The 5k range was not actually that useful. Almost anything other than an Idris can move out of the path of projectiles fired 3 seconds earlier.
With the current flight and weapons tuning, a smartly-flown light fighter won't be touched by any turret weapon beyond 1000m. Agility tanking is still a real thing, and the basis of players bemoaning the 'Light Fighter Meta'. I've used the L-21 to solo Hammerheads at close range; ships with Point Defense are a different story and I have to either stay back beyond 1km or hug the target close enough to ram into it. The Wolf can do either.
Looking forward to trying out the L-22. It'll have a solid PvP role and should have less downtime for PvE grinding than it's older brother. But not likely to buy one, and DEFINITELY NOT a fan of bespoke weapons.
Edit: The reason I'll stick with the L-21 is that ballistics don't care. How viable size 4's will be in the long run remains to be seen, but the minimal damage passthrough from energy weapons means that some targets are just out of reach for the L-22, whereas the L-21 will always put some hurt on target.
Hopefully CIG will allow swapping those guns eventually, but for now the original is best for my use cases.
EDIT for future readers: They DID allow for swapping weapons between the ships, kits for this dropped along with the L-22.
