Ever wondered why flimsy looking cover could make the difference between Raider veteran and Raider paste? Did you find this immersion breaking? This simple mod allows 50 BMG rounds to rightfully pierce cover and kill enemies. Comes with satisfying impact effects on any surfaces hit! It just works.

Details
Penetration effect applies in real time, all the time, no need for VATS + Penetrator Perk. The upshot of this is that you can now penetrate cover while using VAFS Redux or other Bullet time mods, without needing to use VATS.

Penetration is balanced around Vanilla damage, but scales with global modifiers. Affects anything utilizing .50 Cal rounds the exact same way, with two exceptions. First, if a modded weapon consumes 50 Cal but fires a different Projectile, it will not benefit from penetration without a patch (most modded weapons should be compatible out the box). Second, although this mod is balanced around Vanilla damage values, it was intended to benefit all the cool 50 Cal modded weapons (particularly rifles). Therefore, the Vanilla balance aspect mainly applies to the (1) .50 receiver on the Pipe Bolt Action (relatively low penetration damage); and (2) .50 receiver on the Hunting Rifle (relatively lower penetration damage). Because the cool 50 Cal weapons are generally visually more suited to effectively utilizing .50 BMG (as compared to a literal pipe and an average rifle), these all enjoy significant damage after penetration in comparison.

Note that by default, everything using .50 Cal ammo will apply high penetration damage. This is because the lowered damage applies only to the Vanilla Pipe Bolt Action and Hunting Rifle (the only weapons to use .50 Cal in the base game). Therefore, mods changing the ammo of any weapon into .50 Cal (such as those from Dank's excellent ECO or Crafting Framework) will also benefit from the penetration effect with massive damage. Additionally, as I had anti-materiel rifles in mind, the same high penetration damage also applies to machineguns such as those in the vein of skibadaa's Machineguns Rebirth (skibs guns apply a OverrideProjectile in the Weapon record itself to custom Projectiles, so they do not actually benefit from penetration). A patch will be needed to nerf the effect applied to those types of guns (...or to apply penetration to the other ammo types). 

Due to game limitations, the rounds actually penetrate almost everything (except the ground and such), thus you can sometimes penetrate through 3m of concrete. There is nothing I can do about this.

Installation
Requires Real Time Cover Penetration Framework (v0.4-Beta and above). 
Download both and install with mod manager. Load this file after (below) the Framework. The Framework itself can be placed high up your load order.

Compatibility
ESP flagged as ESL for minimal footprint. No scripts involved. Should be able to add and remove without issues (at your risk). This mod changes:
(1) Ammo50Caliber ".50 Caliber" [AMMO:0001F279] (I added a new Projectile); 
(2) mod_PipeBoltAction_Receiver_MoreDamage3_AmmoConversion ".50 Receiver" [OMOD:0014834F]; and
(3) mod_HuntingRifle_Receiver_MoreDamage3_AmmoConversion ".50 Receiver" [OMOD:00148367] (I added a new OverrideProjectile Property).

It will likely conflict with anything that edits the same. Otherwise, very compatible with basically any weapon mod. As only the Ammunition entry is edited, also compatible with any levelled list or loot changes.

Will not affect any gun that applies an OverrideProjectile either in the Weapon record or via an OMOD.

Compatible Versions

• Weapons of Fate version added to Optional Files (for krrptd). Incompatible with main file (pick only one). Requires Framework and WOF. Load after both. Edits the new Projectile added for 50 cal by WOF, does not contain any edits to .50 Cal record. 
• Wasteland Ballistics version added to Optional Files. Incompatible with main file (pick only one). Requires Framework and WB. Load after both. Edits the Explosion applied by WB, integrating its effects to the Penetrator. Does not contain any edits to the Ammunition records or the OMODs for the Pipe Bolt Action or Hunting Rifle. Warning: Reproducible bug confirmed. Instant death occurs when shooting at certain ground surfaces at a downward angle. Unknown cause. Investigation underway.
• Caliber Complex version added to Optional Files. Incompatible with main file (pick only one). Requires Framework and CC. Load after both (CC is an esm anyways). Compatible with whatever weapon patch you use for CC (should work out the box). Edits the 50 BMG Projectile added by CC to add a Penetration Effect. Does not contain any edits to the Ammunition records or the OMODs for the Pipe Bolt Action or Hunting Rifle.
• Battlefield 1 Animation Pack - Hunting Rifle as it edits the .50 receiver. Download the Optional File instead of Main File.
• Burst Impact Blast FX version added to Optional Files. Incompatible with main file (pick only one). Requires Framework and Burst Impact Blast FX. Load after both. Edits the .50 Cal Ammunition record (because BIBFX does the same) and adds a new .50 Cal Projectile (like the main file) to avoid unintended penetration. New Projectile is based on the modified MinigunProjectile originally assigned by BIBFX to .50 Cal Ammo. Does not contain any edits to the OMODs for the Pipe Bolt Action or Hunting Rifle.
  

Known Incompatible

• Ammo/Bullet/Ballistic mods if they add a new .50 Cal Projectile by modifying the Ammunition record. If not, should be fine.
• If a modded weapon consumes .50 Cal Ammunition but fires a different Projectile (for example, due to OMOD OverrideProjectile), there will be no penetration.
• 50 Cal Demonstration files (either of them) contained in the Optional Files of the Real Time Cover Penetration Framework. Those files were intended to demonstrate the use of the Framework, and this mod basically operates on the same principles as the demonstrations. They will therefore conflict. Additionally, I did not really bother to balance them that much and they do not have the same restrictions applied to the Vanilla Pipe Bolt Action and Hunting Rifle. However, those files are consequently slightly more compatible. 
  

If I have time and there is demand I might make compatibility patches somewhere down the line, but don't count on it.

I have no idea if this conflicts with static sorter mods. However I would extremely-strongly-seriously appeal to you to use M8r98a4f2's Complex Item Sorter, it's really just the best. Furthermore, Dank has even created a Complex Item Sorter Batch Executable to make it even easier to use (it was already extremely easy). Blow away sorting patches like you blow away raiders!

Making your own Patch
You can tweak almost anything you want yourself. There are very detailed instructions (including information and research data) available in the description and the Articles section of Real Time Cover Penetration Framework. These can help you make your own patch and/or add penetration to anything you desire. It's very very easy, seriously, trust me - just read. Also stickied in the comments of Real Time Cover Penetration Framework is a literal step-by-step on how to patch existing mods, if you have never used xEdit.