Cleaning up gunky paint on older Tasco scopes.

[Dr.Rob]

Long ago before Tasco changed hands and disbanded to become the marque of a competitor I purchased two Tasco EXP wide view scopes. I mounted one, stored the other away. When I was doing a bit of spring cleaning I discovered the paint on the scopes had turned tacky and was coming off at the slightest touch, even to the point of sticking to the foam box one was stored in. So with Ed's red as my 'solvent', a soft shop cloth and a nylon brush on a Dremel tool I am slowly de-funking these useful low power, big objective scopes.







It's slow going but it's coming off and cheaper than paying someone to bead blast the crud off.

 

[Dog Soldier]

Bead blast an Elder Tasco scope?

 

[Dr.Rob]

Sure, why not? The scopes are fantastic. The paint sucks. Rattle can colors from Krylon would be better than the tacky matte paint they used back then.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I would pick off the loose paint and rattle can them with Rustoleum hammer finish.

 

[cdb1]

How much are the scopes worth?

 

[Dr.Rob]

They were certainly worth the time it took to clean them off. Acetone took off the last residue, ready to mount back up.

 

[LoonWulf]

Nice, was it just spots of paint or were the whole tubes painted? Ive never seen a black scope that was paint instead of ano.......wait simmons did some.....
I like those old tascos never seen that particular model either.

 

[Dr.Rob]

The whole scope was painted in a matte finish over the anodizing. Over time the paint just turned into a tacky gooey mess. These are really neat low power 1.5-5x scopes with a big objective (think dangerous game or 4x fixed type scope). I even considered putting one on an AR, but they are large for that application.

 

[LoonWulf]

Cool i may go looking for one, they may work well for some of the stuff i do.

 

[chicharrones]

Good job, Dr. Rob.

I hate that paint that was supposed to be somewhat grippy. It turns to goo over time. I have a red dot that has its paint turn to goo and I have a small radio that had it's finish do the same thing.

I spent a long time using alcohol on the radio as acetone would have attacked the plastic. It was still worth it in the end to keep the radio.

If I feel like taking the time, I may clean off the red dot. But I'll be using acetone on it.

 

[wahsben]

I've got a tasco scope that's done that too although it's a 6X24.

 

[Mosin Bubba]

Good job, Dr. Rob.

I hate that paint that was supposed to be somewhat grippy. It turns to goo over time. I have a red dot that has its paint turn to goo and I have a small radio that had it's finish do the same thing.

I spent a long time using alcohol on the radio as acetone would have attacked the plastic. It was still worth it in the end to keep the radio.

If I feel like taking the time, I may clean off the red dot. But I'll be using acetone on it.

Yep. 91% rubbing alcohol is my go-to for goo if I don't want to damage anything.

The scopes look good, Dr. Rob. Are you going to re-paint them or use them as is?

 

[eastbank]

i bought 6-7 scopes out of a junk box at one of the small gun shows i go to and most were old trashco, weaver and redfield and this 4x burris, don,t get me wrong these scopes were rode and put away wet and showed it with a very low price. the 4x burris was covered with a heavy coating of black tar like paint and sometime later maybe a year i looked them over and gave several to my grandsons to play with(no hope for them). but this burris showed some promise under the paint, after cleaning it several times with brake parts cleaner it started to shine, its a eary( #009454) 4x duplex thats pretty clear. i will put it on a .22 to see how it works and maybe later of a larger caliber rifle. eastbank.

 

[BrocLuno]

Yeah, I'm big on alcohol on old scopes too. For some reason they show up gooey ... Got an 4X Tasco (Japan) that came off a Savage 99 and has been a good scope. Cleaned up like DR Robs. Works just fine

Good job Dr Rob. Nice light old scopes

 

[Dr.Rob]

Might just leave them as is. They cleaned up just fine.