UPDATE 1 (20 June 2022)

• The ability to build Fortified Laser Musket must now be unlocked after purchasing a schematic for it from Ronnie Shaw after the Minutemen quest "Old Guns" has been completed. It costs 2400 caps by default.
• Two unique end-game versions of the Fortified Laser Musket have been added. They will automatically appear in the Chemistry Station workbench under Utility after the quest "The Nuclear Option" is taken, with the Minutemen chosen as the main faction. Each fires a semi-unique blue laser beam instead of the vanilla red one. I justified this by assuming that the Minutemen were able to recover some of technology from the Institute after invading it.
• "The Last Ride" fires an extremely powerful single-shot beam with a single crank. It has a base damage of 108, putting it on par with the Gauss Rifle, except it uses fusion cells instead of 2mm ECs. It also has a unique 10x scope function which has very low scope sway, and highlights living targets.
• "The Last Stand" is a unique version of the in-game unique automatic laser musket that Sturges gives you at the end of the Minutemen's conclusion to the "The Nuclear Option". It has a low range and massive recoil, but fires an automatic beam from an infinite ammo source. The Last Stand benefits from the Automatic Laser Musket Redone - Framework at Fallout 4 Nexus - Mods and community (nexusmods.com) mod, which dramatically increases the firerate of the automatic receiver. 
• The Automatic Receiver has been added as a general modification to the vanilla laser musket once "The Nuclear Option" is completed following the Minutemen questline, allowing the player to place it on any existing or new vanilla laser muskets. This too benefits from the Automatic Laser Musket Redone Framework listed above.
• Ronnie and Preston should now both carry their own models of the Fortified Laser Musket. Occasionally I get bugs where Preston's doesn't show up properly; I'm still investigating this, and will upload a hard fix as soon as I figure out what the problem is.
  

ATTRIBUTION

This mod is simply a standalone adaptation of eyeshkeeper's laser musket from Post-apocalyptic homemade weapons. Replacer at Fallout 4 Nexus - Mods and community (nexusmods.com), released under the permissions listed for the original mod. I do not claim any ownership or involvement in the production of any assets beyond the ESP itself. 

INSTALLATION

Requires AVBMusket - Main.ba2 and AVBMusket - Textures.ba2 from Post-apocalyptic homemade weapons. Replacer at Fallout 4 Nexus - Mods and community (nexusmods.com). 

Download "AVBMusket_ReplaceENG", and load/install this file after that. This mod replaces AVBMusket.esp. It's an ESP flagged as an ESL.

You DO NOT need to download any other files from that page except "AVBMusket_ReplaceENG". The main file, "AVBPipeGunsReplaceENG", is NOT needed for this mod to function. If you download it, it will replace all vanilla weapons, which I assume you don't want to do if you're looking for a standalone version. 

WHAT THIS MOD DOES

This mod offers a standalone, non-replacer version of the laser musket from "Post-apocalyptic homemade weapons. Replacer" by eyeshkeeper.

There are now two versions of the laser musket:

• The vanilla laser musket has been renamed to the "Makeshift Laser Musket". The energy damage has been increased from 30 to 36, to make it more viable in the long run. This one spawns normally in the world and on Minutemen.
• The "Fortified Laser Musket" is a semi-unique version of the laser musket that can only be crafted through a direct upgrade. It deals 52 damage and weighs three pounds lighter (5lbs compared to the original's 8lbs), but otherwise shares the exact same upgrades with the standard version. It uses all of the assets from eyeshkeeper's mod. 
  

The Fortified Laser Musket can be crafted under the Utility section of the Chem Lab, and requires:

• Science! 2
• Scrapper 2
• 1 Makeshift Laser Musket
• 6 Aluminium
• 2 Circuitry
• 2 Fiber Optics
• 4 Steel
• 4 Wood
• 4 Screws
• 1 Sensor Module
  

My rationale behind this was to provide an option for Minutemen players (or anyone who sticks with the laser musket for a full playthrough) to have a direct linear upgrade to their signature weapon around lvl 25 or so, that remains relevant for the rest of the game. I recommend pairing this mod with Useful Crank - Laser Musket doesn't require ammo at Fallout 4 Nexus - Mods and community (nexusmods.com), so that there's still a reason to use the otherwise damage-inferior Makeshift vanilla version (which, with that mod, doesn't require fusion cells). I also use Automatic Laser Musket Redone - Framework at Fallout 4 Nexus - Mods and community (nexusmods.com) to further expand the original musket's utility. 

THINS THIS MOD (PROBABLY) WON'T DO

• THIS WEAPON DOES NOT SPAWN ON LEVELLED LISTS OR APPEAR IN THE GAME WORLD. It's meant to be a player/General-exclusive weapon. (I may consider at some point adding in a prerequisite to acquire schematics found in the Castle's armory for a more integrated approach, but we'll see about that.)
• THIS WEAPON WILL NOT BE AFFECTED BY ANY CHANGES MADE TO THE VANILLA LASER MUSKET MADE BY OTHER MODS THAT MODIFY THE VANILLA LASER MUSKET. It is a standalone weapon, that doesn't (or at least shouldn't) touch any vanilla records. While I personally use mods like Useful Crank and Automatic Laser Musket Redone, I've mentioned above why -- beyond creating unnecessary requirements -- I left those out when implementing this. 
  

WHY I MADE THIS MOD

Recently, as I finally got around to doing a full Minutemen playthrough, I came to realise just how much I liked the design and feeling of the original laser musket, which I feel is a criminally underrated and overlooked weapon for a lot of players. I was looking around for mods that offer expansions and improvements upon it, and found out that eyeshkeeper, whose original non-replacer version of Post-apocalyptic homemade weapons remains a core staple of my load order, had made a very cool version of the laser musket.

However, their version was a strict replacer. As someone who really likes the makeshift design of the vanilla laser musket, I found myself at a bit of a dilemma, as I really wanted to use both. Thus, this small mod was born out of a desire to have both alongside one another, as complements. I've found that this mod pairs well with mods that improve the performance of the vanilla laser musket, and highly recommend the ones mentioned above.