I tried searching online and did not find much/conflicting answers. Hoping someone here might have personal experience.
I have a a gun that was hydro dipped and it is very gaudy, so I am stripping it off to restore it to original. It is a all steel pistol and it has what the company says is black oxide finish on it (which from what I read online is basically the same as bluing).
I have soaked a couple of the parts in a sealed jar of acetone. The actual hydro graphics started coming off almost instantly, and after a few min, was just floating in the acetone. However the underlying paint is still there. I put a couple of the parts in another jar filled with lacquer thinner and left the others in the acetone.
They have set in the jars overnight and while the graphics are gone, the underlying paint is still there and has not appeared to change.
My next step is it use actual paint stripper, however I worry about it harming the original finish/black oxide/bluing.
The underlying paint is white (the gun is supposed to be almost black)
Before I soaked them in the acetone, I started out with a rag and some carb cleaner and the rag had white on it, so the paint was coming off a little with the carb cleaner and rubbing with a rag. So I do not think it is something like cerra coat. But the acetone does not seem to be doing as much.
I do not know what company (if it even was a company) did the hydro dip, and I do not know the process they used or what paint they used. I would really like to remove the paint without harming the original finish. I am aware there might not by any alternative and may have to have the metal refinished. However that is last resort.
I bought a couple rifles in the past (not at the same time) that were spray painted and both of those, acetone and a toohbrush took the paint off super easy. This stuff seems a little more resilient than regular paint.