Yeah, it’s all intended and even planned, just that I have no time to do that at the moment.
If you don’t mind cheating, you can dress up NPCs with the debug menu. This allows stripping them from all items (including carried items, though) and putting new stuff on them without limitations.
The give command is currently a fair bit lacking. It can be only used to give stuff as weapon or armor, not as meds, ammo or just to carry.
Try first giving them a loaded rifle, then trading them the ammo for it. They will value ammo for their current weapon more than they would when not wielding it. They also value loaded weapons more.