"What is the most powerful break open air gun you can get?"
Sorry, but I can't resist putting in my two cents on the issue. AND, my opinion doesn't really follow the flow of this thread which centers around hunting with air rifles.
IMO, it is a mistake to buy an air rifle based on how many fps the manufacturer advertises it will shoot. First of all, from what I understand, a lot of the velocity figures put out in advertising are grossly overestimated. Even the honest manufacturers will post numbers achieved with the lightest possible pellets in a brand new gun (that may be at the top end of what might be typical).
On the other hand, these "powerful" airguns are a lot harder to cock. They are a lot louder. And (from what I have read) the shape of a typical air rifle pellet does not lend itself well to supersonic speed. In other words, it isn't stable at supersonic speed.
For decades, boys have shot all manner of small animals with air rifles. They did this using air rifles that were far less than what is currently being advertised as state of the art. As a kid I shot hundreds of chipmunks and thousands of birds using a Benjamn air rifle. I even shot and killed two cottontail rabbits with a single shot a piece using my Daisy Model 25 BB gun that probably shot at 300-400 fps.
Point being, there is a trade off to consider: power vs. having a good accruate enjoyable to shoot air gun.
I am not an airgun enthusiest but I own a few of them. Right now I have a Beeman R1 and an RWS 45. Both are at the upper end of the "power" scale. In the real world I do 99.9% of my shooting indoors to improve my rifle shooting. It is fun and IMO provides good solid practice at rifle shooting. However, both guns are loud: you can hear the report outside the house. They are not easy to cock although this isn't a huge issue for me. But, I have no need for all this "power". I could be doing the same thing with a much more plesant to shoot gun.
I have always been a "bigger is better" kind of guy. I guess as the years advance I am becoming a little more mature about things.
