Question About Muskets and Tin

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(Preface: I'm playing the MegaMod and somewhat new to it)

1. What are muskets good for? Are they just the "top tier" general tool that anyone can use or just hunters? (can't imagine hunters shooting down trees)
   
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     If they aren't the top tier tool, which one is? I have bronze, carbon steel and gemstone. Is there a chart of performance/durability for these different types?
     
     
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2. Trying to balance my economy to be autonomous, but I've run into issues with Tin and Copper. I can place the mines for them, but they're finite. The only "infinite" method I can find is to trade for them, but requires manual interaction every so often to do so (as there doesn't seem to be a way to auto-purchase for those resources either). So, in short - are they truly finite or is there an autonomous method out there for acquiring these raw materials?
   
   

Thanks!