Fallout: New Vegas weapon mods

Overview
One of the features added to New Vegas is the ability to custom modify certain base weapons. While in Fallout 3 this was limited to the creation of custom weapons, New Vegas takes this a step further by allowing the creation of weapon variants based on vanilla weapons by adding weapon mods.

Unique weapons cannot be equipped with weapon mods, with the notable exception of the Weathered 10mm pistol, which lacks the correct models (see bugs). While unique guns usually have better base stats, Obsidian Entertainment introduced this inherent drawback of unique weapons to balance out unique and normal weapons and make the choice less of an obvious decision and more of a preference. However some unique variants have both mods and better base stats, such as in the case of the Varmint Rifle's unique variant Ratslayer, which has all of the mods the Varmint Rifle can be equipped with.

The weapon mods by themselves serve no function, but once attached to their specified weapon will change the characteristics, look or function to create a distinct variant. The weapon mods range from scopes and silencers to extended mags and several in-between. In the case of the Varmint rifle and other such weapons there exists more than one different type of modification. While you are not limited to the amount of mods you can apply to a single weapon, you are limited to one of each type of mod per single weapon and therefore are not able to stack attributes like increase rate of fire.

Once a weapon mod is attached to a weapon it can not be removed and remains a permanent feature of that weapon, along with its added attribute. For example while an extended magazine is almost always beneficial, a scope on the other hand has pros and cons. It may increase maximum range, but makes it harder to use in close combat situations.

The addition of mods to a weapon will also increase its overall value of the weapon compared to the same base weapon with the same condition value.

Usage
Weapon mods are attached via the PipBoy, to attach a weapon mod you must have both the weapon it is intended for and the mod in your inventory. Highlight the weapon you want to mod within the items section of your PipBoy, then selecting the modding menu via the button as indicated in the top right of the info panel. After you have selected a mod, the weapon name will have a + after it to show it has been improved.

Achievements
Attaching 20 mods to weapons grants the Mod Machine achievement/trophy.

Vendors
There are currently 10 vendors who offer weapon mods in the Mojave Desert. Inventory of mods changes with stock rotation every 72 hours game time.

Killing the vendor doesn't allow you to pick up the weapon mods from their inventory.
 * Alexander, 188 Trading Post (Player Character needs at least 40 in the guns skill to pass the challenge)
 * Arms Merchant, 188 Trading Post
 * Blake, Crimson Caravan Camp
 * Chet, Goodsprings
 * Cliff Briscoe, Novac
 * Dale Barton, The Fort
 * Gloria Van Graff, Silver Rush, Freeside
 * Great Khan armorer, Red Rock Canyon
 * Old Lady Gibson, Gibson Scrap Yard
 * Vendortron, Gun Runners

Heavy
* The mod can also be attached to the recharger pistol with full effects.

Bugs

 * There are missing meshes for the weathered 10mm with weapon mods added. When you apply any mod to the weathered 10mm pistol, the gun appears as a giant red square with a white exclamation mark, making it unusable with ironsights and no sound will be heard. You can fix this problem by deleting the add-on and saving your game, then reinstall it for an unharmed weathered 10mm pistol. For PC users, a hotfix can be found here. You can also load a previous save, before you attached a mod. If you discard it after a mod has been attached, the white exclamation point will float above the ground and the player will not be able to pick it back up.