Springfield Armory's S&W 76 Collection - Experimental, Toolroom and One-off versions

Springfield Armory's S&W 76 Collection - Experimental, Toolroom and One-off versions

**My sincere appreciation to The Springfield Armory, especially Curator Alex MacKenzie, for allowing me to study and photograph their exceptional Smith & Wesson Mod. 76 collection**

When I did cursory internet research before purchasing my S&W 76 I learned that Smith & Wesson created a number of experimental and toolroom examples indicated by an X and T letter prefix at the beginning of the serial number, respectively. What I did not know and learned only by chance when browsing the Springfield Armory's online archival catalog (available HERE) is that the Springfield Armory houses many, possibly all, of these early prototype S&W 76's. Thanks to The Springfield Armory's generous accommodations and the assistance of Curator Alex MacKenzie I was able to research these amazing guns (26, to be exact) and post my findings here.





My initial goal was to identify the differences between the early prototype guns and the later production. That is what is more or less detailed below. However some examples were so unique in their own right that they exceeded what might otherwise be considered a minor design alteration and instead thought of as a M. 76 version unto themselves. Where the line is to be drawn I'll leave up to the reader, although I made a list of what I consider to be minor design changes. As far as I know these guns are in the same factory configuration as they came directly from S&W.

There is a lot of ground to cover so I'll get started. If anyone has anything to add/correct/discuss please feel free.

Prototype to Production

- Shrouds/Barrel Nuts - The shroud seems to have been experimented with a lot. There were different lengths, serrations vs. knurling on the base, locking mechanisms and one was even reinforced with two layers. The early experimental examples often lacked a shroud entirely and had simply a nut.
- Barrel - The barrel length was apparently toyed with somewhat in the early stages of development.
- Barrel Nut Locking Mechanism - The production models using a latch mechanism, whereas most of the experimental and toolroom examples used a leafspring. Even amongst the leafsprings I noticed a variations - X187 was very narrow and smaller in size. T1144 and X185 lacked a locking mechanism entirely.
- Finish - I noticed a variety of finishes including the common parkerizing as well as a frying-pan style.
- Sights - A few had a higher, almost suppressor height blocky front and rear sight.
- Magwell - The early examples had a blocky, less refinished magwell.
- Selector - The selectors knob height was elevated on at least one example. X185 and X187 had a right side only selector. Some selectors functioned for only Semi and Full. Others lacked markings.
- Rails - Several examples had rails, or were tapped for rails.
- Grip - The early examples were smooth without checkering. However even amongst these there were finish variations where some were matte instead of glossy (this was also true for the later checkered grips that I observed.) One grip even included a safety.
- Stocks - Perhaps second only to the shrouds these numbered the most in variation. I observed differences in height (T1186 and X219 were raised), width (the early examples were often, but not always straight), length, left vs. right folding, and T1144 was even bar metal without a rubber coating.
-Receiver Materials - X213 was a bare aluminum receiver. It weighed substantially less than the production steel receivers, but also displayed what I suspect is excessive wear in several areas. X211 was also aluminum, albeit finished. I suspect other complete experimental guns were also built on aluminum receivers but I base this solely on their weight and I did not have a scale to weigh them.

The Notable "Versions"

- The Aluminum Receiver (X213)


- X186




- T1187


- T1186


- T1112




- Compact Version (X185)




- Caseless Ammo Version (X219)




- Thumb Safety and Ejection Port Cover Version (T1208)


- X187




- Mid-length barrel with shroud Version (T1120)


- Extended shroud with regular barrel (T1153)


- Bare Wire Stock (T1144)


- Protected Bolt Slot Channel Version (T1115)




- Grip Safety Version (T1211)




- Bayonet, Right-folding stock Version(T1236)




- L-Stock, Reinforced Shroud Version (T1235)

First time I saw a S&W 76 was the Charlton Heston movie Omega Man. Great post about an almost forgotten weapon.

Excellent post! It is rare that we get this kind of research and insight.

Awesome pics! Some I had not seen before. Thanks for sharing.

Last suggested retail price, before they ceased production, was $115.00. I paid $1000.00 for mine. Wish I had never sold it!

First one I ever saw was at a gun show in the late 70's. I think the asking price was $175.00. First on screen appearance I remember was in Magnum Force.

