Description
The Smith & Wesson M76 submachine gun (SMG) was produced by Smith & Wesson from 1967 to 1974. It is chambered in 9x19mm, feeding from 36-round magazines and firing from an open bolt.
In April of 1966 Smith & Wesson was contacted by the U.S. Navy SEALs with the request to make a 9mm submachine gun to be used by their forces in the Vietnam War. The U.S. Navy SEAL's submachine gun of choice had been the Swedish Carl Gustav m/45 for a few years, but because Sweden was neutral during the war, it couldn't supply them with arms anymore. Although looking very similar to the Carl Gustav, Smith & Wesson representatives have claimed that the design of the Model 76 wasn't influenced by it, and that they just followed the list of requirements that the U.S. Navy SEALs had given them.
Because of the ongoing war, a lot of pressure was on the manufacturing of the Model 76, and it became top priority at Smith & Wesson. It took only 9 months from the start of the design to the start of production. Production went as fast as possible, and finishing was often skipped on these submachineguns, leaving them with rough welds and giving them the reputation of being very rough guns.
A small number of supressors was also manufactured by the Navy SEAL's request, but they proved to be ineffective.
This is the last gun to be published from the Vietnam wallpaper.