For a rust preventative I use a locally made product called INOX - it uses lanolin / sheep wool fat and is available in several versions. It is available in the USA.
For a hardness tester, buy once cry once and get a Saeco lead hardness tester.
As a suggestion for your bullet alloy stash, I like to not make finished alloys but segregate into 4 lots, then combine clean ingots to suit what I’m going to cast. This way you don’t waste time and energy melting and pouring into ingots.
Pure or near pure lead - melt, clean and pour into ingots. This generally needs to be melted separately to remove impurities.
Linotype - generally store as is
Scrap pewter - this around 93% tin and useful to have on hand. Tin is a useful alloying agent and necessary to get a nice fill of your mould. It also makes the bullets more ductile.
Range scrap / wheel weights. If you have access to recovered range scrap from a pistol range this can be useful to recover and re-use. The hardness of range scrap and wheel weights can vary somewhat so I like to melt and pour into ingots.
When handling lead you need to be aware of the health risks. One of the guys at our club became quite ill when he was cleaning out the back of the pistol range. There are a lot of fine lead dust particles that can be inhaled when stirred up. Try not to stir up the dust. Also clean your hands before handling food and drink. You see a lot of people at the range that don’t take these basic safety precautions. At a range you are also exposed to lead compounds in primers, so even if you’re firing jacketed ammo you’re still getting exposed to lead.
