If you transform one magic weapon into your pact weapon, every time you create your pact weapon thereafter your "bonded" weapon will appear.
Pact of the Blade (PHB p. 107-108)
You can transform one magic weapon into your pact weapon by performing a special ritual while you hold the weapon.
You perform the ritual over the course of 1 hour, which can be done during a short rest.
You can then dismiss the weapon, shunting it into an extradimensional space, and it appears whenever you create your pact weapon thereafter.
This is also addressed in the April 2016 official rules answers:
If a warlock uses Pact of the Blade to bond with a magic weapon, does that weapon have to be a melee weapon, and can the warlock change the weapon’s form?
You can also use Pact of the Blade to bond with a magic weapon, turning it into your pact weapon. This magic weapon doesn’t have to be a melee weapon, so you could use the feature on a +1 longbow, for instance. Once the bond is formed, the magic weapon appears whenever you call your pact weapon to you, and the intent is that you can’t change the magic weapon’s form when it appears.
Yes, but you have to be level 12 to do this
The Sage Advice articles says:
You can also use Pact of the Blade to bond with a magic weapon, turning it into your pact weapon. This magic weapon doesn’t have to be a melee weapon, so you could use the feature on a +1 longbow, for instance
This takes care of the ranged pact weapon, and allows the use of both Thirsting Blade and Lifedrinker with a ranged weapon. This means you can attack twice with your Attack action using a magic ranged weapon.
And the Sage Advice compendium says:
Does Crossbow Expert let you fire a hand crossbow and then fire it again as a bonus action? It does! Take a look at the feat’s third benefit. It says you can attack with a hand crossbow as a bonus action when you use the Attack
action to attack with a one-handed weapon. A hand crossbow is a one-handed weapon, so it can, indeed, be used for both attacks, assuming you have a hand free to load the hand crossbow between the two attacks.
This allows you to attack twice -- once with your action, another with your bonus action. Since you have Thirsting Blade (which works with any weapon as long as it's your pact weapon), you can get three attacks in all.
However, while Thirsting Blade is available at 5th level, Lifedrinker is available at 12th level. So to complete this build, you have to be a 12th level character at minimum. Most of it, you can enjoy from 5th level onwards though, as only Lifedrinker is the high level component.
Best Answer
Yes, it still takes up an attunement slot.
There are no rules in the Pact of the Blade Warlock section to suggest otherwise.