Yes, air rifles over here in the UK are unjustifiably expensive but they can be bought without a firearms certificate and as such seem to have a mark up based on the fact that they are instantly available. As a teenager I worked for a game keeper and had a Feinwerkbau .22 Sport air rifle which for a simple spring operated break barrel rifle was considered the best of it's kind at that time. It guaranteed 12 ft lbs of energy and was very accurate...no where near the comparison prices of what is at the top of the tree in today's market...and I must have shot over 1000 rabbits easily with it. Never counted but it regularly was used to shoot 20 at a time and I still have it to this day....refurbished on the spring etc...it is now 33 years old...and great for sorting out the garden if need be.

But the trajectory on these for shooting in fields is like a Rainbow...I remember as a boy I seemed to have this worked out in my head somehow...maybe I shot it so much it became second nature...but now the benefit of a FAC Air rifle really shows when out lamping in fields...the trajectory is much more like a standard .22 Rimfire. I have seen the prices in the States and they are very reasonable compared to over here...so for your use I think a full power air rifle is good value for money. Here I expect "taxes" and greedy profit margins account for the high prices.

Tolly's reccomendation on the CZ is interesting...they are cheap here to...comparitively speaking. I think Tolly might have a "hummer" barrel on his though....it happens every now and then that a rifle is produced with perfect harmonics in the barrel for accuracy...and you need that on the thin stalking type barrels for them to group like that. That is why heavy barrels are more commonly seen on target rifles...my Sako heavy barrel can group like that in our tunnel range...one ragged hole with Eley Match...but out in the open the wind opens the average group.