It's not just accuracy that you need to be concerned with for air rifles. You also have to look at terminal ballistics. Pellets are lighter weight than .22 bullets, and they go slower. So even if your air rifle were accurate at longer ranges, the pellets might not have enough oomph to get the job done once they get there. And the lighter pellets will be prone to wind problems. Air rifles are short range tools for more than one reason.