I agree. I've played with a controller on both Xbox and PC and there's a lot more screen shake and way too much horizontal spread/recoil on console. On PC I haven't had any issues with SMGs...they could use work on console, I agree

honestly an SMG should win any engagement within sub 20m/25m due to that being where HC's start and they should out TTK all primarys within that range

A lot of what commercial products get named has to do with complying with---or getting around---various laws. So I'm really not that interested in what something called, versus what it does, and how its constructed. Plus in modern manufacture you have platforms like the Austrian AUG which can be configured to fire intermediate rounds (5.56mmx 45 mm) and basically function as an assualt rifle. But it can also be configured to fire 9x19 mm Parabellum handgun rounds and function as an SMG (AUG Para) So whether it's an assault rifle or an SMG all depends on what configuration your using, and what bullet you are firing. The traditional designation is that SMGs fire rounds of handgun caliber and size. Assault rifles fire intermediate rounds in reduced caliber (generally 5.56 or 7.62 mm) but with a cartridge/powder charge that intermediate between that of standard handgun and a standard rifle round. Then machine guns firing rounds of standard rifle size (or larger). Depending on their planed usage (mobile versus fixed) and planned function. (anti-personnel vs anti-vehicle/anti-armor). Anything above that you're getting into strictly mounted weapons that are anti-vehicle are are usually considered belt-fed cannons. The bottom line is that an SMG is a "compromise" weapon that was developed in the days before the assualt rifle was developed to be a BETTER compromise weapon. SMGs are built around the compromise of using large bullet, but with a small powder charge so that recoil is manageable and accuracy is maintained. But at the cost of range. The Thompson submachine gun was nicknamed the "Trench broom" emphasing its role in close combat. In WWII the prototype for the Assualt Rifle was developed as the Germans discovered with the StG. 44, that if you reduced mass of the bullet, while reducing the powder charge to something in between a standard rifle round and a standard handgun round, you'd get a better compromise weapon. One that fires a more energetic bullet with significantly greater range, while still maintaining reasonable accuracy with a greater volume of fire. These compromise weapons were sought after because in most battlefield situations it is volume of fire (suppression) rather than accuracy of fire that determine who lives to go home, and who doesnt. This was key to the German's success in early WWII as they applied the lessons that they learned in trench raiding (stormtroopers) in WWI and the combined arms mobile warfare that they learned between the wars (blitzkrieg). With their basic infantry unit being build around a light machine gun team, paired with a number of rifleman. The role of the LMG was to put out a large volume of fire to pin the enemy in place and discourage return fire. Then allowing the riflemen to advance, flank and eliminate the enemy at close range. The development of a compromise weapon that could fire with the range and accuracy of a rifle....while putting out the volume of fire of an automatic weapon is why the assault rifle has become the compromise weapon of choice for armies around the world.

[quote]They aren’t precision weapons. They are volume of fire weapons.[/quote] The problem is that auto-rifles have the exact same "volume of fire" as SMGs (in the game), and also have larger magazines, more range, and faster base reload. The only thing that SMGs have over auto-rifles is better handling when you hip fire. I just got Recluse, while is probably the best legendary SMG in the game, and have been switching between that and Gnawing Hunger a lot. Recluse is fine at short ranges, but as soon as the range increases, Gnawing Hunger is better in every way, and it isn't [b]so[/b] bad at hip fire that I feel that another weapon would be better.

Then change how it performs on PC lol. PC users have no SMG recoil to deal with that console users have to deal with.

The problem is that every "bullet" weapon archetype is designed so that a single magazine does pretty much the same damage as a single magazine from every other "bullet" weapon archetype. This results in needing half a magazine of bullets to kill a red bar in Gambit (where enemies are just a bit tougher than patrol zones).