Fallout Weapons Guide: Two-Handed Normal Weapons
by Mazca

10mm Pistol
You start with this gun, and it really is not worth keeping once you get the submachine gun. It can fire only in single-shot mode, and hits from it rarely do more than the stated 5-12 damage, even to unarmoured targets. You will appropriate an SMG very near the beginning (in Vault 15), so after that sell this gun to the first person with enough money - It's dead weight.

Hunting Rifle
This shows up early in the game but is not worth keeping. It doesn't do much, has no burst mode and it's longer range is wasted at the beginning of the game - most of the enemies you fight will be either Radscorpions or rats, which attack from short range anyway. Use the more effective SMG - it does more damage and ammo is more plentiful.

Assault Rifle
The Assault Rifle can be obtained in the Hub, and I usually end up keeping it right to the end of the game. It does good damage (usually 10-20 on single shot or 20-50 in burst mode) and has a great range. As it uses the plentiful rifle ammo, it's good for dispatching medium-strength enemies like Raiders and Radscorpions without wasting Fusion Cells.

Sniper Rifle
Many Fallout guides extol the virtues of this gun - however, I disagree. It doesn't do much more damage than the assault rifle and lacks a burst mode. While it has a longer range, this rarely comes into play - given it's massive prices and large AP-cost to use, I wouldn't recommend it.

2-Barrel Shotgun
This gun is useful in certain circumstances (such as killing the Deathclaw if you can't afford a better gun, or quickly taking out more heavily armed raiders. However, it requires reloading very often - replace it with the Combat Shotgun once you can afford it.

Combat Shotgun
One of my favourite guns, the Combat Shotgun combines the 30+ damage of a standard shotgun blast with a longer range and a fearsome 3-shell burst mode. The standard shot can be used to take out weaker enemies or finish people off, while the burst mode can be used to shred all but the most heavily armoured targets. However, it's heavy and eats ammunition, so I recommend you sell it once you have a Turbo Plasma Rifle.