[Herr Brackhaus]

Rift_0f_Bladz
Like I said, "belted ammo" does not equal "weapons without (belt) capability become (belt) loaded when mounted in a heavy weapon mount"; this is absolutely not stated anywhere in the rules. As such, this is definitely something to clarify with one's GM; that's all I'm saying.

Also, laser weapons and the Thunderstruck actually have somewhat pitiful AP values when one considers certain weapons using the Bulls-Eye Double-Tap/Burst action from Run & Gun.
Terracotta Arms AM-47: 15P -4AP. With Bulls-Eye Burst (Semi-Automatic Burst), base AP triples to -12 (plus additional -4 from APDS, for a total of -16AP, depending on one's reading of the rules)
Barret M122: 14P -6AP. With Bulls-Eye Burst, base AP triples to -18 (plus additional -4 from APDS, for a total of -22AP, depending on one's reading of the rules)

[Csjarrat]

Herr Brackhaus, I understand the whole how do drones reload, but as you quoted, I said heavy weapon mount. Which as you lovely bolded for all of us, says belted ammo in the core rules. And concerdering there are modern weapon mods to convert AR-15 and other assault style weapons into a belt fed weapon, I see no reason not to allow any simi-auto + mode gun to be allowed to use a belt fed system in a heavy mount weapon system. Does that mean the weapon could be removed and quickly used, most likely not.

As for best heavy armor buster in a drone, the laser weapons have some of the nicest AP currently in the game, at least in ideal conditions.

Rules are too vague to support that argument mate, nothing states that guns automagically become belt modified by being mounted

[Herr Brackhaus]

For what it's worth, I've posted the question in the Missions FAQ.

[Rift_0f_Bladz]

Can no rigged drones use called shots?

Nothing against it either, but thanks for the FAQ anyways.

I have a hard time seeing most weapons in a heavy weapon (hell, a light weapon mount as well) mount not using some kind of belt fed like mechanism. Maybe for the rockets/missile weapons. I have always invisioned when mounting a weapon the handle, trigger, and stock remove, and the receiver, bolt (and firing pin), and barrel all that is really left since the regular firing mechanism is not really needed by the drone, kinda like a cannon in a tank. Where the gunner never really pulls a traditional trigger and hammer drops, more of pushes a button and gun fires.

[Csjarrat]

Can no rigged drones use called shots?

Nothing against it either, but thanks for the FAQ anyways.

I have a hard time seeing most weapons in a heavy weapon (hell, a light weapon mount as well) mount not using some kind of belt fed like mechanism. Maybe for the rockets/missile weapons. I have always invisioned when mounting a weapon the handle, trigger, and stock remove, and the receiver, bolt (and firing pin), and barrel all that is really left since the regular firing mechanism is not really needed by the drone, kinda like a cannon in a tank. Where the gunner never really pulls a traditional trigger and hammer drops, more of pushes a button and gun fires.

Which is all well and good, but the rules are too vague to make that decision based on RAW. How your table plays it is up to you guys to figure out, but it's def not in RAW

[Rift_0f_Bladz]

That sadly seems to be the case a lot lately with riggers/drones. But that could just be me.

They are several good machine guns, but the crime wave is really strong for its price in a combat drone.

[Csjarrat]

Yeah, we're def in need of the rigger splat book!

[Rift_0f_Bladz]

A good friend of mine is running a rigger in our game. Our GM has had to hand wave/house rule so much rigger stuff. And all matrix stuff is done by an NPC decker.

[Spooky]

The only problem with lasers is that they are in the energy specialization, and the OP stated that the rigger in question is specialized in ballistics. I personally would go with the gauss rifle, since I have had no real issues with it OSOKing guard towers with armored glass. Of course, YMMV at your table.

[Ursus Maior]

I have always [e]nvisioned when mounting a weapon the handle, trigger, and stock remove, and the receiver, bolt (and firing pin), and barrel all that is really left since the regular firing mechanism is not really needed by the drone, kinda like a cannon in a tank. Where the gunner never really pulls a traditional trigger and hammer drops, more of pushes a button and gun fires.

