Newbie questions

Welcome to the forum and to the rabbit hole. 

For what you are considering, I would seriously look at a used good quality European gun. They can be had for within your budget. I know a lot of folks have had good luck with some of the Nitro stuff, but I'm of the mindset with springers that a mild mannered good quality gun will fare much better than the souped up big box store '1200fps' models. ...and by the way, most of those numbers are way inflated and they use useless alloy pellets to generate those kinds of numbers.

Some to look at would be an RWS 34/36, European Beemans (not the Chinese stuff), HW, even a Slavia. 

I'm sure others will chime in with some more specific models. I'm way behind on 'newer' springers as I've not bought one in years as I've switched to PCP's. I still enjoy my springers though. Here is a sampling....

I’d call the sales guys at AOA air guns of Arizona and talk to them or try to find a local guy to advise you. To get a good gun under 200 is doable but it’s going to require some effort. AOA sells an weihrauch gun called the urban pro that I think is about perfect but it’s lots more money. Air guns are not inexpensive if you want quality.
This is an air gun forum and most of us are NUTS we shoot $2000 air guns. It can be addictive. Be careful 

Consider Weihrauch (HW97 or several others), consider Walther, consider Diana (460/470). All of these can be had in the $500 give or take range and all are capable for pests and small game.

Since you have acreage can you maybe define:

1. What range (yard/meters) you are thinking about shooting? Pigeons off the top of the barn or squirrel hunting versus 25 or 30 yard tweety bird shots can make a difference.

2. What is the largest pest you are thinking about shooting.

There are lots of pesters/hunters on this form that with that information can better advise you on the right caliber and power you require to kill humanely at different distances.

Since you already own powder burners I am going to assume if you need a scope you have one etc.

If you do go with a break barrel the Beeman R7/Weihrauch HW30s (same manufacturer) are the easiest to cock and your wife would have no issues. Either of those can be purchased for $300. They also have a trigger all other break barrels are compared to.

Another option is CO2. The Umerex 850 M2, when back in stock fits your needs. I don't know what part of the US you are in, but CO2 works best when the rifle is 70 degrees or above.

There are other PCP's, etc out there that others can advise on (I haven't had my hands on them).

Finally, last I heard the AGNATION code at Crosman still works for 25% off and free shipping on Fridays if anyone recommends their products or you start looking at that brand.

With the budget you mention I'd forget PCP. Even if you have a local fire station or dive shop that could fill the tank, you have the cost of the tank in addition to the cost of the rifle and you are back above $500. Same with the Yong Heng compressor and a PCP rifle. With what you have stated, I would suggest getting the best quality break barrel you can afford. And the syndrome you mention above is real and rarely cured for many people.

One outside possibility might be a Crosman 1377 multi-pump pistol. Again an outside possibility and almost certainly won't cure your "syndrome" but might eliminate some pest birds.

Seems like exactly what you need.

https://www.pyramydair.com/s/m/Benjamin_Maximus_Air_Rifle/3910#7499

Pyramyd air has a Stormrider open box for $169. That and a Chinese hand pump would take care of things quite well. It is only slightly more powerful than many of the springers and you could easily choke off the transfer port a bit or change out the hammer spring to get less power. I would suggest a smallish inline filter at a later date to keep the moisture out of your gun.

https://www.pyramydair.com/s/m/Diana_Stormrider_Multi_shot_PCP_Air_Rifle/4449#8824

Review for the Stormrider

https://hardairmagazine.com/reviews/diana-stormrider-gen-2-air-rifle-review-22-caliber/

Most springers require a good amount of strength to operate. Other than that and that they have a harsh recoil that kills scopes there is nothing wrong with a decent one which you will have trouble finding at your price point. If you could manage a little more money you would have allot better luck on your choices and quality of guns.

I did manage to find some RWS 34 break barrels at near $250. Scroll down

https://www.airgunsofarizona.com/air-rifles/?filters[14]=14#panel-catalog-products-filters

Review for the 34

https://airgunmaniac.com/diana-rws-34-with-t06-trigger-review/

I wish you luck in your search for the perfect gun.

If you can bump your budget up a hundred bucks, the Air Venturi Avenger is getting rave reviews everywhere I look and goes for $300. You can get a pump for $40-$80 on ebay or even on Amazon. That does bump the price up even more, but the reviews are exceptionally strong. If you go to the AEAC channel on youtube, you can check out Steve's long review of it on that channel and his tuning guide for it on his sister vlog channel.

