I still find myself mostly wanting Vanu stuff when it comes to small arms, because I feel I can use better accuracy and lower recoil much more effectively than bigger bullets.
Anyway, TR small arms suck, that's for sure. Unless someone actually cares about magazine size. I don't. Want proof ? The only decent LMG we have is inferior to the VS starter LMG.
About other ES stuff, it's kind of a mixed bag. It really depends on what you are going to use and that kind of things gets higby'd every month or so. Take the new ES snipers. I really like the one we got as TR, even though the guys that actually play the infil as a sniper hate it, because it's not bolt action yada yada.
But lately it seems TR stuff got nerfed, VS stuff got nerfed a little bit and NC stuff was basically left untouched. Both lockdown abilities are retarded, nobody uses lockdown on a max. Nobody uses an ES secondary on the prowler, because the Vulcan has been nerfed to shit, and the marauder is basically useless. The mosquito got hit harder by the nerf bat for literally no reason, nobody uses the rotary. All that while I never ever see a vanguard without its OP thing on top, or a magrider without Saron. ZOE got nerfed down to mostly unused, which comically makes the NC shield the most used ES max ability. The Striker was stupidly overpowered before, now it's unusable. I see the the beam thing of the VS used like once a week, yet I constantly see the NC TV guided bullshit.