If you have the means, you can farm the two guards outside of the Gun Runners building for caps and good equipment with almost no penalties towards karma and relations with other characters
The best way to get around this is to buy a good quality weapon, which you switch to in case your bad quality weapon starts having problems.
If I remember correctly, bodybuilders in real life do this to help build their muscles. It isn't likely to be a cheap option, but it could work.
If you can snipe falconets with light cavalry early, that could be game as they are difficult to replace then.