Should I use Goo Gone to clean the barrel of my 2260?

[grackledown]

After shooting a couple hundred Crosman Pointed pellets with my 2260 I decided to pull a dry patch through the barrel to see the damage. The patch looked like BP had put their hands on it. I pulled no less than 34 more patches through and while the last patch was much cleaner it still had a significant amount of dirt on it. I think I read somewhere that using Goo Gone on a CO2 rifle is a bad idea, but at this point I think I would like a second opinion. From now on I will only use JSB RS or JSB Express in this rifle. They are very clean and are more accurate than the Crosmans anyway. The only reason I used the Crosmans is because I bought them when I was a newbie and I didn't want them go to waste. They're also pretty accurate and good for hunting at short (10 - 20 yards) distances with this rifle.

[Jeff D]

Been using it for years and have never had a problem.

For what it's worth, here's my advise/routine:

Do not pour/squirt it down the barrel. Just wet the patch a little before pulling it through. I find that the slower I pull, the dirtier the patch so i pull SLOW until the patches look pretty clean. Wait a minute or 3 in between patches so the goo-gone can do it's job. I always pull from breech to muzzle so the only place the goo-gone is going to accumulate is the transfer port seal. To lessen the accumulation around that seal, I always fire a shot (no pellet) just after pulling the patch. It won't clear the barrel of goo gone but will do a decent job of clearing the valve/port.  When done, pull a bunch of dry patches to clear the barrel. Alway's clean before use regardless of what chemical you use. Clean it and shoot it, don't let it sit around with any cleaning chemical in it unless your using nothing but oils. Even then, you probably don't want it seeping back into the valve.

I've put 22xx's together and had leaks in every possible spot, I've had issues with the valves sealing properly but I've never noticed an issue that I can blame on contamination originating at the barrel (transfer port) while following this routine. Actually, the only valve leaks i've had came from sellers who overstated there goods or from the use of improper lubricants (also a problem I purchased). Don't soak your guns in liquid/pb style silicone. 

[crowpopper]

give your pellets a quick wash with some dish soap and water
then dry off and let "bake" in sun til dry then lube them with a lil breakfree a tiny ammt in a zip lock goes a long ways
i use mostly CP's and they are more accurate after cleanin and lubing
just dirty but nothing a lil tlc wont fix

[grackledown]

So far it's 1 nay, 1 yea, and 1 opinion on the sub-topic. I'm still hoping for a consensus.

[PhantomF4E]

Goo gone works but be careful with it. Google a product called ballistol. I think Midwayusa sells it now. It has been mentioned countless times on the site. The stuff is excellent, cleans lead and copper pretty well. Smells a bit for a couple hours, but cleans, lubricates, and protects. Metal, leather plastics, rubber etc, it will not damage any of it. It's bigger in Europe than here, but it has been used on firearms since WW1. It's non toxic and even antiseptic. It doesn't displace water it emulsifies, so if you wet weather your airgun it helps too. A really interesting history. Great for lubing pellets too if you do that. I tried some just for kicks on some OLD minutemen pellets I don't know how old 30 years maybe. White with oxide, washed and coated they look new, feel new. Haven't shot them yet. Got about 10000 cpl's to go through first. I'll keep the nostalgic stuff on the shelf. Don't get any of it in a compression chamber. Well unless you like rebuilds.