Alumablack is great for scratch’s as you’ve said. Maybe a bore brush with solvent. I never actually tried to remove it.

 

You can't remove it. The product is a chemical cocktail that causes a reaction on the surface of the metal and changes its appearance. The new color is the new surface.

 

It actually came off with a little bit of Hopps no.9 and a qtip. I guess the thin coat of oil that was on it kept it from being permanent or something. I don’t know. Worked for me.

 

Good to hear, I could be wrong. Maybe the color was on top of the original and didn't stick? Idk. But then if the color comes from a reaction with the metal it never should have affected the finish to start with.
Regardless, I'm glad your piece isn't permanently marked.

 

Yeah that’s true. I’m not sure what it was then. The Qtip had a lot of black on it like carbon but it didn’t look like carbon to me so whatever it was, I’m glad it’s gone.

 

Aluminum black is not a very durable product, so I'm sure it came off easily. Didn't know that it would color steel though.

 

I’ve had success with it on some steel parts and I’ve had it not work on others. Just depends. I reckon since it wasn’t on aluminum it was easier to clean off. Sometimes I don’t even worry about covering scratches. Depends on the gun.

 

I use Brownell's Oxpho blue and Dicropan for steel. Oxpho blue is my go-to cold blue for most stuff, but Dicropan works better on harder steel (like pins and such). They both work great, there's no after rusting and they seem to last longer than other products. As an added bonus, they don't stink like Birchwood Casey's cold blue.

 

I will have to give the Oxpho a try. I like the idea of no rusting. I have Birchwood Casey stuff leave a little surface rust by the next day after application.