You can easily find rifles, shotguns and pistols in barns and residential areas. On populated servers barns are your best bet as they're often off the beaten path and haven't been looted yet. I just started playing this weekend, got myself going with an enfield and 1911 as well as many tools only to get capped in the butt, but that's half the fun. With my new found knowledge my next character ran cherno for a revolver, enfield, matches, and I even found a GPS (shh) in about an hour. Don't wander aimlessly - identify where you are when you spawn and make smart moves to maximize your initial pickups. If you move too slow you risk getting to the point of desperation, which is when you get careless and someone kills you.
