I have found all kinds of info on the different ranged weapons - but I can Not find any info on what the range distance is? Is this listed somewhere?

In Real Life a rifle will (most of the time) shoot farther than a handgun. Is this the same in Fallout New Vegas?

There are times when a mob is close enough I should be able to shoot it and in VAT I get 0%. I have tried changing weapons and (sometimes) I will get a % that has a number.

Thanks for any links or info on this!

That's a V.A.T.S. bug. The 0% thingy.

VATS has less of a range then regular ADS (aim down the sight). Which is a shame (or realistic), because there's a lot of times where I'll see a human in the distance, but can't tell friend or foe. So I have to creep closer to figure out whether it's a NCR trooper or a Caesar's Legion troop or some other hostile 3rd party that is also dressed in a brownish outfit.

I don't know off-hand whether there's a global variable that can be set to increase VATS range.