S&W 1076 - Odd One

All,

I picked up a new 1076 that is in great condition. As always, I like to share that with my friends here. Let me begin by saying I'm not new to the 1076. Last year I stumbled across a great buy at the local gun show that turned out to be an original FBI issued weapon. While I was very excited about that, I can state with utmost confidence that this one will not come back that way. But having said that, there are some features here that are making this one almost as intriguing.

So where do I begin. First, lets discuss some of the common features. When I saw this one, the checkered front strap made me believe that this was probably part of some LE agency run. Bonus there because my FBI model is the early test runs with the straight lines on the front. Here are the first of a few pictures to help you check it out. I apologize for the blurriness. They looked fine before I put it back together.





Now the first thing I noticed on here, and why I'm 99.99% certain this is not going to letter as an FBI gun, is the serial number range. The letters are VAE. This would apparently make it a very late model gun around the end of the production period.

Another thing you may notice in these pictures is the black trigger. I have not seen many 1076s with this feature. Let me tell you, it looks great in person.

Now let's flip it over.



The S&W markings are on the frame even though you can't see them here. But I also want to point out that the slide has no markings at all. There is no civilian marking, nor is there an LE marking about "Capable of fire with magazine removed". I can tell you that even though it isn't marked in any way, this most certainly has a magazine disconnect.

Next step was to tear it down and check it out. The first thing I noticed was the barrel ramp. It was very highly polished. So much so that even the edges felt a little sharp in places. This picture will not do it justice.



When I contact S&W for some history, I'm going to see if this was ever in the shop for an action job. Because no way is this ramp off the shelf.

Tearing it down a little further, I found another oddity on the decocker lever.



I don't recall the black plastic piece being present on my early FBI version. I'll have to tear it down again to confirm. But if any of you remember seeing this or not seeing this, let me know.

I'm just going to finish up with a few more pictures here. First, this model has the newer trigger play spring.



And unlike my FBI version, the inside slide is marked with 1076.



Okay, so what do I have here? Any guesses? I'm leaning towards this being a late model version of "let's take all our extra parts and make a few more guns to sell" 1076. If any of you have seen a VAE serial number 1076 and have a little more history, please share. Regardless of what it is or isn't, it is in great shape and a worthy addition to my collection. I guess the only thing I'm concerned with is if the barrel ramp polishing turns out to be an arm chair gunsmith job. I wouldn't want any performance issues because of that.

Thanks,

dwp10mm

The black trigger maybe indicitive of the end of the run and they used MIM parts on hand to finish some of the models. None the less it looks like you have a nice pistol!

I purchased my 1076 used and it's serial starts with TSF and has the straight cut lines on the front strap. All parts are the stainless steel color.

I sent "dmc8163" an email.
He will be able to give you some information.
Regards,
BM1

Does the little plastic black piece allow you to use a standard type grip that you might see on a pistol without the manual decocking lever?

Very nice 1076 and thanks for sharing. I think you are right on with the non-FBI and VAE serial number.

Also, there are FBI 1076's with checkered trigger guards and checkered front straps. There are also FBI 1076's with MIM parts per DMC's info. They were supposively worked on by hand in the performance center and would show signs of some extra tuning. Not saying that's what you have here as the serial number would be a first with the V prefix but indeed some unusual features. Once again, very nice gun.

I am curious to see where this thread leads...I am particularly fond of the S&W 10mm platform, and am always eager to learn more. Already the pictures presented by dwp10mm have caused me to go get my 1076 out of the safe and look under the slide. Mine just has 10mm (see picture) under the slide, I either didn't remember or didn't notice when cleaning.



I lettered my pistol in the hope it might be an FBI gun as it had come from a PD supply as a surplus trade-in and there was talk that the PD it came from had gotten it from the FBI. For naught, the origins of my 1076 were just from S&W to another PD supply, so no FBI gun for me. I shoot mine, and enjoy it. I also have a 1066 and a Delta Elite, fine pistols all.

I recently ordered a replacement side plate from Numrich GP for my frame-mounted de-cocker S&W pistol. The new side plate looks just like this one.

The original side plate did not have this plastic spacer along the top where it follows the edge of the grip. The only thing separating the original side plate from the grip was the little v-notch spring device at the front, where it presses against the slide release's spring-loaded plunger.

The lack of a plastic spacer created a rather unsightly gap along the top edge of the grip, the grip never looked like it fit the pistol and it felt flimsy. Also, the original side plate would tend to bow out a bit whenever downward force was applied to the de-cocking lever as the original side plate would not remain perfectly flat against the frame since the top edge of the grip did not press it tightly against the frame.

Given the tendency of the original side plate to bow outwards when downward pressure was applied on the decocker, I was always concerned the lever might work itself loose and the teeth would slip off the decocking pawl, or perhaps even pop out of the pivot hole entirely. It never did, but simply pressing the decocking lever did not feel as precise as it should have.

