guns in early england?

Question

would any one happen to know when the first musket like guns came to england?
its for an unpublished story that im working on and im trying to get an accurate century.
but im looking for a century where swords and other blades were greatly used as the guns were coming in.

Answer 1

If you want to describe personal fire arms then it would be around 1420. The gun was a short, hand held barrel with no stock. for firing it was usually placed against the chest (and the chest was protected by armour plate) then fired with a slow match. size- a foot long, 3-4 pounds weight
A larger version was the "hook gun". literaly a small cannon with a hook at the bottom for hooking on a wall or a shield to reduce recoil. Usually the size of a heavy musket- say 4-5 feet long, some 30 pounds weight
an even larger version needed two men to operate- mounted on a long, lance -like handle. for firing that was nocked in the ground and then one guy guided the muzzle on the enemy while the other fired the gun with a slow-match. size- 6-7 feet top to bottom and 30 pounds or more in weight.

bear in mind that for a very long time these were the weapons of the poorly trained mercenaries or townsmen - the same as in the case of crossbows. Any nobleman would have the time and the training to use a bow- especially for hunting small game. Longbows were not so commonly used- too much muscle training needed. Bows had better range and speed of fire, but guns made up in noise and shock effect