I'm midway through my latest playthrough. Basically early enough in my game where I can try something new and stick with it to see if I like it, far enough along in my game that it's not likely to get me killed.

So my Guns skill is hovering around 100 and I'm thinking, "Rifles!" Normally I just get the AMR, make it work with perks and SPECIAL and that's that. I'm thinking lever or bolt action this time around. No AMR and nothing full or semi-auto.

Advice? Suggestions? Perks? Any unique weapons I need to be trying? I'm currently playing around with a Brush gun and a scoped Trail gun.

Medicine Stick + Cowboy perk is amazing. You can get the Medicine Stick at Gun Runner for over 20k caps.

The Hunting Rifle with extra clip capacity and the scope is a perfect weapon. It's actually better than the sniper rifle, and can do both types of non-standard rounds.

Get two.

With the AP rounds, Deathclaws will not be a problem.