Is this steel bar considered mild unhardened steel?

That Hilman stuff will make you think something is wrong with your lathe or your skill set.
It’s garbage steel.

You can say that again. None of the unknownium stock I've picked up off CL or ebay machines as badly as the Hilman.

I noticed that one of the mom&pop hardware stores has the rack of Hilman rods and bars labeled as "weld steel". It certainly does seem to weld alright.
 
A friend recently showed up with a few sticks of Hilman 3/4" CRS and needed some cuts. I was happy enough just to keep the drops. The bar had been shear cut, so it was deformed for 1" or better on either side of the cut. I tried to turn that part off using my most reliable tool bits and made an absolute mess of it. The finish was horrible, and the chips were stringy like cutting plastic at too high a speed. Yep, I was doubting my kung-fu, but maybe it's just the material.
 
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