Smith & Wesson M76 disappointing sales of the Omega ultimately drove the decision to cease production and the decision left a number of parts that were never assembled into guns. Smith & Wesson M76 The Smith & Wesson M76 submachine gun was produced by Smith & Wesson from 1967 to 1974. It is an adaptation of the Swedish Carl Gustav m/45 with an open bolt design and fires 9x19mm Parabellum ammunition. In 1966, the Swedish government blocked the sale of firearms to the United States because it opposed the Vietnam War. This created a problem for the Navy SEAL Teams which were using Swedish-made
Smith & Wesson Model 61 had numerous reliability problems and according to Smith & Wesson historian, Jim Supica, many were returned to the factory for repair. According to Supica, many of these returned pistols were not actually repaired. Employees at Smith & Wesson simply took a new pistol off the line, restamped the serial number and shipped the pistol to the customer in place of the old one because repair time would have been too costly. Model 61 engineering changes: Smith & Wesson Model 61 The Smith & Wesson Model 61 (also known as the Smith & Wesson Escort or simply the Pocket Escort) is