Longbows are no good

[pike master]

well if you are looking for something easy to learn to use, cheap to manufacture and accurate the crossbow and arbalest were there and the arbalest was more powerful and more accurate than a bow and quicker to reload than a firearm so why go through all the trouble and expense to make a gun.

and remember assembly lines werent developed until the industrial revolution each part was hand fabricated you couldnt just crank out a bunch of parts and expect them to all match up each parts had to made and fitted for that specific gun.

i think some are kinda thrown off because of stw where the samurai * felt any technology greater than the disciplines of traditional combat was lowly for a warrior to embrace so they let the peasants use the guns. but in europe arquebusiers were a step up from lowly peasants and admired for having a complex weapon that took a brain to use. the three musketeers story (not sure when it was written suggest they were people of middle class or merchant class standing.)well trained in the use of firearm and sword.