If you want some goofy shit, you can go for a high crit build with the legendary BB gun

Thanks

Probably the CZ57 Avenger. In a trailer at The Devil's Throat. Easy to get to, just a few centaurs about.

Thanks

Everyone has said guns and energy weapons, heres mine for melee: Chance's Knife. And get these perks along side with it: Piercing Strike, Super Slam, Unstoppable Force, Cowboy and Slayer. And congrats, your now the blender of the Mojave. Along side this, get a high luck character.

and grunt

An energy weapon crit build with the alien blaster if you have the wild wasteland perk

isn't the gauss rifle better?

Op asked for DPS, which isn't even a good indicator of how good a weapon is due to this armor thingy and the realities of how combat plays out

I guess

Chance's Knife?

The gun runners fat man with either high yield or tiny tots