looking for hands on dealer

I think your best bet is to meet with other members with PCPs. I can't recall reading of any airgun shops in your area. Maybe go to the GTA airgun show in May in northern Kentucky, if you haven't found anything else by then.

One of the unfortunate truths is, there isn't a universal PCP, in the same ilk as the AR platforms are. But about as close as you can get, is the Benjamin Marauder. Every major retailer carries them. Further, more after-market parts are available for it, than any other single model. If it isn't what you want, you can mod it a number of ways, but the PCP weapon itself is not the end of the issue. That's finding an economical way to compress the air they use!

If you're husky, then a hand pump might suffice, but even if you are, you'll soon learn it isn't as easy as it looks. And going to a local dive shop (if you have one) gets old too. Don't forget, you'll still need a storage tank, save for pumping only.

Past the hand pump, Altaros, Shoebox, and others make boosters. However, you'll need a shop air compressor to power them. The next step up is a high pressure all-in-one pump, and then you really get into the big bucks. 

I don't want to scare you off, but when you get into PCPs, things start getting expensive. So you need to plan ahead as best you can.

Speaking for myself, I wish I knew then (three years ago) what I know now, and I could have saved myself a few grand!

Hello I like you live in southern Il. When started looking into pcp my local gun dealers kept saying BB gun. Really they did not know anything about them. Found a lady who did some research and got me my first pcp ( Discovery) whichI love accurate as any you would want, but going to the marauder which I order in .177 with idea of changing it .22 . Shipping to your home in .177 is legal but you have to go through gun dealer to get anything bigger than .18. Finding pumping a marauder is not as easy as a discovery 2000 psi to 2900 psi. kinda bummer and hardly any place for air. Been looking into shoebox, have a engineer friend who is really interested in building his own version hoping for the best.