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I use firearms in my current campaign, and the house rule we use is that AC bonuses are halved for armour, but magical enhancements are not effected. We don't recalculate natural armour. It can be a real pain though, and adds more work for the DM.
I don't agree that dex bonuses should be lost against firearms. Early firearms were noturiously inaccurate as bullets rattled down the barrel, until better bores and rifling were introduced.Even in 'western' gun fights, the opposing sides have to be close in order to have a chance of hitting (see Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven trying to hit a can with a revolver). The force with which they hit and the fragmentation of the bullet is what makes them powerful.
The easiest solution is to increase the damage of firearms, to reflect their damage and forget touch attacks (unless you have ensorcelled ammunition/weapons). Then decrease the reload rate to give balance (and realism).

I agree that the real reload rate for a musket etc would be prohibitively slow. But a big damage first blast, and then ducking for cover for two rounds for reloading, prior to another big damage blast, worked OK with my players. NPCs can help with reloading in pitched battles. Pistol users tend to get as many pistols as possible tucked into their belts for fast initial volleys.

Something I also introduced to take into account the penetration power of fire arms, was to have a vs firearms armour class (halfing the AC bonus armour). Dex and deflection bonuses still count, but plate mail isn't as good against a musket.

Realistically, rain will mess up bowstrings as much as a fire arm, although you can wax bowstrings (or take them off and keep them tucked away under your helment to keep them dry).

I just posted elsewhere, pretty much what Jadeite et al. suggested above that an 'action point' system makes more sense as part of a swashbuckler class that is more open for player interpretation (as a dread pirate/Indiana Jones/4 musketeer etc) type class, where firearms are just a component of the class features (or a presige class for a swashbuckler).

An action point system that could at different levels have the ability to spend points on movement actions (swing on chandelier, duck behind cover, evasion), and then at other levels a choice of weapon action specialization, i.e. either melee weapon actions (throw weapon, improved feinting, riposts, disarms (and catches)) or ranged weapon actions (targetted shots, quick draws, snper shots etc), like the ranger, would have more flexibility.
Then you could choose ranged weapon specialization if you wanted (and effectively be a gunslinger/musketeer) or a melee weapon specialization (and be Dread Pirate Wesley or 'Machete') if you wanted.

I've used various different firearms using classes in my current campaign and probably my favourite to date is the Arquebusier from kobold quarterly issue 13.
My biggest criticism of the gunslinger are the proposed rules for firearms. The reload time is unrealistically fast and the damage too low. With firearms being prone to misfire, why would anyone in a fantasy setting prefer these to, for example, more reliable and equally damaging longbows or crossbows? OK, the critical damage is higher, but still the expense and range of dfirearms make them a poor alternative to bow weapons.
A napoleonic musketeer would perhaps get 3, or 4 rounds off a minute if an expert. So that would be a reload time of three rounds, two rounds with rapid reload. Reloading in 6 seconds is ridiculously and unbelievably fast. I would increase the reload time for firearms, but also increase the damage. We use 2d6 for a wheelock horse pistol or flintlock dueling pistol, 2d4 for a snall snaplock, 2d8 for a snaplock or wheelock musket and 2d10 for a 'brown bess' musket. what tends to happen is that, as in history, players tend to have multiple pistols, and after an initial, high damage flurry, either drop the weapons and use a rapier or similar, or duck for cover and spend multiple rounds reloading. My players like this as it makes fireams more historically realistic and also makes them substantially different from bow weapons.
Weather should also be a consideration for firearms users. The best way to make blackpowder weapons useless is to throw a thunderstorm at the party.
These comments are based on three years of playtesting with different firearms rules with three different groups (including some ex-military players who have used historical blackpowder weapons).

