The notion of High Risk/High Reward is very much a special weapon characteristic. The sniper rifle has almost no use at close range, the shotgun has next to no range and the fusion rifle has a delay/charge time for every shot. Why not make a gun with limited clip size that specializes in headshots into a special weapon instead of a primary weapon? IMO it'll encourage people to actually use it.
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After some thought... I've come to the conclusion that level 8 is just too early in the game to call for radical changes to the entire hand cannon weapon group.