It's been a few years since playing FO3 at retail. Seems I can't remember the "secret" to getting better weapons and ammo.

Did the first couple of quests from Megaton and Springvale but I am ALWAYS out of ammo and relegated to banging on things with a police baton or sledgehammer.

I seem to recall that I had a LOT more ammo when I first started FO3 a few years ago but now, after running around Springvale and Megaton, I still have very little ammunition.

Is there a secret stash somewhere or do I have to keep "sleeping" so that the store clerk in Megaton adds a few more rounds of 10mm to her inventory? Is there a "secret" stash inside the armory because I can't pick the door lock at my level.

If you exit Megaton and head left, following the enclosure, you will encounter 3 mole rats. Near there is a hollowed out rock with 3 trees around it. Inside you will find a nice stash. Hope that helps get you started. And if you help Moira with her survival guide, she will give you a nice item to deal with the mole rats. Actually she will give you lots of nice items like ammo, food, land mines, etc. (edit) if you keep helping her.

How well did you loot the vault before you left it? If you do some digging around in there, you can leave with a fair bit of 10mm ammo, as well as a decent amount of other loot you can sell to Moira or another merchant for some caps.

And there is another way to get into the armory in Megaton, if you don't mind