Wow, can't believe I never thought of this but someone finally explained my problem with smart guns... that tattoo you get for free is from Tyger Claw, and because of that also makes it impossible to target Tyger Claw members with your smart guns. I knew the legendary one was better, but it never seemed like something to prioritize getting when I had the free one and a bunch of other cyberware still to buy.
Now that I know you actually can rely on smart gun targeting, I'm going to go full int and body (+18 tech) on my netrunner build and use the Ba Xing Chong iconic smart shotgun as my backup weapon.