I'm close to making a deal on an authentic Smith&Wesson M76 Submachinegun to add to my NFA collection. Can anyone feedback to me their experiences with this weapon? Reliability, performance, parts availability, etc? I've been doing a lot of reading research, and it looks good to me.

C

Reliability is good. Performs well as long as the ammo you shoot isn't too lightly loaded.  If so it may cause the gun to double in semi.  Mags are easily modified from 36 round suomi mags.  Parts can be difficult but another manufacturer looks to be stepping up to help with that.  The uzitalk forum has a section for the S&W76.  Good info and people there.

I have 1 and love it. Fast becoming my favorite

Thanks for the input!

C

If you get it as a shooter, keep your hands off the mags while shooting. There is just enough wiggle to cause a malfunction.

Parts are getting hard to find. There is a thread on uzitalk where a member is asking questions about what parts people are wanting and I think he is going to make some.

Examine the tube at the rear where the retaining pin passes through the tube. Some have been shot with really hot ammo and no buffer. Constant hammering against the pin causes the hole to oval which is not a good thing.

The 76 should have a twenty pound recoil spring from the factory. It was originally designed for hot subgun ammo. If you want to shoot some of the lighter loads and save wear and tear on your gun, get an eighteen pound spring if you can find one.

Suomi mags can be found and usually need some filing on the pads to get them to fit right. Don't waste your time and money looking for the S&W marked mags unless you want to pay at $200.00 each for them. I've been to gun shows and found Suomi mags and the vendor was trying to pass them off as S&W mags wanting big bucks for them.

I'm in Texas and have a like new one for sale.
Just emailed you.

Check out UziTalk's S&W 76 Talk Subsection...

http://www.uzitalk.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?87-S-amp-W-76-Talk

Lots of great info there. BWE is looking at making parts as Scott Andrey has gone the way of the Dodo Bird lately.

The S&W 76 has a crazy heavy trigger pull and is prone to breaking extractors. Othere than that, a cool gun.

Thanks for this link. I previously did a search, and could not locate.

C

Good deal. The folks at UziTalk are some of the nicest you'll ever run into. The S&W 76 was my first NFA gun. Lots of fun. I had an early "tool room" gun. If you can, get the serial number from your gun and request a "history letter" from S&W. They will give you some personalized history on your gun. https://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Category4_750001_750051_757825_-1_757814_757812_image

As mentioned above, you want to hold the mag well and tube, not the mag to prevent feeding issues. You can usually "fit" 36 round Suomi stick mags to the 76 with a tiny bit of grinding. These are the nicest subgun mags ever made (maybe sterlings are a bit better) IMHO. Numrich has nice speed loaders.

I had one years ago with an integrated AWC suppressor.

I wish I still had it. It was awesome.

Wow, you guys have been great help here. Thanks. This will be my 4th MG in my collection, and probably just the final icing to my collection. I have read some great things about this gun, but now concerned about the lack of spare parts. Is it true that the extractors on the original built S&W's break only after 1,000 rounds or so??

Not definitely true, but extractors are a weak point. No worries, Richard at BWE is on the case and will get the parts  made.

I've put 20,000 rounds thru mine in the last 5 years and never changed the extractor.  There is also another FFL up in Colorado that is having manufactured main springs.   He did a survey last year and he tested around 50 customer springs (mine included), and has come up with a replacement.  I've tested this spring and it works really well (even with white box loads).   He is also on UziTalk as am I.   Congrats you will love that gun.

I just got notification from my local NFA dealer I use that my S&W76 arrived from the Florida dealer. I will got out on Monday to sign the Form 4 application. I cant wait to see it! Now the wait begins.

Get recoil springs made to original spec!

https://www.gunsprings.com/SMITH%20&%20WESSON/76%20SMG/cID2/mID58/dID448