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 for law enforcement officers. The Model 27 started the "Magnum Era" of handguns. The high point was in 1955 when the company created the Smith & Wesson Model 29 in .44 Magnum. Two decades later the Dirty Harry movies made this gun a cultural icon. In 1965 the Wesson family sold its controlling interest in Smith and Wesson to Bangor Punta, a large American conglomerate. Over the next decade Bangor Punta diversified the company's civilian sales to include related gun products (such as holsters) as well as offering additional police equipment (such as handcuffs and breathalyzers). By the late 1970s