I finally got around to playing this game (my backlog is epic). For some reason I decided to make it harder for myself and am trying to make my character stealth/unarmed focused (ie: no points in any weapons skills past what I started with). I'm only level 5 at the moment, but I've been doing ok against enemies with guns by crippling their arms from afar with a gun and then closing in for melee kills, or just sneaking up on them and punching their heads off. I've probably had the roughest time with fire ants and the super mutants with the chain guns.

Anybody else tried this before? Got any advice?

No advice. Stealth breaks the game, just like any other Bethesda game. Enjoy! It'll get much, much easier as the perks roll in and when you pick up a sniper rifle.