The Pellet PistolA pellet pistol is most often used for plinking and target practice. With a few exceptions they are not sufficiently powerful for much hunting. There are two main reasons for this. The shorter barrels of most handguns limit the amount of energy which can be applied before the bullet or pellet leaves the barrel. See all the air pistols at Cobra AirGuns. Another limiting factor in air pistols is their size. A compact handgun does not allow for a large power-plant. One reason CO2 power is popular in handguns is it fits in a smaller handgun.
I'll discuss these four pellet pistols which may be typical of what you can expect from similar guns. I've fired various pellet and BB pistols, but the Crosman Mark 11 was the first I owned. It is a single shot, but looks like the popular Ruger .22 semi-auto handguns. The Crosman Mk 11 was an incredible bargain in my opinion. Mine is a very accurate pellet pistol. It shoots at 400-430 fps, My second CO2 pistol was disappointing. It was considerably larger, a bolt action single shot with a longer barrel. Similar to today's Crosman model 2300T, but I don't remember exactly what it was. I bought it to have a more powerful pistol. It would shoot .177 pellets at 500-550 fps. But! I tried numerous pellets and mine was not accurate enough to extend the range. I tried to get my money back from the gun shop, but ended up with my third CO2 gun. I traded for a six inch barreled Crosman model 357. 
I didn't expect this revolver to be as accurate as the Mark 11, and it's not. It does shoot almost as hard, however. A repeater, it uses six or ten shot removable cylinders. For an inexpensive gun of this type the 357 shoots very well. The trigger is not bad, for either single, or double action shooting. The gun is a dependable shooter. The power level I remember using this revolver effectively on mice in a grain bin at about 10 - 15 feet . I'd open the door and mice would pop up like in a shooting gallery. I first used the P1 which really rolled them. Then I switched to the 357, it killed the tiny rodents without stopping to reload for every shot. When I finally decided I couldn't live without a fine, powerful, pellet pistol, it was a big deal. It cost almost ten times as much as any air gun I'd bought up until that time.
In .177 caliber the P1 will shoot light weight pellets up to 600 fps. That is similar to low end pellet rifles, and reasonable for very close range head shot squirrels or rabbits. Good for longer shots at smaller critters. But! In .22 caliber the P1 shoots the heavier pellets a little over 400 fps. The same speed as my .177 caliber CO2 guns. Although I had more power, I couldn't extend my range much. The slow pellet dropped to quickly for consistent hits at longer range. I'll go out on a limb and say buy a .177 caliber pellet pistol. But! (There's that 'But!' again.) They are somewhat expensive, often have a loud report, and need to be re-charged after a few shots. I would hate to run out of air when hunting, or at any time :-) See all the air pistols at Cobra AirGuns. Pellet Pistol to Pellet Rifles
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