>>938436670
>>938436973
so about 400ish years between the invention of rifling and guns with triggers before someone figured out a way to make the rifled barrel truly shine with an aerodynamic projectile involving greased grooves and a size smaller than the barrel that sealed through deformation.

which is still a long time. but consider, smaller population and most people were employed full time by farming. the pool of people with the wealth and free time to experiment with new designs but also the proximity to skilled metalworkers was quite small.

something like the minie ball could only have realistically been invented sooner if a world leader in government or business bankrolled the development of experimental weapons that might never pay off for decades if at all. and thats a very small pool of people with that kind of influence and foresight.