If the Lstar or havoc can deal as much damage as they do

I've been practicing with the damn Havoc for the same reason. Havoc seems to beat every weapon 1v1 that you'd use in a running around fight (Krabers, etc., not included). It's certainly faster or inflicts more damage per shot than Flatline and R301 even with Anvil mods, and I think it does more damage faster than a full auto Prowler.

I'm not in complete agreement with this link's ranking of best weapons to use, but it's worth a look for some sort of scale, and it's also almost a year old. Remember when these weapons were good (etc.):

https://www.ign.com/wikis/apex-legends/The_Best_Weapons_to_Use_in_Apex_Legends_(Weapon_Tier_List)