When you first start casting, buy the lead already the way you want it. Smelting takes some time to learn, and is beyond the typical garage mechanics initial skill level. I kinda do my own smelting, in that I mix known alloys together to get a specific mix, but adding something like CU is beyond my ability. The pros don't simply melt CU into an existing alloy. They use other "solvents" to get it into a mix. The solvents are typically salts used for the express purpose of getting a metal to combine into an alloy.
Do you really need that hard of an alloy? A lot of people think they need BHN 16 alloy, as that is what other boolit manufactures are supplying. These boolit makers often use hard lead so that the product doesn't get damaged in shipping, not because you require a hard alloy.
I would start simpler, and just get some wheels weights. Melt them into something, like a muffin tin to get a useable cake. When you go to pour, get your alloy up to 700 degrees. Dip your molds in the lead to heat them up for a few minutes. Then start pouring. Dump your newly made boolits on towels, and learn the process of making proper boolits, even if they are the wrong hardness for what you need. This is a skill on itself, that takes time to understand. Your lead needs to be at a specific temp, as do your molds to get goot results. Also, your pouring technique needs to be honed.
Again, do you really need that hard of a boolit? Hard boolits can cause leading.
Early on, I needed a reliable way to determine the hardness of my alloys. I chose a technique that Brinell himself used for determining the hardness of alloys. He derived a calculation based on pressing a ball bearing into the material to determine its hardness.
Attachment 199212
I still use this technique, and it allows me to reliably measure Brinell Hardness to +/- 0.5 BHN. I can get better results by using a larger diameter point.
So far I'm into my 20th+ year in boolit making, and just discovering how alloys really mix, and what their hardness levels are over time. I was an engineer before retiring, and have read a lot on metalurgy, and discovered it's much more difficult than I could possibly understand.