What is the largest a 15/16" octagon barrel can be bored to for a smooth barrel?
Initially I had been told that 28 ga (.550") was about it. However Lyman .54 cal PRB barrels have grooves around .560" making a 26 ga (.564") the minimum one could go to as a max. However it seems I came across someone who stated Bobby Hoyt made his a .58 cal (roughly 24 ga).
As I'd certainly love to have a drop-in barrel for my Lyman that I could do some turkey hunting with I'd much prefer the largest gauge I could get and would certainly work on patterns as a smoothbore but if I couldn't concentrate enough pellets at 25 yds I'd have a screw-in choke installed.
Now I've felt that a 28 ga was too small for turkey, though I know some do and that some even use a .410. But this is also with a modern shotgun for on what I understand outside of one guy. Some use these for dove and do well (I'm not that great of a wing shooter needing a bit more shot than that!).
And that one guy has found that his smoothbore does well with a heavier powder charge and 1 oz shot load (essentially a BP 16 ga load assuming he used ~75 grns of powder). This bends the typical understanding that a square load patterns best in a BP gun. According to the max loads given for a .54 cal and a conical this type of load is well within reason and something I'd work up to if a square load didn't perform.