A Shard Pistol has a DV of 1d10+6 and -10 AP, for an average effective DV against armoured targets of 21.5 DV. At close range, this becomes effective average 27 DV. A Shredder has a DV of 2d10+5 and -10 AP, for an average effective DV against armoured targets of 26 DV. At close range, this becomes effective average 31.5 DV. (This is, on average, not enough to harm a Reaper) A Medium Pistol has a DV of 2d10+4 and -2 DV, for an effective average DV against armoured targets of 17. An Automatic Rifle has a DV of 2d10+6 (I could have sworn it was 2d10+7...) and -6 AP, for an effective average DV against armoured targets of 23. Railgun versions of these will have +5 average effective DV against armoured targets, making that 22 and 28 respectively. This makes a Medium Rail Pistol the better tool for fighting well-armoured targets than the Shard Pistol. A Rail Automatic Rifle (which is probably not rifled...) is worse for fighting well-armoured targets than the Shredder, even if the RAR is loaded with AP ammo. (Fun fact: in EP, AP ammo is worse against armoured targets than hollowpoint ammo...) However, this is a) only at close range b) only when compared to plain, boring kinetic ammo c) only against well-armoured targets At longer ranges, the effective average DV of shard pistols and shredders drops by 5.5 DV, which significantly reduces the comparable effectiveness of Shard Pistols and Shredders compared to pistols and automatic rifles; at longer ranges, railguns are more effective at dealing with well-armoured targets; a Medium Rail Pistol has 0.5 more DV than the Shard Pistol, and the Rail Automatic Rifle has 2 more DV than the Shredder. At longer ranges, a normal Medium Pistol and a normal Automatic Rifle firing Reactive Armor Piercing or Biter ammo will have the same or a greater effective average DV. Against targets with less than 10 Kinetic Armor, the effectiveness of Shredders falls rapidly; against a non-armoured target, the Shard Pistol deals a pitiful 1d10+6 (11.5) to 2d10+6 (17) DV; at longer ranges, easily beat by the Medium Pistol (14), and at closer ranges easily beat by a Medium Pistol firing Biter (19.5) ammunition. This likewise applies to an Automatic Rifle and the Shredder, where the Shredder manages 2d10+5 (16) to 3d10+5 (21.5) DV - easily beat by the Automatic Rifle (17) firing Biter or Hollow-Point ammo (22.5). Shard Pistols and Shredders are intended to be effective against armoured targets: "These micro flechettes are very good at penetrating armor, but they do not disperse kinetic energy well and so do not cause as much tissue damage as kinetic weapons." and this they excel at, but against fleshy targets at medium range or more (which is only [i]ten[/i] meters or more), they're generally inferior to normal firearms, and at medium range, rail weapons with AP ammo is more effective than Shard Pistols and Shredders against well-armoured targets. This means that Shard Pistols and Shredders are only "plain better" at ranges of less than 10 meters, which is not exactly the [i]sine qua non[/i] of combat, outside of, perhaps, tin can habitats. Additionally, HEAP is always better than flechette weapons, unless you're using micro-sized weapons. This means that unless you're at "reach out and touch them"-ranges, you'll probably want to use railguns loaded with AP and explosives anyway... Personally, I see the real problem as being that Shard Pistols and Shredders have such a narrow niche there's almost no reason to ever use them; the opposite problem of what you seem to be having.