Since you used the word "thereabouts" in your post, I would like to ask how close to some precise alloy our guns really do like. We hear of folks striving to improve a load by going from, say, 20:1 to the only slightly different 19:1. Or, maybe 12 bhn to 14 bhn. 
I don't have an official hardness testing device, unless you count one's thumbnail. But, by mixing my alloys sort of by feel, or guesswork, I manage to shoot pretty well.
I know my rifles get a diet of bullets that are at least somewhat varied, and they seem to shoot most of it without any noteable difference. So, guys, just how fussy about alloy are our rifles at the levels most of us work in?

Pentz, I understand you, and I also know that these are not microscopic accurate tests that can be performed. It's not the alloy itself I was curious about, but rather, the rifle's sensitivity to a precise alloy. We know that a couple of tenths of a grain of powder might make a difference, but does a point on a bhn scale make any?  Your terms- range and thereabouts- were what got me curious enough to ask. Those terms seem to be as close as my rifles seem to require in alloys.

Good points.  Fancy lead won't substitute for experience and trigger time.  If I ever get enough of both, I will be working on a comparison of isotope core 25-1 with certified 25-1 in my 32-20.  I know I can feel the difference in breech seating.

Hardness testers do tell you how hard the mystery metal is but not what it’s made from. That brings me to a second point with range scrap you have no idea what is in the alloy. Even buying metal from dealers is no guarantee of what it is I can find 4 different alloys for “Linotype” wheel weights is anyone’s guess what pot metals are in it. Hardness is not the only quality that makes a good bullet, ductility is important also. All in all if your shooting range scrap your scores will reflect it.

40 Rod

I think it depends on what type of shooting one is doing. If its serious benchrest competition I have found that the hardest lead and tin alloy your gun will shoot without leading has worked best for me. If one is using a long spitzer bullet the unsupported nose will tend to slump off enter side from the rotational force / RPMs. Also when using a long spitzer bullet and more so with a tapered one the nose will move back to try to fill the grooves and the bullet will shorten in length. This can also cause the nose of the bullet to move off center if it does move back equally around its diameter. A friend of mine did catch box testing and found nose slumps from .005 to .012 thousandths to be typical. A typical Schuetzen 32-40 benchrest rifle will provide roughly 70,000 RPM with a muzzle vel. of 1450 with a 15 twist. If you think in terms of an out of balance drive shaft and its effects the same holds true for an out of balance bullet as caused buy the slight nose slump or simply cast with an imbalance. This is why one would want to use a richer tin alloy to give the bullet additional strength. I use a 1-16 alloy and it has shown an improvment for me over 1-25 and 1-20. This typical nose slumping found on the long spitzer might be why the Cylindrical Flat Nose have proven to be more consistant as there is very little nose to slump and the bullet shortens less to fill the grooves and thus retains more of its as cast design when exiting the muzzle. Our soft lead and tin bullets do not retain their original shape exactly and what goes in the breach is not the same bullet that comes out the muzzle.

JLouis

Calledfyer my posts are generally related to the new fellows getting into serious Schuetzen competition. My passion is to get them to the top of the winners list by not making the same mistakes as myself when I first got started and to show them the easiest and fastest route to success.
This in no way takes away from those interested in simply getting their rifles up to the best of their abilitly outside the real of serious competition or those who simply enjoy shooting them.
There are those who can use my information to their benefit and there are those who couldn't give a hoot. I do not complain about all the posts outside the realm of my interests and I can only ask that others show me the same respect. There is more than enough room for all of us to share our special intrests all though they might differ from others so please respect mine as I respect yours and others.

JLouis

I apologize for the miss understanding CF and I admire your eagerness to learn why your rifle shoots well. I like winning without a doubt but I enjoy my test outings more than I do the match competition. Getting out to figure how to make ones rifle shoot just a tad better has always been a joy for me. Most if not all share this same intrest in accuracy whether its for plinking, hunting, competition or just the love of sending cast bullets down the range. After all these years of experimentation and or practice outings I still come up  something new to try before I even leave the range. Less so now being on a limited income and not being able buy what I have not yet tried. The list is shorter now than in the past when I first began, I want to try some of new powders that were recently introduced and their is none to be found in this part of the country. The few gun shops around here no longer have an intrest in stocking powder or primers for that matter. Used to be one could run to the local gun shop and buy a handful of various primers and powders for testing purposes but unfortunatly now in my instance it has to purchased online from one of the out of state suppliers. The shipping and hazmat fees make it quite a bit harder now to justify the increased costs to simply pick up a small variety of each to test with.

If time allows I would really enjoy seeing a couple pictures of your rifle and I wish you the best with it.

JLouis