Or, moreover, can actually even understand what is being discussed on this topic. 
For comparison, I was playing NV the other day and realized: “Wait a second. Are 12 gauge shotgun shells actually bigger than 20 gauge shells?” looks it up “Well, that’s rather convoluted.”
It’s to do with how many shot pellets can be cast from a pound of lead, IIRC- 12 bore (12 gauge) fires a bigger shot pellet (12 to the pound, originally) than a 20 bore shotgun.
It makes sense if you’re a firearms enthusiast and shooter, but not so much if your main exposure to firearms is through videogames.
Which, as a Brit, it is. I’ve never even touched a real gun.
I felt the same way about parts of London and the Nürburgring, based on my exposure from Forza Motorsport and the Project Gotham Racing series…
I suggest Fallout: Des Moines. They could just go downtown on a weekend and know exactly how it will look when it’s devoid of most human life. 
Yes. A 12 gauge would have a bore of the size that 12 round balls could be cast to fit it from a pound of lead; 16 gauge, 20 gauge, 28 gauge follow the same pattern. The exceptions to this include the .410 and a few obsolete European cartridges, like the 9mm rimfire used in rook guns, that are named for their actual bore diameter.
How does stopping power and recoil follow? (Or does it)
IOW: Which is the bigger gun, at 12 gauge or a 20 gauge? The pellets are smaller, but there’s more of them to be pushed by the powder…
The 12 gauge is the bigger gun. The gauge refers to the size of the bore (hole in the barrel), not the size of the shot (the pellets). So a 12 gauge and a 20 gauge can both use small shot or larger shot but the 12 gauge, because it has a larger bore and can take a larger shell, will have more pellets for any given size of shot and more power.
The “standard” calibre for shotguns is generally 12 gauge; then (at least IME) the next most common calibre is .410 (useful for snakes, rats, small birds, etc), then after that it’s a toss-up between 20ga and 16ga, which are reasonably popular with clay target shooters and smaller statured shooters because of the reduced recoil.
For example, if I go into pretty much any local gun shop and ask for a “Box of shotgun shells” they’re going to ask me what shot size and then get me a box of 12ga shells. I’d have to specify if I wanted anything else, and there are a few gun shops I’ve been into where they didn’t have anything except 12ga and .410 shells.
There is actually a 10ga calibre as well (bigger than 12ga), but I don’t know if it’s still produced in any quantity. The Lever-Action Shotgun in Fallout: New Vegas was actually a 10ga in real life, with 12ga versions coming later.
[Pleading]Stop talking about guns!!![/pleading]
Hey, this stuff is educational. Do you have any idea what gun enthusiasts had to go though to learn this info? We had to read books and talk to grizzled old guys who may or may not have been in The War, and pore through 19th century tracts published by Her Majesty’s Stationery Office and The War Office and try and decipher spidery copperplate handwriting and obscure abbreviations.
All you have to do is jump onto the internet, and there’s the info.
In a slightly more serious answer, “Guns” are a big part of F:NV and they have paid rather a lot of attention to them in-game, in a way you have to be a nerd (are there gun nerds? The image doesn’t seem right) to really appreciate.
It’d be like complaining about people talking about cars in a Fast & The Furious movie thread. It’s just part of the package.
And if you take the “Wild Wasteland” perk, you should be able to find hidden landing strips for gay martians :D.
Funny, but not really an accurate description of Fallout 3. Raiders do dress like the bikers from the Mad Max movies. Regulators dress like spaghetti western gunfighters. Talon Company and the other mercs dress like Doom space marines. Wasteland settlers dress like Luke Skywalker and his aunt and uncle in the first Star Wars movie. Vault-dwellers wear vault jumpsuits. Brotherhood of Steel members, Brotherhood Outcasts, and Enclave wear power armor. Lots and lots of characters just wear shabby pre-war clothing.
Wrong game.
The collectibles will be different Ertl farm tractors.
It’s not an accurate description of Fallout: New Vegas, either.
Outside the Strip or an NCR camp, how often do you see anyone not wearing leather?