Mitfahren Co2 sparen- die ALPS Mitfahrgruppe

Well, I have been shooting airguns for years and I can tell you that .22 caliber is the sweet spot for exactly what you are describing because it hits hard enough for a clean kill on a squirrel at 40 yards but still shoots flat enough for plinking cans without making you cry over pellet costs like .25 does. I started with .177 and it was great for targets but I lost too many pests to poor shot placement and had to track them which felt awful so I moved up to .22 and never looked back because the pellet selection is huge and cheap and you can find them at any hardware store. The trick is to pick a gun with a decent barrel and moderate power because you do not need 50 foot pounds for rats and too much power just makes your gun loud and heavy and expensive to feed. I have used a Pinty model for exactly this role and it held zero for months and gave me 50 good shots per fill which is plenty for a weekend session. My honest advice is to buy a mid power .22 from a brand with good parts availability and spend your leftover cash on a variety of pellet shapes because each gun likes different ammo and finding the right one is more important than chasing high velocities.