Smith and Wesson
Model 76 9mm
The history of the Model 76 submachine gun started in April 1966 with a call from Smith & Wesson's Washington, D.C. sales representative; he had been contacted by the US Navy Department to see if Smith & Wesson would be interested in designing, and producing a 9mm submachine gun.[1]
The US Navy had the need for a submachine gun for their SEAL special operations team in Vietnam. The SEALs' weapon of choice was the Swedish Carl Gustaf m/45―a well-made and reliable submachine gun.
Because Sweden was a neutral country, a problem arose; they objected to their product being used in a war zone. Therefore, the supply of the Carl Gustaf m/45 to the US Navy was cut off, which meant they had to find another submachine gun to take its place.
Although they appear similar, the M76 was designed from scratch from a list of requirements, which the US Navy SEALs provided, they are:
- Urgent need;
- Reliability;
- Rugged;
- Selective Fire: safe—semi-automatic—full automatic;
- Cost effective;
- Ease of maintenance: disassembly—cleaning―reassembly
- Magazine capacity of 36 rounds; and
- Cyclic rate between 600 and 800 rounds per minute preferred.
It was from this list that the M76 was created. According to the Director of Research and Development and head of the Model 76 project at the time, Dwayne W. Charron, was quoted as saying, "[He] had never seen, held or fired a Swedish K before starting design work on the M76...". The M76 fires 9mm rounds; the Carl Gustaf m/45 has an open bolt design and also fires 9×19mm Parabellum ammunition.
The SEALs also requested a limited number of suppressors for the M76. These suppressors were to be used under certain situations to reduce the gun's sound, and hide the flash so there would be no point of reference for return fire. Being an open bolt system, some sound would always be emitted, but the muzzle flash could be eliminated.
Due to the ongoing war, and a critical need to fill, Smith & Wesson designated the M76 a top priority project. The total time to take the concept of the M76 from the drawing board to production was just nine months. Many people comment that the gun is ugly or rough. Due to the urgency at the time, the M76 skipped the finishing department where welds and rough edges would normally be smoothed.
