There's a reason for that... (Destiny)

by iconicbanana, C2-H5-OH + NAD, Portland, OR, Friday, February 06, 2015, 13:56 (3360 days ago) @ Kahzgul

The Stranger's Rifle has dramatically better overall stats than most legendary pulse rifles. Most notably high impact, stability, and range. It's easy to put 3 rounds on a target at medium - long range and they do high damage per shot. The legendary pulse rifles have dramatically reduced impact and range, making them far less effective.

I think this doesn't factor perks in. I have a super pox vlo that would blow away the stranger's rifle; it's comparable in impact and range, upgrades perfect balance to be far more stable, and while it only has a 9 burst mag, it makes up for it by having glass half full and full auto.

That said, not everyone gets my super pox vlo, and everybody gets the stranger's rifle, which was the original point if you go way back to the beginning of this thread; and because it's so much better than just about any gun you'll have for a while, you see a fair amount of it among the 18-24 lvl range crowd in crucible.