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.
Wise words. I agree.
If you are harvesting game, you have a responsibility to make a clean, quick kill wherever possible.
A pellet gun (excepting, perhaps, the very high velocity variety) does not meet that standard.
One thing to consider is that a semi-auto bleeds off some gases, and ultimately some of the noise. I have used Remington CBee 22 longs in a Ruger 10/22 for pest control purposes, from a blind and at an exact distance (10 yards). Highly effective for smaller birds, but really not enough for a quick kill on squirrel or pigeon. The Ruger didn't even cycle; I had turned it into a single shot. The report was barely noticeable. The moral is, if you can set up a controlled situation, you can use lower power and lower report rounds that are still effective.
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