Honestly, if you want the same power as a .22lr, you're really going to have to step up to a larger caliber in airguns. .22 cal pellets are significantly lighter in weight than typical .22lr rimfire bullets, which means they don't carry the same energy, even when traveling at the same or slightly greater velocities.

Now, high-end .25 caliber pellet guns send a ~30gr pellet around 850ft-sec. This is roughly comparable to a rimfire .22short. But, .25 caliber guns tend to be quite heavy and .25 caliber pellets are more difficult to find than .22 or especially .117 cal pellets.


With that said, if you understand the limitations of .22cal air-rifles, they can take small game with ease. Beeman and RWS make good fixed-barrel .22cal airguns. Unfortunately, I doubt you are going to find any .22 cal airgun worth a darn that is the size and weight of an AR-7, especially if it doesn't use gas.

My suggestion would be to see if you can try out a few different pellet guns to see if you can find something that works for you, within the limitations of airgun design. It's a bit more complicated than a rimfire, as the size and weight of the air-rifle has a much greater correlation to the level of power one can expect.