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I know that the optimal set up is to go with a chainaxe and chainsword. When modelling my Berserkers however, I decided to go with Bolt Pistols because it's a more iconic look in my eyes. The slight loss in optimisation didn't seem like such a big deal at the time. One S4 bolter dice vs two S5 sword dice. That's not going to make a huge difference in most games. However I failed to factor in the way that models are removed. Every kill with a bolt pistol potentially widens the gap that my Berserkers need to make a charge, meaning that it is safer to skip the shooting phase all together most of the time. That slight de-optimisation suddenly doesn't seem so slight anymore. And when you also factor in traits such as Blazing Beasts rending attacks... well... lets just say I have regrets.

Breaking the models down and replacing the pistols isn't really an option for me, and since the core of my army is built around Berserkers I'm feeling a bit demotivated to continuing to build my army as I had planned.

I guess I'm looking for ways to make what I have work. Are there any upsides to equipping Berserkers this way?

Well, you might be in luck. If you used the existing (and venerable) kit, the giant ham-fist Bezerkers can be clipped at the wrist and the melee weapons can be glued to the resulting stump. Pistols are sub-optimal, but not completely terrible. You can still shoot pistols in CC at the very least.

Remove the arms, magnetize them, and then magnetize an alternate chainsword to swap in and out. That way you can have them looking cool when they're standing around, and then swap out the arms for the stuff that actually works from a mechanics point of view when you actually get to a game where someone insists on the model being modeled with its actual equipment. If you used superglue, it's pretty easy to get stuff like arms off - look up the freezer method if worst comes to worst. If you used plastic cement...yeah, those aren't coming off, you'd have to cut them off, which makes magnetizing them a lot tougher. If you used plastic cement, I'd probably just go the "counts as" route noted below.

Magnetization is something you want to know how to do anyway, and it's not THAT bad to do for just a single side with just two alternates - that's three total magnets per model. My harlequins are mostly magnetized on both arms, and the melee weapon has more than one alternate option...now that is a chore.

Or just tell people they're actually sneaky looking chainswords. Outside of super lame people and competitive tournaments, I really doubt you'll find anyone who tells they're not going to let you do that, as long as you explain it to them upfront and make it clear what they are so there's no confusion halfway through the game.