In the top picture of my first post the unannealed brass is reading 54 HRB which is the hardness on the "B" scale.
The bottom picture was measured after annealing and reads 3 HRB which means it is much softer after annealing.
My tester only has "B" and "C" scales. The "B" scale is for softer material and uses a 1/16 ball penetrator, to test harder material like knife steel it uses a diamond. To measure lead I'd need to buy an 1/8 ball penetrator. I tried it with the 1/16 and the preload buried the penetrator before the major load was even applied.
http://i.imgur.com/gX41kEH.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/5f0Zxsp.jpg