Re: Ranged weapon reload times
Clearly we've all gone very far from the original question (which has been answered ad nauseum) and perhaps we've drifted into a different area of advice. You clearly had a vision (as you should) of what weapons are prevalent within that vision and then, perhaps, we can help you bounce around ideas as to why you have arrived at that state. Perhaps a general view of how the world works and the internal logic. Surely logical justifications for why bows are less common than crossbows and the status/effectiveness/mystique of firearms can be found in the world building elements going into the world. We (as a community) are very good at brainstorming and collaboration and this discussion has breached Rate of Fire and dovetailed directly into that process.
I could have said that shorter. What's your vision?