The new side plate's plastic spacer eliminated this gap along the top of the grip. The grip feels much better and it looks much more finished. While it still uses the same grip as before, the new plastic spacer now causes the grip to press the side plate firmly against the frame and the decocking lever now feels more precise when actuated. The addition of the plastic spacer is a definite improvement over the old side plate design.

SPEEDGUNNER said:

I am curious to see where this thread leads...I am particularly fond of the S&W 10mm platform, and am always eager to learn more. Already the pictures presented by dwp10mm have caused me to go get my 1076 out of the safe and look under the slide. Mine just has 10mm (see picture) under the slide, I either didn't remember or didn't notice when cleaning.

I lettered my pistol in the hope it might be an FBI gun as it had come from a PD supply as a surplus trade-in and there was talk that the PD it came from had gotten it from the FBI. For naught, the origins of my 1076 were just from S&W to another PD supply, so no FBI gun for me. I shoot mine, and enjoy it. I also have a 1066 and a Delta Elite, fine pistols all.

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Speedgunner. I posted this one because my early FBI pistol actually says Mod 1006 in this area. Here is that picture.



From the FBI thread, there seems to be a few different markings floating around like this.

I too have a Delta Elite that I picked up in 1989.

sop said:

I recently ordered a replacement side plate from Numrich GP for my frame-mounted de-cocker S&W pistol. The new side plate looks just like this one.

The original side plate did not have this plastic spacer along the top where it follows the edge of the grip. The only thing separating the original side plate from the grip was the little v-notch spring device at the front, where it presses against the slide release's spring-loaded plunger.

The lack of a plastic spacer created a rather unsightly gap along the top edge of the grip, the grip never looked like it fit the pistol and it felt flimsy. Also, the original side plate would tend to bow out a bit whenever downward force was applied to the de-cocking lever as the original side plate would not remain perfectly flat against the frame since the top edge of the grip did not press it tightly against the frame.

Given the tendency of the original side plate to bow outwards when downward pressure was applied on the decocker, I was always concerned the lever might work itself loose and the teeth would slip off the decocking pawl, or perhaps even pop out of the pivot hole entirely. It never did, but simply pressing the decocking lever did not feel as precise as it should have.

The new side plate's plastic spacer eliminated this gap along the top of the grip. The grip feels much better and it looks much more finished. While it still uses the same grip as before, the new plastic spacer now causes the grip to press the side plate firmly against the frame and the decocking lever now feels more precise when actuated. The addition of the plastic spacer is a definite improvement over the old side plate design.

Click to expand...

Thanks for this info. I thought this one was different and your information probably confirms my suspicions.

dacoontz said:

Very nice 1076 and thanks for sharing. I think you are right on with the non-FBI and VAE serial number.

Also, there are FBI 1076's with checkered trigger guards and checkered front straps. There are also FBI 1076's with MIM parts per DMC's info. They were supposively worked on by hand in the performance center and would show signs of some extra tuning. Not saying that's what you have here as the serial number would be a first with the V prefix but indeed some unusual features. Once again, very nice gun.

Click to expand...

I was going to post this in the FBI thread but didn't want to clutter it up with one I was fairly certain would not come back as an FBI. The thought of the performance center came to mind when I saw this one. But the serial number and lack of night sites pretty much make me think no on any FBI possibility. Plus the fact that it does have a magazine disconnect even though the slide isn't marked that way.

Glad to find your reply here as I know you, DMC and BM1 hold a lot of the knowledge on the 1076. There are so many things unique about this one that I wanted to get each of your opinions on it.

Interesting 1076. The VAE prefix would seem to indicate a production date in late 1993 or early 1994. That makes some sense because it was in around that time frame that the MIM triggers started showing up. You might want to get a factory letter on it. That might answer some questions. Good luck.

dwp10mm said:

I was going to post this in the FBI thread but didn't want to clutter it up with one I was fairly certain would not come back as an FBI. The thought of the performance center came to mind when I saw this one. But the serial number and lack of night sites pretty much make me think no on any FBI possibility. Plus the fact that it does have a magazine disconnect even though the slide isn't marked that way.

Glad to find your reply here as I know you, DMC and BM1 hold a lot of the knowledge on the 1076. There are so many things unique about this one that I wanted to get each of your opinions on it.

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Everything I know I learned from DMC, he's definitely the guy we want to hear from.
I always like seeing posts on the 1076 as it is what lured me into the world of S&W so thanks for posting about yours.

I emailed S&W this morning to see if this was ever in the gunsmith shop for service. Paul replied that the pistol was never in the shop and was built in 1994. He also stated that it was shipped commercially. So even though it has the checkered front strap, it was not an LE pistol. This gets me thinking back to my original concept that this is a Frankenstein pistol that was tossed together with extra parts when production was ramping down.

