I bought the only 1076 on GB not owned by J. Edgar Hoover

[Frank Black]

Yes, this is what I was saying. The absence of the disconnect means nothing because it can be disabled on any of them. The opposite is also true. Having the disconnect pretty much means it was not an LE gun. I never heard of anyone adding the disconnect to an FBI model. Also, so far I have not heard of anyone other than S&W stamping the "U" under the trigger guard so I couldn't resist taking a quick look under there. I wouldn't be surprised to see that show up sometime on some of those being passed off as FBI issued.

No question there's a lot of fake stuff and exaggerated claims floating around on GB. I've seen it with M1 Garands where sellers are trying to pass off 'corrected' rifles as historically significant when they're not. Just a mixmaster the sellers 'upgraded' in their basement workshops and are now trying to sell for an inflated price.

That said, the absence of the disconnect feature alone might mean nothing, but if the slide of a 1076 also carries the "Will Fire" warning, the two indicia taken together could indicate it was an L.E. 1076 that a particular department or agency wanted set up the same as the FBI issued.

That's what makes it worth it to send off a check for the official Certification Letter from S&W's Chief Historical dude. The Cert. Letter he sent me essentially said mine was a 1990 model sent to a P.D. somewhere in New Hampshire. (Don't have the letter in front of me just now).

So at least I have documentation showing mine was a non-FBI, L.E.-issued 1076.

 

[asilcot]

I wasn't saying that he made any misleading claims. I was saying the gun would have probably sold higher if he had. As far as the gun that I bought, there was no marking on the slide other than refer to the instruction manual. I thought that I had seen a few that were not indicated on the slide that would fire without the magazine. But I'm sure they were modified.

 

[Aegis]

I wasn't saying that he made any misleading claims. I was saying the gun would have probably sold higher if he had. As far as the gun that I bought, there was no marking on the slide other than refer to the instruction manual. I thought that I had seen a few that were not indicated on the slide that would fire without the magazine. But I'm sure they were modified.

Not necessarily, I have a verified FBI with no markings on the slide and it does not have the disconnect. Mine was shipped to FBI Oklahoma Office.. Also S&W does not put the dots on all of the decock models returned for the upgrade. I have two , a 1076 and and 1026 with the mods and no markings..

 

[asilcot]

Not necessarily, I have a verified FBI with no markings on the slide and it does not have the disconnect. Mine was shipped to FBI Oklahoma Office.. Also S&W does not put the dots on all of the decock models returned for the upgrade. I have two , a 1076 and and 1026 with the mods and no markings..

I thought I had seen a couple that were said to be verified FBI issue that did not have the warning on the slide but I did not go back to try to find that info. I have heard that some of the guns that were sent back recently for the trigger upgrade did not get the dots. I guess S&W keeps the records and can determine by serial number which ones have been done. I will call them to see what they say. Thanks.

 

[shawn mccarver]

I am pretty sure I have looked at every 1076 that has passed through the GB system in the last year. Most are described as "the FBI model" and the price goes through the roof. I saw this one a couple of weeks ago that no one had bid on. Now before I get too far, this one is not an FBI gun, nor was I specifically looking for one. This one did not have the greatest pictures in the listing but what I could see looked decent. The down side was no box and only one mag.

To cut to the chase I placed the starting bid and walked away. And I picked it up at my local FFL today. I must say I was impressed with the condition when it got here. Looked like your typical test fire and put it in the safe. I just wish the box and second mag had stayed with it. Oh, no dots under the decocking lever. I will contact S&W when it gets too hot to shoot and let them address that.

Thank you! The title of this post is the best laugh I have had all day!

 

[Nagloc68]

Beautiful looking gun

I was not aware of the 1076 lore, but quickly understood and chuckled at the GB reference. These guns are new to me but they are really nice looking. Thanks for sharing the photos and the story. Cool.

 

[DUSTYDOGDAN]

Thanks for the laugh. I needed one today.
I found a local 1006 and wanted to add it to my small 3RD Generation collection and a few weeks later I fell into a nice 1086 so the next thing I am doing is looking for the sacred cow FBI 1076 and did notice a lot of them are called the super rare FBI model but no one on GB had spent the money on the "Letter" to prove it. You did end up with a great pistol and I hope you have fun with it. You sure did help my day with your post. Thanks!

 

[MrWindowz]

I love my 411, which I've had cerakoted FDE, and I had been looking at the 4006TSW's that have been online, until the pandemic hit, the supply dried up and the prices doubled. I'd love to have a 10* as well. Great find!

 

[luis]

FBI I think not.

