Air rifle for long term SHTF small game hunting situ.
I may be able to help here. I live in a fairly rural area, but still have neighbors within earshot so something very quiet was a good idea. I needed something several steps down from a .22LR to shoot woodpeckers who were intent on wrecking the siding on the house, and my trees too. I looked at and fiddled with a bunch of air rifles, but settled on a Benjamin Discovery. It is a PCP (Pre-Charged Pneumatic) that gets pressurized with a bicycle-style pump. It is fairly quiet, but when I added a suppressor, it went to just about silent. It sounds like a half-hearted handclap when it goes off. I absolutely endorse the .22 vs .177 business. It is so quiet I can get a second shot (never needed more than one time!) without spooking the extremely skittish woodpeckers. It is deadly accurate and blows up these things out to 25+ yards. You will not be disappointed.