I went pre-charged and never went back. I ended up getting a .25 Hatsan Flash, which I tuned, regulated to 150 bar and put a nice vortex rimfire scope on. It will print 0.3-0.75" groups all day at 50 yards and do it so quietly, the game doesnt even know you are there.
Charged to 3200psi, I get about 23 full power shots out of it. 10 round magazine makes follow ups easy and it will easily take fox sized game out to 55-60 yards. 34 grain JSBs at 760 fps for 43 ft-lbs at the muzzle. I know that doesnt sound like much but it will pass through an Opossum or raccoon on a quartering shot from 20-30 yards. I have done it several times and it is pretty effective on that size animal.
I shied away from springers because they are very difficult to get to shoot well from certain positions (they need a soft support or the spring will make them jump before the pellet leaves the barrel.) They are also very limited in the power they can deliver and arent easily tunable. Going from firearm to a pcp is an easy transition for a firearms guy as they shoot just like a powder burning gun.
My advice is skip the break barrel single shot phase and get something like a diana stormrider. 22 kit with a hand pump. They are reasonable and much more powerful than an equivalently priced spring gun, they are super accurate and are highly tunable (regulators, accuracy improvements, etc.) I had one for a while till I realized I wanted a .25 for bigger rodents. It will put 30+ full power shots out that will pass through a 3/4" pine board. At the end of the day, if it isn't something you like, they werent really that much money and hold their value better than an equivalently priced break barrel.