Micrometer Sight - How should I clean

[mattra]

I have a No 4 MK 2, that is in great condition; however, there are some spots on the micrometer sight along the numbers- possibly slight surface rust or possible oil/grease stains. How should I clean this? Would brasso be a good choice or would some oil/steel wool combination be better? I have put a healthy dose of oil on it just to prevent rust or further rust if that is it.

I am not really sure what kind of metal the micrometer sight is made from - steel or aluminum? I wasn't sure if the brasso could possible upset the suncorite finish - I planned to be very careful to not get any brasso on the suncorite/blued portion, but anything can happen.

Any thoughts or opinions would be appreciated -I am sure someone who is more experienced than I has already done this.

Information

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[Peter Laidler]

On the standard rifles, we used to use very fine emery sticks along the length of the range scale with the sight stripped. But I suppose you could do it in two hits by raising and lowering the slide. But don't use the emery board ACROSS the leaf, only use it up and down the leaf.

If you have a No4T, just leave it unpolished and set to 400. That way, even if it rusts in place, and you need to use it, you're sure of a body hit at any range up to 600 yards if you aim at the face

[mattra]

I tried what you said with the emery stick - it left a few scratches/streaks on the metal - maybe it wasn't fine enough - so i took some brasso and steel wool and tried to polish the streaks out - it seemed to work fairly well.

I am more or less pleased with the results - I may try to polish it a bit more. I am a bit of a perfectionist/ocd.

Thanks for the info

[Mk VII]

I use a chrome polish such as Autosol paste. Slightly more aggressive than Brasso.

[breakeyp]

Production tool companies sell rust erasers. These look like rubber erasers but are formed blocks of Jewler's rouge. On a polished surface, you rub the rust off. If it is a blued surface, I put an oil film on and rub the rust off. Once the rust is removed, there will be some discoloring left and I rub that out with a No.2 pencil lead.