I doubt the idea of a patched, round ball was unknown, especially after veterans returned from the AWI... it's just that there are no period references to using a patch on a round ball in a smoothbore in the 18th century in North America. For what that's worth...
A lot of fellows shooting "bare ball" have reported better accuracy with a ball very close to the size of the bore, on top of a wad, with an overcard or wad on top of the ball. So a 10 gauge (.775) would likely shoot a .760 ball.
I have read in one of the threads that one rule-of-thumb is 1/3 the weight of the ball is the grains of powder used. But that would be a 660 grain lead round ball of .760 diameter, propelled by 220 grains of 2Fg. :shocked2: OUCH :shocked2:
Probably better to stick to loads from 80 grains to 110 grains of 2Fg :grin:
LD