The blades made from the ordinary steel before the Apocalypse could only be used at most against Level 3 zombies. If they encountered those defense-oriented strength-type zombies, these cold weapons would either break or blunt.
As for the firearms from before the Apocalypse, their power was the same in anyone's hands. The only question was accuracy. But aside from powerful weapons like sniper rifles and cannons, other firearms were only effective against Level 3 zombies or lower.
Sometimes, a new human could inflict more damage on zombies using cold weapons.
As for the Level 4 and Level 5 zombies, the weapons from before the Apocalypse were as useful as a tickling stick. Therefore, the majority of these pre-apocalyptic weapons were used by the outlaw wagon gang to combat other survivors.
That was undoubtedly tragic.