Short answer yes
.177 was oversized to what it is now, amongst my older rifles I have a mk1 mercury in .177 even 4.53 pellets fall a few mm into the barrel when compared to old original ely wasps I also have, the good news is I think you can get wasps in the old size again now
Sorry i cant comment on other vintage rifles as the mercury is the only one i have in the tiddler size but i suspect a lot more older guns will be the same
ps you can get 5.6 pellets again, marksman if memory serves me well, but i find the new spitfires fit and work well in a few of my older rifles (guess they must be a bit oversized too