First, a note of warning: this is an X3:AP topic and may not apply to any of the other games in the series (though I think it should work there as well).

If you're anything like me, then pirates are your targets, not your friends. Unfortunately this makes getting pirates weapons like the PBG or IBL dependent on what you can capture while capping or boarding ships, which is an awfully inconsistent source of weaponry.

Don't you wish there was an honest non-aggressive way of getting them?

I mean sure, you can get pirate production factories neutral by paying up and you could in theory sneak a fast ship in there to get their stock, but that's a bit risky. Why not make other traders do the work for you?

Note that this isn't exactly a cheap solution, but if you're somewhat close to the "end-game" phase you should have a trading station or equipment dock around.

Step 1: Go to that's station command list -> Dockware manager -> Add PBGs/IBLs to that station's goods.

Step 2: Up the price to the max for PBGs/IBLs and make sure you have enabled "Other races can trade with this station".

Step 3: Transfer a hefty sum to the station's coffers. I usually go for 4 million credits.

Step 4: Wait.

At some point a random weapons trader will show up to your station and sell you the desired goods. Probably a Teladi, since they're all about profitsssss, am I right?

I always wondered if this would actually work, and apparently it does - just had 12 PBGs delivered to one of my equipment docks by a Paranid, in fact. Probably one who associates himself with a certain Pirate Duke, I guess.

If anything, you can use this "trader bait" approach to supplement the usual ways of procurement. While it does depend vastly on the state of the economy and proximity (having your equipment dock or trading station in a sector close to producing factories should help keep the supply runs steady), it is the most carefree way of getting these rather rare weapons.

Good luck, pilot, and remember: don't get cocky!

That is pretty smart and those guns are indeed otherwise painful to acquire, I know as I have been desperately trying to get some.
I should not be surprised as the X games have been so much about TRADing ever since X3:TC.

Still waiting on my IBLs to be honest, but this should very much work in practice if the game's economy works reasonably well to produce these goods/weapons.