothed the engraving somewhat. I would not suggest doing that -EVER. Here is a better description of what it is.

Gold Washed
gold washed | ˈgōld ˈwȯshd

adjective

A term for a piece that has an extremely thin layer of gold, applied by either dipping or burnishing the metal, but are not plated.

Gold wash is a term used to describe one of several processes often related to antique and vintage silver. It consists of applying a very thin layer of gold without plating to another metal, most commonly silver. This is done by dipping or burnishing the metal, and is not as resilient to wear and handling as plating, filling, or electroplating. Other terms used to describe gold washing include silver gilt, gilt, gilded, and vermeil. The final application of gold after a gold wash is less than 0.175 microns thick and will typically wear off over time and need to be washed again to maintain its appearance.

[Tim Adams]

Originally Posted by Larry Stauch

Gold washing was a process done to guns; rifles, pistols and shotguns, at the turn of the century to enhance their beauty and show financial status of the owner. A friend had an engraved Fox that had been gold washed and he took it out in the garage and used a buffing wheel to remove as much as he could. Unfortunately, he also smoothed the engraving somewhat. I would not suggest doing that -EVER. Here is a better description of what it is.

Gold Washed
gold washed | ˈgōld ˈwȯshd

adjective

A term for a piece that has an extremely thin layer of gold, applied by either dipping or burnishing the metal, but are not plated.

Gold wash is a term used to describe one of several processes often related to antique and vintage silver. It consists of applying a very thin layer of gold without plating to another metal, most commonly silver. This is done by dipping or burnishing the metal, and is not as resilient to wear and handling as plating, filling, or electroplating. Other terms used to describe gold washing include silver gilt, gilt, gilded, and vermeil. The final application of gold after a gold wash is less than 0.175 microns thick and will typically wear off over time and need to be washed again to maintain its appearance.

I believe Larry has it right.
I tried acetone and lacquer thinner, neither one had any effect on the finish.
I can't imagine how bad this looked after is was done. What were they thinking?

So now, the $50 question. What to do with it? It looks horrible, but I for sure don't want to damage the engraving.
0000 steel wool or a brass wire brush?
Thanks for the help.