Bourjaily: That Good, Clean Feeling
Very few products in this world work exactly as advertised. Slip 2000 Gas Piston Parts and Choke Tube Cleaner sounds...

Very few products in this world work exactly as advertised. Slip 2000 Gas Piston Parts and Choke Tube Cleaner sounds too good to be true: non-toxic, biodegradable, doesn’t smell bad, and it’s advertised to remove burnt fouling off gas pistons and choke tubes in only 15 minutes. As the otherwise happy owner of a Beretta 391, I have never been able to get all the crud out of the nooks and crannies of its gas piston, which seems designed specifically to frustrate cleaning. I called Slip 2000.
“No problem. We invented this with the Beretta 391 in mind,” said Slip’s Greg Conner, who sent me a 16 ounce jar ($15.50 from slip2000.com)
I dropped my 391 piston into the milky white, citrus-scented goop, pulled it out a quarter of an hour later and with a little brushing, the caked residue flaked off. All of it. For good measure I dunked the piston from an old S&W 1000 with the same results. Then I threw in a ported choke tube caked with powder reside and plastic wad material. Some scrubbing and voila, it was spotless. After that I found myself searching though my choke tubes looking for cruddy ones to clean. I hate to admit this is my idea of big fun, but there it is. If anybody out there has a miracle cleaner they swear by, I’d like to know about it.