[PA Engineer]

I agree. My 45 ammo costs were painful. I was listening to a Gunny (good guy) with a YouTube site. He was using CO2 pellet gun for practice. Air Gun Depot is a great place to find both pump and CO2 rifles and pistols. I went with the Beretta PX4 Storm. The refurbished models are $60 and the cartridges and pellets are very economical. The CO2 pistols are excellent for practice. I like the blow back action on the Beretta as a gentle reminder of safe handling.

I have also purchased a few of the break action air rifles. They are worth checking out for practice and varmint hunting. For a kick check out the Gamo Hunter Extreme Air Rifle .25 cal- 730 fps w/3-9x50 IR A/O Scope. The break action is a little hefty on this one, but ammo is cheap and is competitive with powder. You won't break the bank stocking up with ammo.

[goseminoles]

Cool. Didn’t know anything about these...

[El Gato]

Guns similar to your expensive to shoot piece, but in .22 LR are also a good way to save on ammo costs.

Or if you fancy long arms, a conversion kit, or a separate upper, for your AR performs the same function. The upper will be more accurate, but the kit a lot cheaper.

[gnarledmaw]

You are the kind of person they had in mind when they invented big bore airrifles...

Read the story of the 2000 lb. bison and the black bear and a 330 lb. boar taken with a Quackenbush .458 cal. air rifle.