From speaking to several current and retired FBI agents none of these guns are true FBI guns. Some time in the 70s the FBI began scrapping guns instead of selling or trading in for other models.

 

[asilcot]

I thought I had seen a couple that were said to be verified FBI issue that did not have the warning on the slide but I did not go back to try to find that info. I have heard that some of the guns that were sent back recently for the trigger upgrade did not get the dots. I guess S&W keeps the records and can determine by serial number which ones have been done. I will call them to see what they say. Thanks.

I emailed them today, gave them my serial number and asked the mfg. date and asked about the trigger upgrade. They said 8/90 and "Yes there is a recall on the Decocking lever." I was trying to determine whether mine may have been done and, as you mentioned, not marked. I assume their response means mine will still need to go back at some time.

 

[asilcot]

From speaking to several current and retired FBI agents none of these guns are true FBI guns. Some time in the 70s the FBI began scrapping guns instead of selling or trading in for other models.

Dang. And we were having so much fun. Well, what should we talk about next?

 

[Steve912]

From speaking to several current and retired FBI agents none of these guns are true FBI guns. Some time in the 70s the FBI began scrapping guns instead of selling or trading in for other models.

Nah, there's tons of documentation on them, process-wise--even
down to how S&W re-labeled the factory boxes the FBI pistols
came back to S&W in, and marked some of the frames.

This post is from a retired FBI SA, lots of good info on
identifying criteria. Note he cites specific serial numbers
for some examples, pretty granular info. It's verrry
common to see erroneous info on identifying criteria
bandied around on many forums, on this topic.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/777696-post13.html

Further Edit: Aside from the above, there are documented
"factory lettered" models, that give timelines for the pistol's
shipment to FBI, return to S&W, and shipment from S&W to
distributor for resale. If your guys version was true, that
would say the factory letter were fabrications of whole cloth.

 

[asilcot]

Nah, there's tons of documentation on them, process-wise--even
down to re-labeling by S&W on the factory boxes the pistols
came back in to S&W, from the FBI.

You know, I was thinking today wouldn't it be ironic if someone had one of these, was unaware of the potential significance and tossed the box before selling because they thought having the box marked "used" would detract from the selling price?

 

[Steve912]

You know, I was thinking today wouldn't it be ironic if someone had one of these, was unaware of the potential significance and tossed the box before selling because they thought having the box marked "used" would detract from the selling price?

Yep, that's one of the hard criteria, right there.

But it does make me think of the obverse--that people will
start counterfeiting "FBI Return" 1076s....if they haven't
already. It's done with some of the pricey US military
surplus rifles & carbines.

 

[asilcot]

Yep, that's one of the hard criteria, right there.

But it does make me think of the obverse--that people will
start counterfeiting "FBI Return" 1076s....if they haven't
already. It's done with some of the pricey US military
surplus rifles & carbines.

Yes, see my comment #18 above. Only a matter of time before someone heads to Harbor Freight for a steel letter stamp set. (Can I buy just the "U"?)

 

[lowriderfxr]

J Edgar Hoover’s 1076 would be quite a find considering he died in 1972, I think, and the 1076 was introduced in 1990. That would’ve been as rare and valuable as Herman Goering’s HK P7. Now if you find J Edgar’s Registered Magnum #1, I’m interested!

 

[Frank Black]

From speaking to several current and retired FBI agents none of these guns are true FBI guns. Some time in the 70s the FBI began scrapping guns instead of selling or trading in for other models.

Not true of the Bureau 1076s.

Retiring agents could keep theirs, or possibly they were charged a minimal price. None as far as I know were sent away for scrapping by the infamous 'Capt'n Crunch' devise.

 

[Old Corp]

Still have my old duty M1076. No, it nor I were FBI.

When I advertise it for sale, guess I'll include an advisement that no, it's not a prior FBI model - it came from an actual boots-on-the-street working law enforcement agency.
Have a shoe-box full of mags of mixture of yellow and white followers, and bucketfuls of 10mm brass.

 

[Dr. Olds]

S&W 1076 sales add

Attached are 2 documents I have when I bought my 1076 new on 10/30/91. I paid $550 back then.

 

[S&W59]

Its been my experience that the civilian-maket model 1076 automatics have the straight-line front grip enhancements while the LEO models have the checkered front grip enhancements. Perhaps I'm wrong but the ones I see at gunshows that have any PD markings or property numbers have the checkered front grip serrations while the straight line front grips are never LEO marked. It is perhaps my experience, but I see them enough around Georgia gunshows to notice the variance.