If you want an auto rifle to be decent you pretty much need - Counter balance - some range - another stability perk. The Grim Citizen from Crucible packages is pretty good. The Doctrine is alright too even after the nerfed it. (Which is BS, Bungie, put it back)

They are terrible now. They decided to make hand cannons way too powerful

Go for stability, you're golden if you get counterbalance. Damage drop will be abusive to you regardless of what the stat says.

Nice. I didn't think anyone knew about the series