That's a big price jump from $200, but one of the main reasons I suggest it is that it is highly adjustable. And easily adjustable externally -- you don't have to pull the gun apart. That could let you do two useful things: 1. Get the power up or down to where you need it with relative ease. That will help with your goals and your neighbor's safety too. 2. The big adjustability of the rifle makes it one that it's possible to do a lot of learning on, if you wish, and relatively on the cheap. You can learn whether you even want to do much tinkering or not, and you won't have to worry about messing up a $2000 gun doing it. Plus, if you get totally lost, go to AEAC vlog's youtube tuning guide and he will get you back to a useful tune with his instruction right there. He posts an economy tune (tons of shots at lower power), a pro-tune, which he figures for a happy medium, and a power tune. Note: His tune is for a .22, not a .177. But you should be able to follow along and get plenty of use out of his explanations and methodical approach.

Or just skip it and stick with factory settings for however long you wish. The thing is, that adjustability means if you ever decide you wanted a gun that was a bit different, you could get it by doing some adjusting instead of having to buy a whole new gun. And it means you don't have to rely on having a gun that is perfect for you right out of the box, as you can make changes instead of just either being stuck with something you don't like or going through the hassle of returns.

They are out of stock (PA).

Get the 22 Maximus Hunter with scope combo direct from Crosman.com.

Use AGNATION 25% discount code order Friday morning for free shipping. $164.99 when done right. 5 year warranty can't be beat as long as you don't do any irreversible tuning alterations. Just needs a Challenger trigger upgrade or live with a 4-5# trigger which is doable once you get used to it who knows. It's only 23fpe shooting in the 700-800fps so no worries and puts more effective kills on birds than a 177. Screw on at TKO22.com LDC-airgun silencer to make it super quiet if you like. They won't know what hit them. Easily pumps to 2000psi little effort.

https://www.crosman.com/maximus-hunter-22

That refurb Diana looks good. It seems to be in the ballpark with the Beeman in terms of performance. Unfortunately, I just hit a snag. Apparently the wife and I have wildly different ideas about what a "suitable" pellet rifle would be, primarily in terms of cost. She doesn't understand why a $49 BB gun won't suit our needs. Sigh. I was intentionally keeping things at or below the $200 price specifically because I knew she wouldn't go for a $500+ gun. She thinks a pellet rifle is a toy I guess. Well, time to edumacate SWMBO....

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Maybe you can talk to her and educate her on the fact that there are airguns that are toys that lack teh power and accuracy needed and there are airguns that are tools which would werq. Show her the upper and mid priced guns as well. Good luck in you quest.

A cheap Daisy 880 shooting pellets would be able to do what you want out to roughly 25 yards after some modifications to secure the barrel better than how the factory designed and you have to pump it and it's like a plastic toy gun relatively cheap. You may get lucky and get one that has a very good secured barrel that shoots perfect straight out if the box. Just don't ever shoot BBs that will ruin your barrel and accuracy.

$36.96 Wal-Mart online sold out check your local one. Be mindful local Wal-Marts dont take any returns on airgun related stuff even with receipt. Other sellers sell them for $49.99 and up.

BTW the USA Benjamin Maximus is a much better gun with a 5 year warranty than the (BOTH Chinese) Beeman and Diana cheap guns.

The accuracy of the Maximus is good enough to shoot accurately past 50-60 yards without the danger of a 22 Rimfire.

With the budget you mention I'd forget PCP. Even if you have a local fire station or dive shop that could fill the tank, you have the cost of the tank in addition to the cost of the rifle and you are back above $500. Same with the Yong Heng compressor and a PCP rifle. With what you have stated, I would suggest getting the best quality break barrel you can afford. And the syndrome you mention above is real and rarely cured for many people.

One outside possibility might be a Crosman 1377 multi-pump pistol. Again an outside possibility and almost certainly won't cure your "syndrome" but might eliminate some pest birds.

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So the $199 Diana Stormrider or the Beeman Chief II wouldn't be worth it? They have small built-in tanks on them already and a high pressure hand pump is only like $50.

I thought about CO2, but cartridges are somewhere in the neighborhood of a $1 each. That would get pricey over time.

Are there any accurate pump guns? I'm only familiar with the cheapies like the Crosman 760 or the Daisey 880 stuff. I wouldn't be against a pump gun if it can give the accuracy I want/need.

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I have a Stormrider and have culled quite a few squirrels with it. Yes, it can be hand pumped but it seems few people are willing to do that after a while but if you can do so then it could work well. I know nothing about the Beeman Chief.