I agree. Let the client trust its own version of the bullet, spawning it separate from the server version by using Authority switch. And spawn one on the Server too, just only count hits from the Server version.
The trick then becomes how do we make sure everyone except the server and the instigating Client sees another replication of the bullet?
In my multiplayer game I have a relatively small number of bullets coming from each player, and I don’t allow strafing in the vehicles that are doing the shooting, so I haven’t had to deal with rapid fire bullet problems.
Alternatively, you could use line traces for the actual hits and spawn the bullets just for show, but that only partially solves the problem.
I am mostly interested in what could be causing the lag. There must be a tutorial or something out there on how to handle rapid fire weapons over network. How does Unreal 1 handle the Stinger weapon for example? Or Unreal Tournament handle the Link Gun’s projectile mode?