I've just got the game and it is actually amaxingf, just found the water chip. But now iäve run out of ammo (noticed to late how much ammo is wasted in burst mode...) and I cant seem to find any more! Checked with all traders in the hub and many other places! So now I dont even dare going out to the world cause all i hvae is my starting knife.. Is thera ny trader that does sell this rare but extremely necessary ammo type or are thee aother ways to get it?

Be sure to loot it off any ne'er do wells you encounter.

Also, barter with pretty much everyone you meet and some are bound to have ammo to spare.

One of the things about this game is that resource scarcity is an important part of the gameplay. You may need to set aside your favourite SMG in favour of a shotgun or something for a while to survive.

A good way to save ammo is get up close to your foes and shoot them in the eyes they go down pretty quick and thus saves ammo.

Best place's to get more ammo and armor is the Hub. There is a arm's dealer in old town, but some of his gear is high priced and then there's a few more traders in the Hub's downtown area.

you could just steal it off people, remember to save your game and sneak before you try pickpocketing people though.

A hunting rifle / sniper rifle should be your mainstay for ammo conservation; also pick your battles, you don't want to dump a whole clip into a radscorpion or an enemy that is generally poor for looting.

When you're going to the Glow, the safe way to do it is stock up on several doses of Rad-X and RadAway as well as a Geiger Counter.
Take two doses of Rad-X before entering, another if you are still there 24 hours later, another two in 48 hours, another in 72 hours.
After leaving, use your Geiger Counter to check how irradiated you are and take one RadAway for every 75 rads.

thanks for all replies, now iäve actually dfinished the game (way more easy than I thought but thats not a problem for me) and I had a LOT of ammo, just a bit stressed in the beginning. the solution for me was to put a lot of points into hand to hand which seems a lot better than melee. after kicking some radiers to death and takiong their ammo i had no problem, just a few hours into the game u get filthy rich as well so i just bought mst wepon types and all the ammo i could find for all wepons. great great gREAT game thoug. just started playing the second one (iäve found the GECK recently ) and im actually annoyed that its sooo much more difficult! anyway shoudlt be impossible to complete, but i probably wont make it in lvl 8 as i di the first:P
EDIT:
hurrah for my spelling...

Maybe you will and maybe you wont. FO2 is funny that way, you can avoid most of the game and locations if you just beeline towards the ending. Also, if you just follow the first and rightest clues (like you seem to have done if you have the GECK already) you'll miss out at least half of the towns and locations anyway.

Which might be why it's being difficult. If you had a couple of more levels, it'd be easier.

Did you pick any companions? Couple of extra sharpshooters can make all the difference.

I think merchants replenish their stock from time to time.
Just try to wait for a day in front of a weapon dealer and see if he has got some new ammunition.
Alternatively,switching to another RANGED weapon is a good choice.
As you said, fighting with a melee weapon when your character is specialized in the use of firearms is just wrong.Don't do that,really.
If you want to be succesful in combat you have to stick with the weapons you are specialized with.

Also, 10mm SMG used in semi-auto mode is just better than the basic 10mm pistol.
(but annoying as it only makes a stupid *sluck* sound instead of gratifying *bang*)

Makes for an ideal backup weapon early/mid game though, plenty of ammo to be found so you can freely (semi-auto) plink at distant opponents, then move to the better weapon (44 or shotgun) at closer ranges. If (and only if) things get hairy, like a giant radscorpion or something right on your face, is it good idea to switch to full auto and splatter away.

Later game, hunting rifle and assault shotgun do the same combo, only better.

The 10mm SMG is great, but uh... don't give it to Ian. Or Sulik. Otherwise you'll be the proud owner of a whole new set of holes in your torso. The Hunting Rifle is also very very good, and it's a sniper-type weapon that can carry you all the way through the mid-game, and it's excellent for Tycho, Vic, or Cassidy. Unfortunately ammo for it is pretty scarce in the beginning, but because .223 doesn't have many burst fire weapons until pretty late, you'll generally be rolling in ammo pretty soon.

Also, Fallout 2 in particular has a lot of areas that are NOT friendly to lower-level characters. My first time through, I tried to clear out the Wanamingo mine too early and got STOMPED. I had to come back later with a better weapon, because those guys are mostly only susceptible to head and eye shots, but that character had Fast Shot.

For as much as I love burst mode on all my weapons it is not easy to sustain that level of ammo expenditure and requires a bit of planning. I have tried to make characters based on the concept of all burst mode all the time. The key is to have several weapons that use different types of ammo. The combat shotgun only fires 3 round bursts so it is a good choice when you are rebuilding your ammo supply.

In Fallout 2 you have a few more weapons to choose from. The H&K P90c is my absolute favorite SMG in the game. When you first find one it is loaded with 9MM ball ammo, but you have to reload it with the more common 10MM. The Grease Gun is also pretty good but the ammo is harder to come by. If you pump up Big Guns the Bozar is an absolute must have. And while not exactly a burst weapon I really like the .44 Magnum S&W Revolver. If you take Fast shot and the bonus rate of fire perk then each shot costs 2AP which lets you put a lot of lead into your target each round. If you don't take fast shot then the revolver has an unusually high critical rate when taking aimed shots, its a win-win weapon.

Oh my. I've played the game a few times and I never even talked to Tycho. :)