One of the smoothest running SMG's I've ever owned. With a suppressed barrel assembly and subsonic ammo it sounds like a sewing machine running!

When I started in the Woonsocket Police Department we had four model 76s in the armory. They were obtained by trading a like number of Thompsons. As a range officer in the late 70s I had the opportunity to fire them at our annual qualification. Sweet shooters and very controllable with a little experience. We went to Uzis in the 80s and later added some mini Uzis too. To my knowledge none of our sub guns left the armory except for qualifications or more properly familiarization. No doubt those model 76s are privately owned today.

I'm glad people have found it informative. These are fine subguns and what I consider to be one of the blue-chip transferables, parts availability notwithstanding. Years ago I shot my friends S&W 76 and became hooked. It ultimately became my second subgun and I now enjoy shooting it more than my first, an M11/9 with many modifications. The 76 is incredibly smooth, especially suppressed. It's controllable and probably the least choppy open bolt subgun I've shot. The only really objective downside is lack of spare parts. My hope was that I could learn more about mine by studying the early examples maintained by the Springfield Armory.

Here's mine:

You may still be able to find some Mk760 parts. They will interchange. Probably more of them still around than original parts. Probably less costly too!

Thank you for the pics of T1208. I was aware that it was in their collection but I knew nothing about it. I was interested in it because I own T1207. Unfortunately T1207 is a plain vanilla gun with no special features.

After the Swedish embargo of the Swedish K ,SW came out with the M-76. While a good copy ,still not as good. A lot of these were used by special op's. Till the HK MP-5 replaced them in T.E. I shot the 76 a lot ,not a bad subgun.

Sw76

Awsome collection and information on these model 76s, As a Smith and wesson collector I found myself aquiring one of these a must. Soon I will have oNE reday to pick up aND was wondering about reparkerizing it since it has a few scratches and patina, or would that hurt the value on the gun? Been searching for awhile on collectors of these SMG to ask questions . . Once again thanks for posting a very Imformative thread . .

gcw16 said:

Thank you for the pics of T1208. I was aware that it was in their collection but I knew nothing about it. I was interested in it because I own T1207. Unfortunately T1207 is a plain vanilla gun with no special features.

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Very cool. Your T1207 is unique in it's own right given the T prefix and toolroom provenance. I've never seen a toolroom example come up for sale so couldn't speculate on price, but I would imagine that it would go for more than a U prefix production gun.

basskinginthesun said:

Awsome collection and information on these model 76s, As a Smith and wesson collector I found myself aquiring one of these a must. Soon I will have oNE reday to pick up aND was wondering about reparkerizing it since it has a few scratches and patina, or would that hurt the value on the gun? Been searching for awhile on collectors of these SMG to ask questions . . Once again thanks for posting a very Imformative thread . .

Click to expand...

Unless it is HEAVILY worn I would not suggest refinishing the gun as that would detract from value. The S&W's are collectable like the Swedish K's, whereas the MK760's, Stemples and BRP/Burgess/SW76s are acquired more often for shooting. Others may disagree but barring significant wear I would leave it alone.

Very cool, thanks for sharing!

I have U-102. Etched "BPD" and supposedly came from the Boston Police Dept. Who knows. Sweet shooting subgun.

I first saw the S&W 76 at Fort Benning, Georgia, about 1970. Part of a collection of fairly common weapons from around the world being used for familiarization training. I remember commenting on how similar the 76 was to the Carl Gustav 'Swedish K' that was fairly common in Vietnam at that time.

Last I saw of the Model 76 was a flier to law enforcement agencies, (about 1989-1990) announcing what amounted to a clearance sale. Several variations were offered (including an integrally-suppressed model) for Law Enforcement Agency Sales only, priced from about $200 to about $600 (suppressed) each.

I suspect that those examples that are transferable now will bring prices closer to those of a decent new car.

And many thanks to marcus99 who took the time and effort to photograph these rare weapons!

Wow! Thanks for posting this. Very informative.

Dwayne Charron designed the Model 76 and this is him firing one at Ft. Benning in 1967. (Perhaps one of the guns now at SANHS.)

great info - I just copied it to my computer for further study!

Ed

This is Charron's assistant, Don Fogg.

A Model 76 in Vietnam: