I've helped Ringo in Goodsprings and killed a few more PGs as I travelled around.
During the Primm quest I couldn't get within fighting range of the Penitentiary to get the Sherrif (poor Primm has had to make do with the Robot Sheriff).
I want to take them out so as to not have them still rampaging in the summary after I beat the game.
I understand I need to wipe out the populations of Vault 19 and the Penitentiary?
Ok I could just do it bang bang heal heal bang bang but that's not really my style.
My Sneak is still quite low (40 I think), so Stealth is not the best option yet, and I REALLY wanna do them now, not wait another 10 levels etc..
Any tips on an alternate strategy would be welcomed.

Put on a powder ganger outfit :vaultboy:

Don't try doing Vault 19 at a low-level, the area surrounding it is a complete deathtrap. Also, you don't have to wipe 'em out, you can get them to surrender to NCR/join with the Great Khans if you're feeling merciful.

As for NCRCF... I haven't done this myself as I just shoot the place up at about level 10, but I understand you can do a few quests for them (wearing a PG outfit if need be) then rat them out to the NCR at Primm, who'll then reclaim the prison.

The Vault 19 population is separated from those in the southern Mojave....I don't think you need to fight them unless you wanted to.....

Tried that but soon as I got close they sussed me

If you want the best possible ending, though, you have to deal with them. Otherwise, they'll be raiding and terrorizing people for years.

Best solution is to delay doing the Ghost Town Gunfight quest until after you've recruited Meyers, as well as doing "I Fought the Law", if you're inclined to do that quest. After that, it won't matter if the Powder Gangers hate you.

Grrrrrrr I wish I'd not got them so p*ssed off with me so I could go in. Guess I'll wait til lvl 10 for the prison, and later for Vault 19. Thanks.

Grrrrrrrrrrrr again: practcally the first quest I did was Ghost Town Gunfight lol. I'm screwed!

There weren't anywhere near as many of them in the Prison as I'd expected.
A combination of wearing Powder Ganger outfit (worked on ordinary PGs but not guards), Sneak, (and 1 Stealthboy to get close enough to Dawes) and I got 'em.
So, many thanks for the tips Got there in the end lol. A couple more levels and Vault 19 here I come. Thanks again.

use a varmint with scope and stand on the high rocks facing it if you get
close enough you can take the ones in the courtyard out but remember the ones in the watchtowers too,
if ya cant get scope head down to broc flower cave and find the ratslayer once inside though gonna need lotsa bullets and a few guns
try and find a cowboy repeater. and dont stay still too long on account of the dynamite throwin, should be easy though there rubbish shooters

the ncrcf? umm am i missing something? i clear it at level 2 with my 9mill pistol in vault gear. stay up the cliff and lure dawes out using the cover of the rocks to protect from snipers. cap him and any other strays loot his key and rush the entrance. vats the first room run across the courtyard to cellblock b. smoke carter. the tricky bit is eddies body guards, i end up running around in circles downstairs using the walls of the medic centre as a shield while i recharge my ap. back in the courtyard stay behind defence and take on one tower at a time, a little patience and job done. plenty of decent starting weapons and with the right perk a fair share of nosh for the journey

That's what's so great about this game, many different ways to solve the same problem

lol powder gangers are almost as easy to kill as the free side thugs. I just wiped out that NCRCF this morning with This Machine and .308 JSP hand load ammo. One shot to the head in VATS. Also picked off the snipers in the towers before entering. Now mind you I have 100 guns skill currently. In the early levels when going from good springs to Primm, I used their own dynamite on them. One stick would kill one or two easily. And the three that tried to jump me when leaving Primm and going to THe Prospecters Den, only required 3 bullets from Lucky, to their faces. Hand Loader perk is amazing. That ammo makes such a difference, especially on hardcoe mode.

Just plink them with a Varmint Rifle out in the open. 9mm SMG, or the new service rifle, for clearing the buildings.

They're generally weak enough to use any gun of choice. 9mm through to the big .50 or any of the energy weapons. You just gotta shoot them in the head!

A companion, such as Ed-E would be a good idea if you just want to kill them all.

Just wait till after you do a few quests. Powder gangers are a bunch of punks that can be dropped easily.

If you're looking for advice on how to do it at low levels rather than returning in power armor with a missile launcher?

To start off go shopping and get the Silenced .22 Pistol from the store in Goodsprings (there's always one there and you can steal it from the counter if you're feeling cheap) and check the west and north Powder Ganger camps to disarm and pick up the Powder Charges they've left laying around (you need 23 skill in Repair to do this if I recall correctly). You can snipe the tower guards and prisonners in the yard with a Varmint Rifle during the day but wait until after midnight before you go in to the prison itself and you'll find a lot of the gangers will be asleep in bed. My Sneak skill is usually only in the 30-40's when I do this and usually get one shot kills this way with head shot sneak attacks (sneak attacks do double damage and heads shots double that number again). A melee weapon might do the trick as well but I haven't tried it that way yet.

As already mentioned some npcs will see through the disguise effect of wearing a faction uniform so start by sniping the guards in the front towers and Carter at the front door with a Varmint Rifle. The scope and silencer mods definitely helps but doable with iron sights (has to be done in real time not VATS). Get the guard armor from Carter as you go in and repair it with the other guards as you kill them. It gives you a few points of DT which, against the weapons the NCRCF gangers have, is pretty good.

The first room has a few gangers hanging out. Don't shoot the one in the cowboy hat. He's for a quest and won't attack you no matter how many gangers you kill. If you have a silenced weapon just find a corner, start sneaking and try and pick them off one by one. If you're quick you can usually clear the room before they notice. Go into the prison yard and sneak over to the remaining towers. These guards don't seem to see through disguises so you can go up the steps to them and fire from just outside their range of view. From there move on to the two cell blocks. There will be one or two gangers up and about no matter what time of day you do this. Same deal as in the first room. Sneak and go for head shots with silenced weapons. Move on and kill the ones in bed then move on to the Administration building.

No one sleeps in the Administration building and most have body armor so this can be a tougher fight. The trick is that there's only one ganger on the ground floor. If you can kill him without alerting the guards up stairs you can lay out some Powder Charges around the stairwell. This may just be insurance as, if you're careful, you can stealth kill everyone on the top floor. If you screw up though, don't make a heroc last stand, just run right out of the building and the Powder gangers will blow themselves up as they chase after you.

Anyway that's my two cents worth on how to take down the prison at low levels.

A couple of last points. Before you dismiss the Silenced .22 Pistol be sure you're not basing your opinion on old experience. The pistol was given a major boost in a recent patch and now does 9 regular and 18 critical damage, has a x3 critical chance multiplier and does bonus damage to Limbs (the head being classed as a Limb). Also don't underestimate the value fo a fully repaired 9mm Pistol or Single Shotgun for when you screw up and your stealth is blown. The NCRCF gangers are fairly weak and even with low Guns skill they can be deadly at short range.

The only thing the punks have going for them is numbers and tnt.

Vats their tnt in their hands any time you see one try to pull some out, fps shoot the rest of the time.