I just thought it was a curious omission on the part of the game designers to allow us to modify weapons, but not Named Weapons based on the same models? (example: having a scope on a 9mm but not on Maria, a reskinned 9mm) I'm not too sure if anyone has addressed this yet! I don't know how much work be needed to go into this but I for one would be http://imgur.com/GliKT.jpg

Someone has started to do it on New Vegas Nexus, but there are only 5 so far.

Good to know, I myself didn't understand the reasoning for this decision either.

Balance reasons maybe? I don't know.

Or if the named weapon was a quest item of some sorts then an NPC wouldn't recognize a modded weapon.. Just guessing here.

Mods don't change the ID, there's a whole separate tab on the weapon governing their effects. Which might explain why modded weapons don't seem to show up on NPCs- the leveled lists might not include that extra data.

I very much suspect that is the reason.

Or more to the point, alleviating the "definitive ultimate version" of a weapon.

Ie, getting Maria doesn't necessarily invalidate the fully modded 9mm --- yes it does more damage, but the scope and extra ammo capacity of the modded weapon leave a certain nitch for it to fill still. Just like morally ambiguous choices and/or quests that have more than one viable choice resulting in differing outcomes - such that it is all about trade-offs and weighing the pros and cons.

Making it this way adds more variety and spice to the game IMO, despite the fact that it doesn't feed the eternal desire for "more, more, MORE!"

- DU