Although the other changes look good, I'm afraid to download the new patch for PS3. Will someone who has experience please tell me how the guns are? I don't want my Brush Gun and Trail Carbine to be useless...

They're not, i do belive the trail carbine got a damage boost. Most of the updates for them were just weapon spread increases and some weapon firing rates changed. They should still be pretty great.

Oh wow, they only got a very slight decrease in RoF, the Brush Gun is still the god of all mortal men.

They were too good. You can still make do with well placed trail Carbine shots. But thanks to the patch, the Hunting Rifle is my new favorite toy.

That's somewhat relieving to hear. But I ask you this, (if cost and weight aren't an issue) wouldn't an Anti-Materiel Rifle outperform the Brush Gun at long ranges? Also, at close range where DPS is more important, wouldn't This Machine beat it?

Anti-Materiel Rifle SHOULD be the best long range weapon, and the Brush Gun vs This Machine is really DAM vs DPS.

Of course!! Cowboy guns a are awesome.

You forgot VATS. Someone optimized for VATS will absolutely destroy enemies at close range with This Machine. With such a high AP cost, that's more than I can say for the Brush Gun.

Brush gun is still extremely accurate and strong, and the RoF is still very high.

You have to be more accurate with your shots now, but I actually enjoy that challenge. I guess I'll be getting the patch next time I play.
The rest of you, what are your opinions on the Cowboy weapons?

The changes will only hurt if you are a VATS only fighter. That's pretty much it.

In free-aim shooting the changes have surprisingly little effect in the game. I'm missing very little with a scoped trail carbine shooting at human sized targets from the max range the PC version can render.

Brush Gun and Trail Carbine is so good.

The Cowboy Repeater feels a bit meatier post-patch, slooooow. But it's a small change, still a great weapon.

On a side note, post-patch I'm experiencing my first crashes with FONV. On exit. Windows 7 reports the program is no longer working, so the game doesn't shut down properly, but hey, as long as crashes don't creep into my game play I'm a happy bunny. If they do, I may just make FONV my last Beth associated purchase. Heh ha. lol

So the reduced RoF doesn't hinder you at all? Not even a little? Or is it too insignificant to mean anything?

As someone who just can't put a Trail Carbine down longer than a few hours. No, the lower RoF didn't mean squat outside of VATS.