RicinYakima
High Steppes of Eastern Washington
More practice, work on benchrest technique and more practice. I have watched many beginner BR shooters, with winners' .1" rifles and ammo, shoot 1+ inch groups. Did I mention more practice?
Exactly, measuring hardness is just a quality control check for me. As long as I am in my range of 1.0 brinell +/- I'm good to go. Hitting an exact number like 14.0 on the dot is a waste of time, just get close. I think any alloy with 2% tin and vary the antimony from 2.5 to 6% will fill most shooters needs. 4% antimony works for me but I don't shoot in the high range of pressures.Hardness is not a holy grail, but only one measure of alloy quality. You also need castability, malleability and consistency. Just because it is hard doesn't mean you can shoot it faster. Lots of benchrest shooters use linotype for 1450 to 1600 f/s loads because it makes consistent bullets, not because it is hard. I feel you are putting too much emphasis on hardness.
Start off with dropping everything you've heard about "hardness" and just forget about it. If you are starting with something you know is a lead alloy like range scrap, wheel weights, or maybe boughten alloy, just start there. Accuracy with cast doesn't come from an alloy, especially a HARDCAST alloy. It comes from static and dynamic fit and working with that in a variety of ways that may or may not include the Bhn of an alloy. FWIW, I can take 3 different alloys and make them give you the exact same Bhn and I can take a single alloy and make it give 3 different Bhn readings. Stop worrying about Bhn and start worrying about fit!How and when do you you bullet casters measure the hardness of your lead? Let's start with a lead ingot? Do you scratch the surface with a lead pencil or do you case a small piece of the mixed lead from the pot, air cool it, and test for hardness before continuing? If the lead is too soft or doesn't fill out, do you then add a harder alloy or tin and then repeat your hardness test?
Kroil .I'll swap cleaning lead from a barrel any day for the mess I have now. Got a Krag with a major case--as in "can't see the rifling"--of jacket fouling. I've screwed up and heavily-leaded barrels before, but they were always easier to clean than this. And I'm not even going to get any fun out of it! I've got a good Krag, this one will go on the gun show table.