Is a pistol and shotgun loadout viable?

I'm only a couple of hundred hours into this game so I still haven't settled on an absolute go to loadout, but recently I've been playing around with the pistols and wondering can they used as a primary weapon? I know they don't have the same range as a rifle, but can it be done? I prefer to use my trait points on other things than quartermaster and I not exactly flush with hunt dollars, but if I only take on close to medium range engagements is it possible to still compete?