When tested, the "ball's measure" generally produced a significantly low charge, only about 1/3 the "Hawken standardcharge", which was 1/2 the weight of the ball. In addition, it was prety much impossible to get anywhere near the same charge twice by pouring the powder into the hand until it covered the ball.
That's really interesting .... like I said I never tried it, only read about it. Perhaps this would also have something to do with the low charges they used to shoot when things were hard to come by. Not like your .73 caliber with the 150 grain powder charges your shooting.