You'll want to keep your distance at first and learn which threats need what type of ammo its actually pretty simple once you get used to it. Save those basic pistols and shotguns for regular mutants and stalkers, while keeping your good rifle ammo for the heavily armored enemies that show up later. Whenever you drop someone make sure to unload their weapon completely, since theres usually 2-3 spare rounds hiding in there and it really adds up. Maybe interesting that breaking those green boxes with your knife instead of shooting them saves quite a bit over time and you can usually find some decent stuff inside. For groups of enemies, try using the environment - anomalies work great and dont cost you anything plus theyre pretty much everywhere in most areas.

If youre fighting at range, switch to single fire and take your time with headshots, trust me itll save you tons of ammo compared to spraying. Good to know that bolts are perfect for checking anomaly fields and trapped areas, never waste bullets on testing suspicious spots. Focus on exploring stashes and doing side jobs since traders charge way too much for basic ammo and when youre hunting artifacts remember to use your detector instead of randomly shooting - artifacts will show up on their own when youre in the right spot.