Tester Hardness Cross Reference
Material Dial Reading SAECO Brinell
Pure Lead* .020-.030 0 5
40-1 .045-.050 5.5 8.5
30-1 .053-.056 6 9
25-1 .062-.065 6.25 9.5
20-1 .068-.070 6.5 10
10-1 .072-.074 6.75 11.5
New WW** .074-.076 7 12.5 (est)
Aged WW** .080-.083 8 14 (est)
Lyman #2 .084-.086 8.5 15
Linotype (old) .086-.090 10 22
Quenched WW# .090-.095 10.5 23-24
Mono/stereo type .095-.098 10.5-11.5 24-28
Heat treated # .098+ 12+ 32+
Small samples can "spread" giving distorted readings. On bullets, a 1/4" flat filed on the nose works best.
*When checking pure lead, start the reading as soon as the point touches. On pure lead, the reading must be taken very quickly.
** WW (wheel wts) vary in composition and your results may vary slightly. The new WW reading was taken at 1 day and the old was taken after several months.
# Quenched and heat treated will vary a lot depending on your methods. These are only rough estimates based on what I did. Quenched depends on how fast they are dropped out and water temp. Heat treated has many variables.