PLEASE BE SURE TO READ THE EDIT AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST

http://i.imgur.com/yjfjClK.png

Overall the concept is just to give a bit more freedom in our weaponry but I also feel like it could maybe borrow from where we're going with the Dropsuits in that it'd kill off unnecessary variations of the same thing (Assault Rifle, 'Blindfire' Assault Rifle, Federal Assault Rifle, etc) . BPO's could easily enough just have the modules permanently built-in and not require any additional components.

CONCEPT:
Every weapon starts out with it's baseline stats (in this case, a standard Assault Rifle).

Damage: 30.90 HP
Rate of Fire: 800.00 RPM
Clip Size: 70
Max. Ammo: 350
Reload Time: 3.00s

MODULAR FUNCTIONALITY THROUGH COMPONENTS:
A - The weapon being customized.
B - The weapon's fire-mode. In this case the applied Component makes it semi-automatic (a Tactical AR).
C - The weapon's power core. This determines it's performance as it would have been in a power-level
----------------------> (MLT/STD/ADV/PROTO/Specialist/Experimental/Officer). In this case, I'm using a Proto power-core.
D - The weapon's SKIN. Because I love PYRUS ARs but I hate only being able to get them through boxes.
E - The weapon's driver component. This could be used to reduce the skill necessity - Aurum and Loyalty Store models would have these built in since they're intended to be used with lower skill requirements. In this case, I'd be using an 'Aurum Driver Component' to reduce the skill level down to Assault Rifle Operation 3, instead of 5.
F - The weapon's accessory component. Intended to be more for function than performance. In this case, a scope.

OUTCOME:
The Fire-mode component determines that it is a Tactical Assault Rifle.
The Power Core component determines that it is a Prototype in performance.
The SKIN is white.
The Driver Component is an 'Aurum' driver, reducing skill requirement.
The weapon's accessory component is a scope.

In this case I've made the equivalent of a 'Codewish' Duvolle Tactical Assault Rifle, just with a white SKIN.

HOW YOU GET IT ON YOUR SUIT:
Separate window UI specifically for weapon customization. You save the respective weapon, name it, then apply it as you would normally in the fitting screen - but now with less 'lists' of weapons as they'd only be 'frames'. The weapon is unique to you.

HOW SALVAGE COULD BE HANDLED:
Simple enough. The base weapon 'frame' gets dropped, as do the components, rather than a bunch of different variations that we'll just wind up selling anyway.

POSSIBLE CRAFTING?:
Could even use some of the Battle Salvage (Broken Optronic Sight, Crushed Magazine Housing) to 'restore' parts and apply them to your weapon.

Feel free to discuss, just wanted to get the concept out there as I saw it.

EDIT: There's a lot of merit in this post. My proposal adds a lot of unnecessary fluff with stuff like components and the like but what we honestly and truly need is just a simple system that offers:

Weapon Frame
Power Core
SKIN

This would reduce the amount of available weapons considerably since there are almost 50 different Assault Rifles that all offer largely similar performance to one another. By separating them into these three categories, we reduce that number to just 4.

Spreadsheet outlining pretty much everything available here