It takes years to train a bowman, it can take a few hours to teach a person to use a gun

Originally Posted by LeEnfield

It takes years to train a bowman, it can take a few hours to teach a person to use a gun

aaaaaaaaaaand? a marksman could shoot someone in the knee and not kill them but a poison arrow could easily kill from jus a knee wound. the prson might not be able to stand but they could fire a gun. the poison would probably stop them doin that. i reckon each army shuld have a special archers unit.

This raises the issue why no-one has ever come up with poison bullets. Peraphs they have and they are classed as chemical weapons?

Interesting that the ancients deliberately used both chemical and biological weapons, things we assume to be modern!

As others have said, there are very good reasons why guns replaced bows within decades of their introduction. THEY ARE SUPERIOR IN ALMOST EVERY RESPECT.

Snowblind....it is only over the the 150 years that guns have really improved, before that it was easier to teach them to use a rifle than to use a bow. It was the introduction of the flintlock and rifling that really started to make a difference on the range and accuracy and distance that gave the rifle real hitting power.

Originally Posted by perseus

This raises the issue why no-one has ever come up with poison bullets. Peraphs they have and they are classed as chemical weapons?

Interesting that the ancients deliberately used both chemical and biological weapons, things we assume to be modern!

I'm pretty sure poisoning bullets is prohibited by the Geneva Convention, but what would really be the point? You might as well smear "poison" over a 2000 pound bomb.

Historically, poisoned projectiles weren't terribly common in most parts of the world.

Originally Posted by SNowblind

As others have said, there are very good reasons why guns replaced bows within decades of their introduction. THEY ARE SUPERIOR IN ALMOST EVERY RESPECT.

not really.. say if you break or damage the barrel of your gun, you have to get a whole new gun. if you break your string, you onli have to by another string. also, if you break the actual bow, temporary repairs can be made.

oh, and if you run ot of ammo in the wilderness, you can fairly easily make some crude replacements for the bow. with the gun, youve effectively got an over-elaborate hammer.