'Fred Grimwade' who I believe was Eddie Barber of AirgunAid in Essex was the first to champion the .177 as a sporting proposition in 1980 or so, on the basis of its accuracy. I bought a Hammerli 401 in .177 on the back of it and did quite well in early FT shoots, it made about 7.6 fpe using RWS Meisterkulgen. I never used it on live quarry, but it would slap the tin chickens down out to 45 yards OK.