Greetings! I am about to start my venture into the bullet casting world. I think I have the basics to get started. My question is the ingots that I have. I bought a bucket full of ingots and they are testing all over the hardness board. I have some almost pure lead and 1 ingot that I can't scratch with the pencil set. I have started sorting them as I test them and wondered if there is any advantage to only smelting the ingots that test in close proximity to the others or if I can throw all the 10-18 hardness ingots in the pot and start casting. The soft stuff I am saving for slugs. I plan to cast .45 caliber 230 grain bullets and if that goes well, some 125 grain 9mm, 158 grain .38 and some 230 grain 300 blackout subs. I intend to powder coat and water bath after PC. None of these will be loaded to max velocities (at least at the start).
I appreciate any and all advice.
Steve