For air rifles I would say that if you're only going to get one then get a springer or gas ram, PCPs are good and they're lovely to shoot but they need more looking after and more gear, you'll need an air pump or preferably a divers bottle to fill it, the pumps are ok but they're hard work and you're also compressing humid air and putting the air and all the moisture into your gun, won't break it instantly but won't help to prolong its life either.
With spring and gas ram guns all you need is the gun and some pellets.
In my opinion the two best springers available are the Weirauch HW97 (there might be a newer model but I don't know offhand) and the Air Arms TX200, both shoot lovely, (disclaimer, I haven't shot every springer on the market!)
I own a Weirauch HW97 KT like this https://www.weihrauch-sport.de/air-rifl ... kt?lang=en beautifully made, but both the Weirauch and the air arms have a couple of things that I don't like, the Air Arms has a small loading port that's over to one side, so you struggle to load it left handed, the Weirauch is HEAVY, and the safety is annoying, if you take it off then you have to cycle the cocking lever to put it back on again, I would like it to just click over.
Neither of those are cheap but they're cracking guns, I just prefer the Weirauch but both are more accurate than I will ever be and will put shot after shot through the same hole in a target in the hands of a competent shooter.
You want it to be below 12 ft/lbs power in order to keep it legal without a firearms license (as long as you're not in Scotland) and as close to that as possible.
For a cheaper option a mate of mine has a BSA Lightning SE, shoots lovely, a lot of shooters start with a BSA, I did too, I had an old Meteor.
Here's the lightning https://www.sportsmanguncentre.co.uk/bs ... ning-se-22
Which calibre is a debate that could go on a long time, .177 shoots like a laser beam and doesn't drop much inside sensible hunting ranges and is what I prefer, .22 has a bit more knockdown power but has a very loopy trajectory so you need to know your range or be able to estimate it pretty accurately.
I would argue that .177 is better for hunting as I consider shot placement to be more important than maximum knockdown power for a clean kill, and although it has less hitting power than the .22 it has plenty of power to do the job, I've never failed to kill a rabbit that I've hit cleanly with it.
That's just my opinion though and I pretty much guarantee someone will disagree.
For punching paper, get a .177, it's easier to shoot for the same reasons and power doesn't matter much.
