Weapons FR: More configuration for secondary external weapon models

I want to do something with external weapon models that I can't right now. Talking about it has generated some initial confusion before, so I'll recap how I understand the system to work now, what I want to do, and what features I think would allow this.

Without the "external model launcher": Missile models are placed on the bank's firepoints, and when you fire a missile they recoil some distance before returning to position. This allows a box launcher to bristle with missiles that appear to be launched and then replaced as the model vanishes instantly into the fighter and then rises back out of it. If you have fewer missiles in the bank than fire-points then models will begin disappearing, in order of last fire-point to first.

With the "external model launcher": A launcher model will be placed on all firepoints and not animate, but models will vanish as the ammunition is used up. If you use up half your ammunition, half your external launchers will be gone.

What I want:

Take a fighter with 1 secondary bank with 15 cargo. Take also missiles of size 15,5, and 3. Depending on which missile used the bank will hold and display 5,3, or 1 missile externally, and the missiles will all vanish when fired. So far, this is good.

Now I also want to have a secondary that represents a an extra gun assembly, mounted in an external pod and visible. I want it to be an option in that same bank. The pod will have a low cargo size, since it can fire dozens or hundreds of times, but I only want one external model. To boot I want to fire from a particular place or places on the pod, which may vary from pod to pod, and making the firepoint simply be the model origin is not practical due to variations in pod and missile size.

How I think I want to do it

First, a table option to cap the number of displayed external models. 1 is not the only value I can imagine wanting here.
Second, optional firepoints on the weapon models, serving as the creation point for the actual weapons when fired
Third, a flag to **not** discard secondary models **at all** when ammunition is depleted, as disposable weapon pylons makes sense for missile racks but may make less sense for some gunpods.
Bonus: The ability to use primary-like fire patterns, cycle or not, with the fire-rate multiplying effects that entails, on secondaries, compatible with the possibility of secondary models significantly increasing the number of firepoints in play.