I would always recommend people buy .22 pistols.

It may go against what you've read or been told to buy. I think the biggest influence being target shooting requirements.

I say .22 based on my experience of owning multiples of both caliber. I have had 4 X .177 pistols and 2 X .22 pistols. The only ones I've had and not sold are the .22 pistols. I even have an FAS 6004 in .177.

Why do I prefer .22? Well, due to the power constraints you're not going to be shooting over long distances so you don't have to worry about pellet drop like a rifle. But the main benefit of a .22 is pellet stability at short ranges.

I shoot indoors at 6m and every .177 gun I have does not give a perfectly crisp pellet hole every time through the card.

The .22 pellets just seem so much more stable and punch a perfect hole in the card every time. There must be something in the .22 being better at close range, really don't think I'm imaging it as I've shot a lot of pistols and many hundreds of rounds. The .22 pistols just seem more accurate and perfectly punch the card