Board Thread:Game Discussion/@comment-162.58.82.135-20130529135716/@comment-10182401-20130529142812

Not a stupid question at all :)  You're going to lose the signature weapon bonus (15% to all stats) and the specialization bonus of 5% (R4 weapon is heavy, R3 is ranged) if you do the R4 weapon vs the R3 weapon.  However, you gain better skills in convergence and critical hit.  Coincidentally I have the R4 Ironhide weapon too, and I can confirm you don't get the signature weapon bonus.  I don't have either weapon maxed, but I can confirm the stats are going to be better for the R3 MTM Ironhide with his R3 weapon at the base level.  Though Critical Hit is a much better skill than Triple Attack, it's probably better to use the R3 weapon.