Actually, that is not how mounting a production-line weapon into a weapon mount necessarily works today. The machine gun isntalled into the weapon mount on our IFVs had the optics partially removed and the stock modfied. But otherwise they remained unchanged. There was simply a lever pulling the trigger when I hit "fire" in the turret.

Usually it's much easier to install a stock weapon into a mount by using what's there. In SR that might mean putting a lever to the trigger (as today) or hooking a universal adapter cable to a smartgun controlled weapon. In the latter case, don't bother changing any of the parts. That baby can be fired from anywhere aroung the world.

[Rift_0f_Bladz]

When I said cannon, I meant the main cannon, not the .50 cal on the top. I am aware that most mounted weapons are the physically cared weapon, just hooked onto the mount. And if you want the thumb triggers the weapon has a lot more rearranged than simple stock modification. For a saw, yeah a simple mod works, but for permanent mounted weapons, usually more modifications are needed. But they are usually a quick fix and a few pins removed.

[faket15]

If you want maximum effectiveness you will probably go with either a top of the line Sniper Rifle (AM-47 or Barret), a Heavy Machine Gun or the Auto-Assault 16. For a vehicle mounted gun, recoil isn't really a problem and you should go with a HMG, which gives you at the same time the higher expected damage, higher ammo capacity and larger number of tactical options. For a drone, even a Steel Lynx, getting enough RC to fully compensate a Full Burst is hard. This means a good SR will give a higher average damage and higher chance of One-Hit KO, but both the HMG and the AA-16 continue to be really nice because of Suppressive Fire.

The Thunderstruck is a bad option. The AM-47 has the same stats with APDS and can use Bull's Eye burst or other types of ammo, like Ex-ex.

[Sabato Kuroi]

If you want maximum effectiveness you will probably go with either a top of the line Sniper Rifle (AM-47 or Barret), a Heavy Machine Gun or the Auto-Assault 16. For a vehicle mounted gun, recoil isn't really a problem and you should go with a HMG, which gives you at the same time the higher expected damage, higher ammo capacity and larger number of tactical options. For a drone, even a Steel Lynx, getting enough RC to fully compensate a Full Burst is hard. This means a good SR will give a higher average damage and higher chance of One-Hit KO, but both the HMG and the AA-16 continue to be really nice because of Suppressive Fire.

The Thunderstruck is a bad option. The AM-47 has the same stats with APDS and can use Bull's Eye burst or other types of ammo, like Ex-ex.

I feel the same about drones and recoil so let's forget about machine guns.Supressive fire is the main tactic of our rigger's rotordrones so let's focus on damage for the lynx.

I feel that the AM-47 is a great weapon but it costs 9.000 nuyen more than the Thunderstruck.APDS rounds are expensive as well.On the other hand the AM-47 has so many extras.You can keep the drone away from hostiles, jump in, use the vision magnification system and kick some serious butt.And if things go south, drones have great mobility.

[Csjarrat]

at least with LMG/MMG/HMG you don't need to worry about reloading as much, given that you can belt 500 rounds up. HMG ranges are more than generous enough for sniping as well.
TBH if you're going sniper, ditch the lynx and get the FB-Bumblee. heavy weapon mount, good armour and it flies, so its a damn site more useable (you don't have to find an elevator to avoid going upstairs lol)

[faket15]

Assault Cannon ammo is even more expensive than APDS. The extras on the AM-47 don't really make a difference because you can install extras in anything you want. What makes both the AM-47 and the Barret better than the Thunderstruck is the acess to different types of ammunition. Most of the time you want to be using EX-explosive for +2 DV and -1 AP. Against targets with heavy armor, you want to use APDS to have acess to Bull's-Eye Burst. Either way the Thunderstruck is a suboptimal choice. If you really care about the nuyen difference and isn't only trying to justify the Thunderstruck (because, let's face it, it's a f***ing Gauss Rifle) you should go with the Auto-Assault 16 for almost the same level of effectiveness with a much lower cost and higher versatility.

And I second Csjarrat when he talks about the FB-Bumblebee. That thing makes the Steel Lynx obsolete.