This product caught my attention too. I decided to give it a try mainly out of curiosity, but I also wanted to find out if it might provide an improvement over my current case maintenance practices. My reason for cleaning cases is to keep carbon and other crud out of my chambers and sizing dies. I use a vibratory case cleaner to polish my cases when they start getting grungy. I figured that if Back 2 Brass would effectively clean my cases, including the primer pockets, and not produce negative side effects, it might be worth doing. It would also be nice to free up some space in my shop by putting my case polisher and media separator away in storage. So I gave it a try and here is how it turned out.
Since I don’t have an ultrasonic cleaner, I used the soak method. I chose a variety of dirty cases with varying degrees of use and removed the primers. I mixed the solution as per the instructions and let the cases soak for 24 hours.
The exterior of the cases came out clean and with a darker color than before.
The primer pockets were partially cleaned. Thick deposits of primer residue remained around the flash holes.
Carbon remained on the case interiors. But this is fine by me as I prefer to keep a layer of carbon in the necks.
The only exception was a .357 magnum case that came out clean inside. It is shown here with two un-cleaned cases for visual comparison. This case has only been fired once whereas all the other cases have been fired several times.
The .357 magnum case is nickel plated and was discolored or stained in the cleaning process. Two un-cleaned cases are shown in the background.
The brass is chemically clean, it feels etched. My fingerprints remain on some of the cleaned cases. I am concerned they may now be prone to oxidation.
Back 2 Brass definitely cleaned the exterior of the cases, maybe too clean. It did not completely clean the primer pockets. It left carbon in the case necks, which I like. It may have compromised the plating on the .357 magnum case. A significant amount of time is required to process a batch of cases. They need to soak for a day, must be thoroughly rinsed, and then allowed to dry before they can be processed further for reloading. For me, this process provides no practical advantage over vibratory polishing. Back 2 Brass may be a reasonable choice for the beginning reloader with limited funds, or for someone with limited space for case cleaning equipment. I may use it again if I come into possession of some extremely tarnished cases. Until then I’ll continue polishing my cases with a vibratory machine.
