Would like to start BUT

[Spiritual Scientist]

Can I please get some tips on what guns are good at what? thank you!

[Moldon]

Well you have the shooting range to experiment with weapons, but in essence:

Shotguns, melee weapons, crossbows are short range and for attacking or defending a position

Medium bullet rifles (Winfield Vetterli Springfield etc) and pistols are all rounder

Long rifles are for sniping at a distance, scouting, sitting in a bush all day while having tea.

There are lots of deviations from this, Pistols can have scope and shoot far, Medium rifle with the skill levering are good at close range... But in theory, your loadout should consist of one weapon for close range, and one for long. For example, a shotgun and a pistol with range (sparks pistol or uppercut), or a sniper rifle and a melee weapon, that kind of thing.

[Bloof Malloy Flumberghast]

They just made all headshots a 1-shot kill at any range. That's nice because this game has a pretty rough learning curve but even a noob can get those kills with a headshot. Yeah, try out the shooting range. I'd say to start (later you can go with more custom builds using a perk that allows you to carry a large and medium weapon) a long/medium ammo rifle and a pistol. Nothing wrong with the medium ammo rifle (I mostly use the silenced vetterli as a sneaky solo). Be aware of fire rate- this can help you make the decision. Being able to get off a fast second and third shot matters.

[Tristanius Spartanius]

And maybe don't bring 2 single shot weapons. :)

[Bimmelkaes]

Avtomat if you like phew phew phew

[Primus]

If you're starting out, I would definitely recommend sticking to one gun for a while, especially now that they introduced bullet drop as well.

For starters, it honestly doesn't matter too much what gun you play. Unless you're trying to be super competitive and try-hard, everything is totally viable. It's all about personal preference.

Compact ammo guns tend to be higher fire-rate, with bigger magazines and more ammo, but less damage, worse drop-off and low penetration.
Long ammo is slow firing and high damage, with long range and good penetration.
Medium ammo is somewhere in the middle.

A solid choice is the Vetterli, which is medium ammo.
Has good damage, enough to one-shot a Hunter to upper-torso when he's missing a bar, at least at close range (Which is normally one of the strongest parts of Long ammo guns).
The fire rate is decent, so is the magazine and ammo availability.
It also has pretty decent variants, both guns and ammo.
Vetterli Silencer for slower, stealthier gameplay
Vetterli Deadeye/Marksman for easier shots at range (although Marksman range with medium ammo is a little troll, maybe avoid that)
Vetterli Bayonet is great for doing bosses/AI in general, although you shouldn't stab Immolators with it.
And finally the Vetterli Cyclone, which is a good spam weapon. Slightly lower damage, only 4 shots, but very high fire rate. Excellent for quickly double tapping or dishing out quick head shots. They just reduced the price with this update, so it's in a better spot than ever before.

[LØKi]

Ranger, Vetterli, Sparks (or Martini). In my opinion are the best weapons for starting out.

Ranger has plenty ammo for you to get used to the gunplay, and will help you out in close range fights with its ammo capacity.
Vetterli will help you get the bolt-action flow in, great all round rifle.
Sparks / Martini as both are a single shot rifles, will force you to move in between reloading, this gives you space to learn repositioning, one of the most important things imho.