Arsenal Weapon Mount vs. Smart Firing Platform Options

[kigmatzomat]

I've finally laid my hands on a copy of Arsenal and am scratching my head at the vehicle weapon mounts.

In Arsenal an External Visibility, Flexible Flexibility (Gah. Get a thesaurus) weapon mount with a 90 degree horizontal/vertical range of movement and a remote control costs 4,000 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) . (1,500 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) + 2000 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) +500 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) ). There's no recoil penalty, assuming you aren't mounting it on a small-ish drone (Arsenal p.105), and it stores 250 rounds of ammo. However you still need to shell out more nuyen for a targeting autosoft if you want your Pilot to be able to use the weapon.

Contrast to the smart firing platform from the main book, which is a remote control robotic tripod with 180 degree horizontal/60degree vertical movement and it's own rating 3 pilot/sensor/targeting autosoft for 2,000Y. Admittedly, you're limited to the gun's standard magazine and only get 6 points of recoil comp.

Why wouldn't I just slap gas vents on the weapon to get 9+ points of recoil comp and bolt down a smart firing platform, saving something like 2,600 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) ? Is having 250 rounds of ammo worth 2,600 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) ?

I'd been using the belief that the SR4 BB weapon mount (2,500 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) ) was vehicle-mounted smart platform that traded in the electronics for an ammo bin.