I used the hand cannon telemetry and turned in two bounties and barely got any XP for it. I did the same today but had the auto rifle telemetry and received the XP this time around. Not sure if there was an issue with the hand cannon xp not registering.
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I think it depends on which hand cannon you were using. Exotics take longer to level up than legendary. So if the hand cannon was an exotic, and the Auto rifle a legendary, than that could explain why you aren't seeing a huge increase with the hand cannon.