I'm a springer fan myself. Simple (no air tanks, pumps, etc.) just cock it and shoot, accurate and adequate power to do what you are after. With your budget I would get a Beeman R9 .22 Cal. Don't waste your money on cheap Beemans, Rugers, etc with high velocity ratings- they are poor quality, come with junk scopes and even worse mounts. About the cheapest I would go with would be the RWS M34. They are decent guns with ok triggers. A good mount and scope is required. One thing about spending a little more and getting a quality rifle is that you may just find that you shoot this rifle more than any of your others. They really are a lot of fun, cheap to shoot and accurate. Couple that with minimal noise and it is pretty easy to spend an afternoon plinking.

I have given about 6 dozen of these the old dirt nap with my R9 in the last couple weekends.
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As for the ricocetts, they happen off of rocks occasionally, but - they are pretty low power projectiles anyway. Approximately 12 ft/lbs at the muzzle - then after the pellet hits something much of that is shed so I consider a pellet a pretty safe projectile. Still want to be careful but much safer than a .22 lr.

A true sportsman counts his achievements in proportion to the effort involved and fairness of the sport. - S. Pope