Why were the bow and arrow abandoned for the musket? If early firearms were so inaccurate and had shorter range, why switch?

by justwondering117

Also if this is the case, why didn't a army field archers and "mow" down unarmored musket men?

corruptrevolutionary

This question gets asked fairly often and u/wilymaker does a great job answering it here

the short preview is that it's a misconception that bows could out range and were more accurate than muskets. The only "advantage" bows had was rate of fire but that's not as a big deal as people think; as well as that rate of fire would absolutely exhaust the strength of the bowmen, while muskets can be fired in rotation all day long.

DanKensington

More can always be said on the matter, but as the question of "Why muskets over bows?" is one of the more common military technology ones on the sub, I commend to your attention the relevant section of the FAQ - Weapons Development, then Transition from Bows to Firearms, in case your browser doesn't automatically take you there.