Denver Dick said:

Interesting 1076. The VAE prefix would seem to indicate a production date in late 1993 or early 1994. That makes some sense because it was in around that time frame that the MIM triggers started showing up. You might want to get a factory letter on it. That might answer some questions. Good luck.

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Yep, 1994 . . . probably early that year. In reviewing my Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson, 3rd Ed. (SCSW 3rd), I note that the 1076 was supposedly produced between 1990 and 1993. Now the date that is usually quoted by the factory (and the date set forth in factory letters) is not the "produced" or "built" date but rather the date the pistol shipped from the factory. So, a pistol shipped in early 1994 could have been "produced" in late 1993.

Interestingly, as I was looking through the SCSW 3rd, I noted that the "FBI Model 1076" in the photograph on page 297 has an MIM trigger like the one on your pistol, at least that what is looks like in the photo.

As I indicated in my prior post, you might consider ordering a factory letter. You can send along photos of the checkered grip. You will get a far more detailed history of the pistol by do so, especially if you send along specific questions about it.

Good luck.

This pistol is clearly a late production civilian version 1076. As you have all pointed out the black trigger is a clear indicator of late production. The “master” 1076 used by the Performance Center in the assembly of the 2,500 FBI 1076s also has a black trigger. Keep in mind that theoretically the FBI destroyed all of 2,500 PC pistols. The Gun Vault certainly destroyed mine. The fact that it is a civilian version and has no caution statement is odd; however I have seen several 1076s like it. I have never found an explanation for this and have often thought it would have the S&W liability lawyers throwing fits. Perhaps a more likely explanation is that a former owner simply polished the caution statement off the slide. It is very easy to do. The latest serial number I have is TVK and I have no record of an FBI 1076 in the V series.
I believe the barrel is absolutely correct and from the factory. S&W corrected numerous issues that occurred while the FBI tried to place the FBI 1076 in service in 1991. One issue involved a failure to chamber and the result is what you see here. Most 1076s will have this modification as it was identified the FBI early on. That brings up another point. Every time S&W made production changes as a result of the FBI contract the change went into effect for all 1076s, civilian or law enforcement. Changes included the magazine, the crosshatch on the front strap, the extractor, the ejector, the slide, the magazine safety hole, the guide rod and the trigger spring. I know there were other changes in addition to these.
The majority of my FBI 1076s have “10 MM” etched in the slide. But there are two etched with “MOD 1006.” They are early production pistols. I have no explanation but have theorized it could be something as simple as a factory worker failed to change the etching machine before they went into production. Another theory I have is that early on S&W used 1006 slides that somehow was cut down. The black plastic piece near the decocker lever is interesting and is something I hadn’t noticed. Black trigger TFP3561 has the piece, silver trigger THB 9268 has the piece and silver trigger TEU0048 does not have the piece. Again I have no concrete explanation but my guess is that it was a modification requested by the FBI. I think the theory that it is there to prevent crude from accumulating inside the grip is a great one.
I love this stuff and that isn’t even delving into the personalities involved. Thank you for bringing this pistol to our attention. Dave

Thanks DMC. After your post, I had to pull both of my 1076s out of the safe to check them out.

If the previous owner polished off the slide, they did an incredible job. It doesn't appear to me that any polishing has been done on the slide. I don't think it was ever marked.


I also compared both pistols. The first thing I noticed was my TEU gun has a different breech face than the VAE. The picture is hard to notice, but the TEU (top) has a rounded cutout to match the case. The VAE (bottom) is a solid line straight up.


I also noticed the ejector is longer on the VAE version (back).


Hope this isn't boring anyone. I'm enjoying the history and comparison here.

The plot thickens. This 1076 on Gunbroker right now has a VHM prefix which theoretically should be after my VAE.

S&W 1076 10mm Smith and Wesson NIB : Semi Auto Pistols at GunBroker.com

But it shows a non-checkered front strap and a silver trigger. Very odd.

dwp10mm said:

The plot thickens. This 1076 on Gunbroker right now has a VHM prefix which theoretically should be after my VAE.

S&W 1076 10mm Smith and Wesson NIB : Semi Auto Pistols at GunBroker.com

But it shows a non-checkered front strap and a silver trigger. Very odd.

Click to expand...

Interesting, the serial number prefix and label markings indicate a 1998 pistol . . . very, very interesting. I'll keep an eye on this thread to see where the discussion leads.

Is it just me or there something up with that front sight. Maybe it's the angle but it looks like to seperate blades. What the heck???

Interesting, for sure. And that checked front strap rocks! Never seen it on a 3rd Gen gun before. Sure beats the skateboard tape on my 4566!

Almost makes me want to get out the checkering file, though we all know that wouldn't end well!

I checked my 1076's and the front sight seems fine, just a funny angle on the picture.