This link will give you a few scope options to think about.

https://thegunzone.com/best-air-rifle-scopes/

You will be very happy with the Marauder. Super accurate. Very quiet. But you might have to try a number of different pellets to find the most accurate one. Usually the heavier ones shoot better. You can pick up used scuba tanks very cheap and can get alot of fills on a tank. I have a carbon fiber tank that is 4000 psi for filling mine. I have never used a pump but have been told it is kind of tiring. If you are not going to shoot it a ton it should be good. I have several PCP guns but the Marauder gets the most use by far.

Shot a lot of rabbits in years gone by with a pump pellet rifle.

Air guns can be as loud as a rifle. I recommend getting a suppressor and shooting subsonic ammo. The cci segmented hp sv are very quiet suppressed and really hard hitting game stopper.

Can legally suppress an airgun without a tax stamp and atf approval

Yep, I have a hand full of airguns at the farm. 2 .22 cal benjamin maximus for the boys and an old Sheridan pump I had Mac one put his steroid kit in it. I'm really pro air gun. Used them for the trapping the last few years.

But no matter how great they are a 14.6gr pellet can't preform like a 40gr slug especially those segmented cci when your talking coyote size critters at more than 15 yards with a perfect shot.

The nfa process is not as bad as you think just an irritating infringement .

Gamo sucks Had the same issue but squirrel and starlings Bought whisper cat Wouldn’t stay lined up every time I use it it was off. Called game and lady said run 200 RDS barrel break in sent me to tins of ammo. Shot 250 approximately still same thing With the barrel break design it can’t be very accurate. Scope and barrel disconnect every shot
Oh yes called them back had 90 days to return it but took longer to shot past break in
Oh yes it’s fir sale !!!!

I'll still use the .22 mag on the big stuff. Getting the air gun for English sparrows, starlings and red squirrels.

Skip the hand pump and get a water cooled compressor.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Techtong...r-Compressor-YONG-HENG-Genuine/414692838

Looking for one myself and following this thread closely. Read some of the reviews on Gamos and find they do not have replacement parts. Lots of problems with consistency. Even the more top end ones have a fair amount of negative reviews but then nothing is perfect.

The marauder is internally suppressed. It's a whisper when you shoot

The Marauder is a great airgun. Very quiet from what I hear. Have a Benjamin discovery. Good squirrel gun. I have two pumps. One is a Benjamin that presently needs a rebuild. The other is a Chinese (?) knock off that I bought a backup and it has worked just as well as the Benjamin. So far.

I would recommend that you be sure to get a scope with an adjustable objective. Called an AO. Other wise your target may not be clear at close ranges.

Got ya, then I would go with a pcp. The maximus I bought the boys are long and loud add a moderator will add more length. But we are not in town so the noise is not a problem. I picked them up off midway around black Friday for $135 each a few years back. Bought a Chinese hand pump off Amazon for $69 & been good to go. Takes about 70 pumps to go from 1k pst to 2k psi and they get around 25 shots before dropping off. Well the front sight fell off and rear sights attach not well so I scoped them with cheap 4x Simmons . Had little expectation on the cheap scopes but they have held zero.

I could never get spring piston air guns to group very well and they require air gun scopes. Pop or pump guns shoot one ragged hole and cane use any scope.

From what I have seen of pellet rifles, break barrel or PCPs, I would much rather have a .22 cal than a .20 or .177. From what I have seen a larger caliber has much more knock down. I have shot a .25 cal some and think that is what I want for my next one. I even though about skipping up to a 30 or 35. With the PCPs you get less shots per fill with a larger caliber, but I feel the gain in knock down would be worth the refill requirement. I have though about getting a Gauntlet 2 in .25 or .30

The deal with scopes on springer powered air rifles........they have a two way recoil. Once when spring is released.....but the worst one is when it slams to a stop. The 2nd one is what does the damage.....in two ways. Damages the scope......and moves the scope. They walk off the back.

Beeman springers have a recess for a stopper pin built into some bases. That will fix it in place. But you still need an scope built for the 2 way recoil. All of mine are Hawke.

Been many a sucker fell for the velocity hype of the Gammos and such. Get a good rifle......Beeman, R7, HW 50, HW 97, etc or an Air Arms TX200......and they too can be one hole wonders. Single shot hand cockeed springers. Plugged a lot of starlings with mine.

Always thought it would be fun to get a Feinwerkbau 300..........not for any practical reason........more like just because.

If just plinking or plugging starlings.......the real benefit of an air rifle is cost. One tin of 500 pellets equal to one brick of 22 LR. Pellets about $15 for 500.

Get yourself a suppressor can for your 22 mag

As previously mentioned the airgun scope issue is from springer airgun not pcp airguns. Any scope you use for a traditional firearm will work on your pcp airgun. Also as mentioned avoid the cheap $50 pcp pump, they will last you a few pump ups before breaking, buy once, cry once. Spend the money and get a better pump. Also a word of advice buy around a dozen different pellets to shoot through your pcp airgun, each and every airgun likes different pellets and you need to experiment to find which pellet is the most accurate through your airgun. Good luck.

Once you get the pellet dialed in, or in the process of, there's dozens of other tweaks that can be used in fine tuning such as playing with max fill pressure, noting velocity curves if you have a chrono. With PCPs there is a sweet spot as you drain the tank with each shot, usually not the first shot but a three to five shot cluster in the first ten.

And then there's mods, a whole industry has arisen just for that such as polishing internals, playing with spring rates, polishing and adjusting ports, regulators, depingers, baffles, etc.

Shot my fill of squirrels with a sheridan .177 ...consistent shots with the pumps. wish there was more of them around.