Overview:
This is an updated version of Johnson/Anon's Crossbow mod that resolves the issue of the weapon not animating when a save is loaded with it equipped, at cost of the weapon being automatically re-equipped each time a save is loaded while the weapon is equipped.
A plethora of other changes have been made and are detailed below, but there is also a small patch file that simply imparts this fix to the original mod.

Features:

• Redone leveled integration.
• Integration is no longer 75/25% chance for hunting rifle/crossbow, it's just provided as a regular weapon.
• TTW integration and value changes added.
  

This was done by script, works just fine with just NV.

• Repair list changed to just use crossbows.
• Vendors can now stock special bolts.
• NPCs no longer use ammo.
• All bolt projectiles have been made silent.
• Bolt muzzleflash has been removed.
• Two were placed in the world - one is at the ruined tribal camp north of GS with the cazadores, the other is in the Morning Star Cavern near the Mojave Outpost.
• Malcolm Holmes was given one. This was done by hard edit, please patch in Edit.
• Poison and regular bolts can be retrieved from targets when the hit penetrates DT.
• Dry fire sound removed.
• Strength and skill requirements increased.
• Incendiary bolts will properly be affected by pyromaniac.
• Damage reduced by a bit.
• One weapon mod was added: a high tension string, which increases damage by 15, increasing it's viability in the end-game. It is distributed to vendors at later levels, but there are two specific locations to acquire it in the world.
  

One is at the Raided Farmstead, providing a strong reason to trigger the event there earlier in the game for players who really like the crossbow. The other is on the way up to Jacobstown - there is a hunter there who has a copy of the crossbow with the string equipped, but he is next to a Yao Guai that will more than likely kill him before you arrive.

• Health halved.
• Spread increased.
• Severing limbs allowed.
• Limb damage doubled.
• Crit. damage reduced.
• Basic and pulse bolts can no longer be crafted.
• Explosive bolt altered to use 25mm grenade explosion and a 25mm grenade in crafting.
• Pulse bolts are not made available anywhere, including crafting.
  

I don't feel that it's a good fit for this weapon.

• DT penetration has been adjusted to be 10 specifically, rather than using base game DT penetration effects for other ammo.
• DT penetration has been removed from the explosive bolt.
• Poison effect altered to be slower, it applies to a smaller radius, the explosion which conveys the poison is silent, and it applies no direct damage or force.
• Mad Bomber requirement for crafting explosive bolts removed.
• Explosive bolts distributed to explosive ammo loot + vendors.
• Radscorpion poison bolt recipe removed.
• Companions can "retrieve" their own bolts, if they pass a Survival check.
  

They don't visually do this, the script just adds the arrow back to them instead of the target. This was done to cut down on busy work for the player in retrieving and giving back the bolts to companions, and so that the player doesn't have to have their own bolt stock and the retrieved bolts from companions intermingle.

• Strength based reload speed malus.
  

Optional, stats are displayed in the config ini.

• Optional bonus cazador has been placed at the Ruined Tribal Camp to ensure a modicum of difficulty with mods which add less dangerous creatures to cazador spawns. 
  

Enabled by default.

Customization:
Bolt retrievability can be turned on or off, and the chance of it can be adjusted.
Companion bolt retrieval can be turned on or off, and the Survival check for it can be adjusted.
Strength based reload speed change is optional.
Bonus cazador at the Ruined Tribal Camp is optional.

Requirements:
JIP LN, xNVSE, Johnny, the usual stuff.
FNV Crossbow

Installation:
Regular installation.
Delete or hide the NVSE folder from the original mod!

If using the String Fix patch, just install that on it's own. Leave the NVSE folder alone if not using the main file.

Patches:
Manual patching will need to be done for mods which touch Malcolm Holmes.

Compatibility:
Compatible with TTW 3.3
Incompatible with 3.2.2-

Limitations:
I tried to make the re-equipping that fixes the string instantaneous, but if that is enabled, holstering and unholstering the weapon will also abide that speed change until another weapon is equipped or the crossbow is unequipped. There's nothing I can do about this, it's just how the game handles equip speed; it doesn't update perk equip speed changes until the equipped weapon is changed.

Bugs:
Please post bugs in the bugs tab, not the posts. I get a notification when bugs are posted, but I have too many mods to keep up on the posts on all of them routinely.

Under The Hood:
The way that I (mostly) fixed the string animation issue is by unequipping, then re-equipping the weapon whenever the crossbow's script sees that a save was loaded and it's equipped, then I used a command to play the reload animation while that was happening. Doing so means that the reload animation doesn't play, since the equip animation is playing, and the string is fixed to the correct position and it animates correctly. I have no idea why that works, but it does. If memory serves, when I was testing just having the reload animation play when the game is loaded, it didn't fix the string, but using that command while the equip animation plays did, for no reason I can understand.

Questions:
Re-enable pulse bolts?
I don't want to.
Why the damage and spread and requirement changes?
I feel that it provides an interesting early/mid-game close/mid-range stealth weapon that is more forgiving about not landing headshots if trying to stay undetected.
More bolt types?
Probably not? It would have to be a really interesting idea for me to implement a new one.
Make the high tension string decrease reload speed?
I've considered it, but there's some very tangible shenanigans and imperfections that come with trying to implement a mod effect that isn't one of the base game mod effects, so I probably won't.
Crossbow perks?
I'm always hesitant to make perks which apply to one or only a handful of weapons. I'll consider it, but it's unlikely.
Another weapon mod?
I really want a scope on this thing, but my capacity for mesh edits is very low, and I usually screw it up. I have no other current ideas for mods, but I may consider other ideas for them that are achievable for me.
Reimpliment the old explosive bolt crafting recipe?
I don't want to.
Reimplement the radscorpion poison bolt crafting recipe?
It's too easy to get those venom glands, they used the same poison effect as the cazador poison bolts which is asynchronous, and I don't want to bother making two different versions of poison bolts to be synchronous, so no.

Permissions:
I requested specific permission to upload this, and it was granted. Unlike my other mods, this plugin cannot be reuploaded or used without direct permission from the original authors.

Support:
If you'd like to support my modding work or say thanks, feel free to donate via the Nexus or here at Ko-Fi.