[Millenia]

My GM has us in an underground smuggler haven, which means I can buy any weapon(mods included, must add labor) as long as I mark it up 20%.

My character is a dual wielding ex-corporate assassin who favors infiltration and pistols on hidden gun arm slides. My question is, what is the most ridiculously upgraded pistol that you can buy(going for straight up damage)? And what is the best way to use it (SS/SA/BF etc.)?

Character context: 4 initiative passes at 22 (24 semi-auto) skill
Note: The only thing vetoed so far is a modded MGL-6 with BF

[UmaroVI]

Do you have any inherent recoil compensation (Str 6+, 10+, Cyberarm Gyromount, Foot Anchors)?

[Millenia]

No inherent recoil compensation, strength is only 4.

[UmaroVI]

The best pistols for most purposes are the Yamaha Sakura Fubuki for Stick-n-Shock and the Ruger Thunderbolt for general use. Check my sig and the Gunslinger for good guns.

[Crash_00]

Well I'm a big fan of :
Streetline Special
[High Power Chambering, Internal Silencer, Personalized grip]

for a cheap throwaway gun. It does the damage of an AR in the package of a hold-out and is pretty cheap (700¥).

You could change it to a Cavalier Deputy (would increase the cost to 1250¥) to fit your Semi-Auto specialization.

Technically you can do the same thing with SnS with stun damage with no mods and better AP, if you like SnS ammo.

Technically you could take a
Eichiro Hatamoto II
[High Power Chambering, Internal Silencer, Peronalized Grip]

It's a single shot though (wouldn't get your Semi-Auto spec) but it does 9P/-2.

If you're a real glutton for abuse you could just take a Predator and slap the large firing mod into it for FA. You'd be able to fire Long Bursts and Full bursts, but wouldn't have much Recoil Comp at all (could get one point from EF or Pers. Grip). A Long burst would deal 10P/-1 but be at a -5 (4 with a recoil comp point) penalty. A full burst would be at 14P/-1 but a -9 (or penalty.

There is also the Thunderbolt that Umaro mentioned. It won't work with your specialization, but you can take small firing mod for FA, internal sound supressor, and electronic firing (gives you 3 RC and -7 to be heard) meaning you can long burst at -2 or full burst at -6 (10P and 14P)

[Millenia]

...Check my sig and the Gunslinger for good guns.

Funny you should mention that, I really should thank you as I based the character off of a lot of the work you did for the "Ghost". Those characters were immensely helpful for our group.

I was using the Ruger Thunderbolt (Internal Smartgun, Personalized Grip, Chameleon Coating, Underbarrel Weight, and the Powered Folding Stock) but I guess I was looking for some sort of progression beyond that. It's weird for me to play a table top and not have some sort of "magic item" to strive for. We have an awesome story going on right now, and a group of solid role-players, but I'm still thinking of "Where does my character grow from here?"

...There is also the Thunderbolt that Umaro mentioned. It won't work with your specialization...

Is there a heavy pistol specialization? Or is it based on firing types? What spec would have worked?

[Crash_00]

Hold-Outs, Revolvers, Semi-Automatics, Tasers

That's what the book lists, but it's not meant to be a complete list. They encourage players and GMs to pick/create more as long as they fit. The only general rule is that they shouldn't be something that will always work 100% of the time. As a GM, I don't know that I would allow a full Heavy Pistol specialization (that's just about the only pistols I ever seen used), but I'd probably allow Automatic Pistols (would cover the Salvette and Thunderbolt). I always allow specific models to be taken if the player wants as well too.

[UmaroVI]

Yeah, there simply are limits to how awesome the guns you can get are. There don't really exist pistols that are better than the Thunderbolt in general - there are pistols that are better at specific niches (Crash listed most of them that I can think of, the other is the Light Fire for its silencer-plus and the plastic holdout pistol thing for getting past MAD).

Do you have any other weapon skills? You might want to look into getting guns for some of them. Alternatively, if you post the full sheet over in Character Critique, you might be able to get some suggestions on useful things to purchase. Many characters want to get more 'ware rather than more guns.

[CitizenJoe]

That's because the Thunderbolt is a burst fire weapon.  It has three inline sequenced caseless rounds that fire at the same time. 

[JustADude]

Personally, I second the Sakura Fubuki as pure awesomeness; with a 40-round capacity, though, you don't really need two of them, unless you want to split your dice-pools to drop more targets per phase. For mods, I'd go with slapping on an External Smartgun accessory, then mod it with Sound Suppressor, Chameleon Coat, and either Personalized Grip or Improved Range Finder... PG if dual-wielding, to replace the stock, IRF if single to let you fire in Medium Range with no penalties.

Also, since you can get anything if you pay the markup, I'd recommend a pair of Ares Viper Sliverguns loaded with Armor-Piercing Flichette ammo (+2 DV, -0 vs Impact AP, -20% range) and modded with Personalized Grip, Underbarrel Weight, Chameleon Coating, and a Barrel Extension (to counter the APF's range reduction). That way you can fire one 3RB from each gun on each IP with no penalties, firing one gun on each Simple Action.

[Mirikon]

The Sakura Fubuki is, hands down, the best light pistol in the game. The only problem is that the 10(ml)x4 ammo loadout means that it takes a while to reload when you run dry, as opposed to slapping in a fresh clip (yes, CanRay, I said clip ). If I have the nuyen for it, I usually get two, one with ExEx (or APDS if I can get it), and one with SnS.

[Henker]

IMHO the HK urban series are very good on the shelves weapons for an infiltrator.
Maybe it is worth having a look on it when availability in not a problem.

Otherwise morrissey elan and stick n shock is a good choice for a very compact weapon.

I have a personnal feeling for the fichetti 600 and the ares slivergun. They both come with extended ammos capacity and if you have access to some modification they can be used has a good support.
Add smartlink, electronic firing, skinlink, MAD3 and stick n shock + silencer for the fichetti and you have some very good side arms for an infiltration jobs.

[Millenia]

Yeah, there simply are limits to how awesome the guns you can get are. There don't really exist pistols that are better than the Thunderbolt in general - there are pistols that are better at specific niches (Crash listed most of them that I can think of, the other is the Light Fire for its silencer-plus and the plastic holdout pistol thing for getting past MAD).

Do you have any other weapon skills? You might want to look into getting guns for some of them. Alternatively, if you post the full sheet over in Character Critique, you might be able to get some suggestions on useful things to purchase. Many characters want to get more 'ware rather than more guns.

The only other weapon skills are Longarms(Sniper) and Automatics both at 2 a piece.

I'll post my character over there tomorrow.

[Halancar]

Personally, I would say that now is the time to get a pair of WW Infiltrators with all the bells and whistles... or to change your favorites Thunderbolts to lvl 3 Plasteel/Ceramic versions. Sure, that does nothing for damage, but if you favor infiltration, having weapons that will not trip MAD scanners is certainly a plus.

[CanRay]

The Sakura Fubuki is, hands down, the best light pistol in the game. The only problem is that the 10(ml)x4 ammo loadout means that it takes a while to reload when you run dry, as opposed to slapping in a fresh clip (yes, CanRay, I said clip ). If I have the nuyen for it, I usually get two, one with ExEx (or APDS if I can get it), and one with SnS.

Actually, in this case, clip would be an accurate term, I believe.