From what I've read, the non-corrosive primers don't have near the longevity of the old corrosive primers. Back in 2000 a friend gave me a late 1930s box of Winchester Super-Speed 12-gauge #6C. I took them with me to Nebraska and after getting a click, click at the first rooster I got up, I tried several more and none fired, so I left them on a fence post at a public hunting area in the southeast corner of Nebraska.
The lead balls for "single-ball" loads put out by our North American ammunition companies were 1 1/8 ounce in 10-gauge, 1 ounce in 12-gauge, 7/8 ounce in 16-gauge, 5/8 ounce in 20-gauge and 1/2 ounce in 28-gauge. The balls were small enough to go through chokes, the gas sealing being done by the wads.
The ball diameters were --
10-gauge -- .710"
12-gauge -- .645"
16-gauge -- .610"
20-gauge -- .545"
28-gauge -- .510"
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