The biggest differences between the Kobold quarterly Arquebusier and the gunslinger are the 'grit' rules, which seem to be a combination of a ki pool and action points, and the various crafting abilities and 'double tap' powers of the Arquebusier. It seems strange to me that a swashbuckling action points system is inserted into a firearms using class. It would perhaps be better to have a swashbuckler class, with an action points system for high drama "million in one chance" abilities that is more open (ypu could have dread pirate type characters, or Indian Jones type characters, not just gunslingers), and perhaps have a 'musketeer' or gunslinger prestige class to emphasise using firearms in the system.
I personally like the crafting abilities of the Arquebusier that allow weapon and black powder crafting that is lacking in the gunslinger. How often will village stores sell bullets and gunpowder in a campaign world? Unless firearms are ubiquitous, your gunslinger is going to find it hard to find ammunition. Also how frequent will magical firearms be? Mages will have been constructing magic swords for thousands of years, but presumably only magical firearms for a century or so, so numbers would be expected to be low. The powers of the Arquebusier give firearms users more equality in the magic items stakes.
Finally, having two free pistols (2000gp) of goods seems over balanced, unless the character has constructed them themselves. The starting cash of the gunslinger should be much lower to balance out their free high cost weapons.
I would give gunslingers a bonus with craft firearms and craft alchemy from first level, and only one weapon. I would remove the 'grit' system and instead place it into a more developed and less specific/specialized swashbuckler class, and give the gunslinger powers, like the Arquebusier, for magical ammunition use and focus on, but modify, the targetting skills in the gunslinger (but remove teh grit point system).

The biggest differences between the Kobold quarterly Arquebusier and the gunslinger are the 'grit' rules, which seem to be a combination of a ki pool and action points, and the various crafting abilities and 'double tap' powers of the Arquebusier. It seems strange to me that a swashbuckling action points system is inserted into a firearms using class. It would perhaps be better to have a swashbuckler class, with an action points system for high drama "million in one chance" abilities that is more open (ypu could have dread pirate type characters, or Indian Jones type characters, not just gunslingers), and perhaps have a 'musketeer' or gunslinger prestige class to emphasise using firearms in the system.
I personally like the crafting abilities of the Arquebusier that allow weapon and black powder crafting that is lacking in the gunslinger. How often will village stores sell bullets and gunpowder in a campaign world? Unless firearms are ubiquitous, your gunslinger is going to find it hard to find ammunition. Also how frequent will magical firearms be? Mages will have been constructing magic swords for thousands of years, but presumably only magical firearms for a century or so, so numbers would be expected to be low. The powers of the Arquebusier give firearms users more equality in the magic items stakes.
Finally, having two free pistols (2000gp) of goods seems over balanced, unless the character has constructed them themselves. The starting cash of the gunslinger should be much lower to balance out their free high cost weapons.
I would give gunslingers a bonus with craft firearms and craft alchemy from first level, and only one weapon. I would remove the 'grit' system and instead place it into a more developed and less specific/specialized swashbuckler class, and give the gunslinger powers, like the Arquebusier, for magical ammunition use and focus on, but modify, the targetting skills in the gunslinger (but remove teh grit point system).

I've used various different firearms using classes in my current campaign and probably my favourite to date is the Arquebusier from kobold quarterly issue 13.
My biggest criticism of the gunslinger are the proposed rules for firearms. The reload time is unrealistically fast and the damage too low. With firearms being prone to misfire, why would anyone in a fantasy setting prefer these to, for example, more reliable and equally damaging longbows or crossbows? OK, the critical damage is higher, but still the expense and range of dfirearms make them a poor alternative to bow weapons.
A napoleonic musketeer would perhaps get 3, or 4 rounds off a minute if an expert. So that would be a reload time of three rounds, two rounds with rapid reload. Reloading in 6 seconds is ridiculously and unbelievably fast. I would increase the reload time for firearms, but also increase the damage. We use 2d6 for a wheelock horse pistol or flintlock dueling pistol, 2d4 for a snall snaplock, 2d8 for a snaplock or wheelock musket and 2d10 for a 'brown bess' musket. what tends to happen is that, as in history, players tend to have multiple pistols, and after an initial, high damage flurry, either drop the weapons and use a rapier or similar, or duck for cover and spend multiple rounds reloading. My players like this as it makes fireams more historically realistic and also makes them substantially different from bow weapons.
Weather should also be a consideration for firearms users. The best way to make blackpowder weapons useless is to throw a thunderstorm at the party.
These comments are based on three years of playtesting with different firearms rules with three different groups (including some ex-military players who have used historical blackpowder weapons).