So I've been play FO3 for a long time so I feel rather stupid for asking this, but something has always bugged me.

What exactly does the damage stat on the weapons indicate?

In New Vegas, there is a seperate listing for DAM and DPS, but FO3 of course only has DAM.

It can't be Damage Per Shot because that would make the individual shots from the Xuanlong more powerful than the shots from the Lincolns Repeater and that's obviously not true.

On the other hand, DPS doesn't really make sense because it would give a VERY innacurate reading on things like single shot weapons and grenades.

So does DAM equal damage per shot, damage per second or something else entirely?

Google hasn't helped, so does anyone here happen to know?