[UmaroVI]

Consider knowledge of Urban Brawl rather than Football; in SR, Urban Brawl has sort of replaced pro football.

Isn't football still around though?

Yes, but it's not nearly as popular and much less likely for a barrens-dwelling criminal to follow.

Form fitting body armor and SecureTech PPP Systems, also gel packs, would all help you. If you don't start with them, consider buying them with earned nuyen.

What books are those from? I only have access to Arsenal, Runners Companion, and the core book.

Arsenal.

Back to complaining about guns: you do have a 4/4 Gun Dealer as your contact, and you're a criminal; I don't think it's unreasonable to have a decently nice gun at character creation and it actually seems a bit weird that a guy with lots of skill in firearms, a gun dealer as a close friend, and an interest in guns only owns one cheap gun. Let me suggest the following; I'm trying to stick with stuff that's more on the cheap side. I'm also assuming you play by Pretend Stick and Shock Doesn't Exist rules.

Good point. As far as stick-n-shock is concerned, I'm not planning on using them because I think they are cheezy, but I don't think they have been explicitly banned by the GM.

That's what I call the "Pretend Stick and Shock Doesn't Exist" rules - it's not explicitly banned but nobody touches them.

1550: Ruger Thunderbolt (750) with the mod (not accessory!) Gas-Vent 2 (400) and the internal smartgun option (400). With the 1 recoil compensation for 6 strength, you can fire 2 narrow bursts per IP with no penalty. It's the gun Lone Star likes, so it's also quite believable it could have "fallen off the back of the truck" and ended up in your hands.

My character can't use smartlinks on account of the simsense vertigo. Also, why is having the mod rather than the accessory desirable?

The gas vent accessory can't be attached to pistols, but you can mod them to have integral gas-vents.

I forgot about the simsense vertigo thing. Get yourself Tracer Rounds for the assault rifle or any other full auto weapon you use, remove both smartlinks, and put a Laser Sight on both.

[UmaroVI]

Well, crap. I was totally wrong about that - you can't mod gas vent systems onto pistols either. My bad. You should replace that with Personalized Grip (100 nuyen) and Underbarrel Weight (25 nuyen) which is actually cheaper anyways.

[Tsuzua]

The gas vent accessory can't be attached to pistols, but you can mod them to have integral gas-vents.

I forgot about the simsense vertigo thing. Get yourself Tracer Rounds for the assault rifle or any other full auto weapon you use, remove both smartlinks, and put a Laser Sight on both.

You can't actually attach gas vents onto heavy pistols as a mod or accessory.  Even so, the thunderbolt is a good gun.  Drop the vents and get a personalized grip and underbarrel weight instead.  If your GM uses the bonus RC from strength (which I suggest actually) optional rule, that puts you at 5 RC. 

I really wish I could point you away from the alpha since you don't use smartlink and it's one of the pricier assault rifles.  Sadly, there really isn't a better choice.  That 2 innate RC is just too huge to pass up.