I just ordered an RWS 54 in .22. I looked long and hard at the PCPs, but decided all the extra paraphernalia was just too much trouble and expense for my use. Not many dive shops in this area, and who wants the hassle anyway. The tanks are expensive, and the reviews on the air pumps are mixed. Good quality pump-up pneumatics like the Benjamins and Sheridans are excellent guns for plinking and small game, if not quite as accurate as PCP and good springers.
The 54 is recoilless, via a howitzer-style sliding action, and accuracy is rated as excellent. They are loud, but so are unbaffled PCPs. It's also heavy, maybe too heavy for kids.
.22 pellets at 600fps or better are murderous on small game up to at least rabbit size. I had a Crosman pumper as a teenager and it killed squirrels handily with body or head shots and absolutely devasted starlings. My late brother had a 54, and when he head-shot a rat in his garage, it blew rat brains all over the wall.
