Tell me more! Picket balls.

[DixieRifles]

Dixie if I offended you it was certainly inadvertent. I may have misread what you posted and if so I am sorry

Who me? Im just confused.

 

[Kentucky Derby Cavalier.]

Chapman's "Instructions to Young Marksmen - Improved American Rifle" (1848) is a good source for information on picket bullets. With their short bearing surface they require care / tools for loading to keep them aligned. With a smooth-bore and to answer the OP question, without spin imparted by the rifling they have nothing to stabilise them in flight.

With regards to assertion that the "patched ball is more accurate with the right load—if the barrel twist is designed for a patched load." - this may hold true for short range, but the Minie will soon excel as range extends and it will also out range the PRB. Rifling twist should not be considered alone - also consider depth and form of rifling grooves and lands. The P.53 Enfield had a twist of 1 in 78, but also had shallow rifling, that got shallower towards the muzzle, and with wide lands and grooves. The rifle could be loaded quickly.

David

Ah! I was wondering this, so your saying picket bullets would start to tumble in flight if they weren't seated correctly. That makes sense.

 

[ResearchPress]

Ah! I was wondering this, so your saying picket bullets would start to tumble in flight if they weren't seated correctly. That makes sense.

There's two issues. The short bearing surface of the bullet makes it difficult to keep aligned with the bore, irrespective of whether it is in a rifled or smooth bore barrel. If it is already tilted from the axis of the bore when fired, then accuracy will suffer. And back to the original question - yes you could fire such a bullet from a smooth bore, but it is the rifling that imparts spin on an elongated bullet and gives it stability.

David