Hikermor ... agree .... the sea coast is hard to beat.

Phaedrus ... i dont see myself using a suppressor on the air gun (i didn't even know that was possible for airguns). the people where i live are very noise-sensitive. so if i get a 22LR, i will have to do what is right and find a local range for practice. BTW, that airgun i mentioned (with the link) has construction very similar to a normal rifle. it has the look and feel of a normal rifle ... from the POV of a spectator. I could envision a situation where a person was practicing with that airgun, and another person witnssed it and made a phone call to the police that there was an intruder "with a high power rifle". that could get very messy. so ... it seems better to shoot at a firing range, regardless of choice of rifle.

For me, it boils down to range. the airgun has very good accuracy to about 20-30 yards. But at 40-60 yards, the chance of a miss ia much higher. how many "small game prey" can i expect to encounter inside 30 yards? OK, maybe some. but the odds are not on my side. the arguments in favor of the 22LR are quite strong, i think.

Pete