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The SW 76 shown with its

stock in the extended position.

Nearly twenty
years have passed
since former President Ronald Reagan
signed the infamous
McClure-Volkmer
Act into law. Although this piece of
legislation had a few
pro-gun clauses, a
last minute amendment was added that
banned all future
manufacture of machine guns for private ownership. The
law took effect on
May 19, 1986.
This piece of legislation forever fixed
the number of transferable machine
guns in the system.
Since that day prices
have steadily increased as the supply
of transferable guns
has steadily decreased. Today the
cost of a transferable
machine gun can exceed the cost of a
new well-equipped
automobile.
Many Class 2
manufactures were
well aware of the
impending restrictions a few weeks
prior to the enactment of the ban.
Most of the manufacturers worked
night and day to
make and register as
many machine gun
receivers as possible. It was not necessary to assemble
26

complete working guns, but the receivers

had to meet a minimum stage of construction as set forth by the BATF. At midnight
May 18th it was all over.
The firearm-collecting world is always
full of unexpected surprises; often parts or
part sets that are unavailable for years suddenly show up in the warehouses of surplus
dealers. One example is the parts and part
sets for military issue Thompson submachine guns. These parts that were once in a
seemingly inexhaustible abundance were
gone and the prices of the few remaining
parts were increasing daily. Then, recently,
hundreds of mint to like new M1, M1A1
and M1928 Thompson part sets were found.
Who would have ever thought this would
ever occur - sixty year old Thompsons in
new condition!
Every now and then a small quantity of
new, unused registered receiver tubes would
emerge. Most of the remaining tubes were
originally produced to be assembled into
Sten submachine guns, but then just a few
years ago most of the Sten part sets disappeared, shelving the plans to assemble the
tubes into working guns.
More recently, Class 2 manufactures got
creative and have submitted plans to the
BATF Technology Branch to use the remaining registered receiver tubes for assembly into guns other then the Sten. Although

many of the new applications for

the receiver tubes were approved,
there were restrictions placed on
modifications allowed to the receiver tube itself. To date, the BATF has
approved the Sten tubes to be made into
Sterlings, Lanchesters and most recently
clones of the Smith & Wesson Model 76.
Yes, the Model 76.
The original 9mm Smith & Wesson
Model 76 submachine gun was first manufactured in 1968 with production ending in
1974. 6,000 production guns were built
during that period. There were other earlier clones of the S&W 76 made. One was
the MK Arms Company model called the
MK 760 and another was the Global Arms/
Southern Tools M76A1. Production of
these weapons were just starting up as the
machine gun ban was being enacted, limiting production of these submachine guns.
Lack of magazines was always a problem with the Model 76, with originals being scarce and proportionately expensive.
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the easily
adaptable Suomi M31 magazines appeared
at bargain basement prices. Not only were
the magazines cheap, most of them were in
brand new condition. The magazines could
be altered in seconds with a Dremel Tool to
fit in the Smith Model 76 by simply removing a few thousands of metal from the front

Jim Burgess SW 76, a

copy of the Smith &
Wesson Model 76. The
example shown here
has the standard gray
Parkerized finish.

The Small Arms Review Vol. 9 No. 5 February 2006

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guide plate. Accordingly, with the magazine problem solved, the asking prices for
the Model 76 began to increase.
The newest submachine gun on the market is the product of Ohio Class 2 manufacturer, and no stranger to the Class 3 world,
Jim Burgess. Jim was a once a retail dealer
for John Stemples original line of submachine guns, and also manufactured suppressors for them.
Jims new creation has been designated
as the SW 76 (without the &). The SW
76 guns are manufactured from virgin tubes
that were originally registered by John
Stemple in 1986. Jim has enough parts and
receiver tubes to assemble 100 guns. Jim
said that he personally test fires each gun
that he builds to insure proper functioning
before shipping it off to the customer. All
of the parts of the SW 76 will interchange
with an original Smith & Wesson M76 except for the bolt. The bolt is not interchangeable due to the reorientation of the extractor and the Stemple receiver tubes have an
inside diameter that is slightly larger than
that of an original S&W M76, requiring two
sleeves that act as bearing surfaces to be
placed on the bolt to take up the extra space
inside the receiver.
A big question is; where in the world would
you find the part sets from the Smith &
Wesson Model 76? Original spare parts for
the gun just dont exist. The answer; from
semiautomatic copies of the Model 76.
During 2001 the Tactical Weapons Company of Arizona was engaged to manufacture the parts and receivers for a weapon
that would be marketed as the Omega 760
carbine, a semiautomatic-only copy of the
Smith & Wesson Model 76. Initial sales of
the Omega 760 were brisk but quickly
dropped off. The disappointing sales of the
Omega ultimately drove the decision to
cease production and the decision left a
number of parts that were never assembled
into guns. Jim was able to purchase 100 of
the surplus Omega 760 kits and convinced
Special Weapons to produce the full auto
bolts and the other parts he needed. The
company agreed, and the 9mm SW M76
was born. Special Weapons still have a lim-

Above: Bottom view of the SW 76 barrel retaining catch. The original Smith
& Wesson design was a straight bar. The redesigned curved catch is much
easier to depress and hold.

Above: Side view of an original Smith & Wesson Model 76 bolt (top) and a
bolt from the SW 76. Note the raised bearing surfaces on the lower bolt, and
the different extractor positions.

Left: Front view of the bolts clearly

shows the different extractor locations. An original Smith & Wesson
bolt is on the right, the SW 76 bolt
on the left. The repositioning of the
extractor increases its service life,
and provides a more positive extraction of spent cases.
The Small Arms Review Vol. 9 No. 5 February 2006

27

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ited number of new Omega 760 semiautomatic carbines as well as part sets available
for purchase.
One of the weakest areas of the original
Smith & Wesson Model 76 design was its
extractor, which will often fail after several
thousand rounds. One substantial improvement that was implemented into the design
of the SW 76 is the relocation of the extractor from the original 12 oclock position to
a 2 oclock position on the bolt. Relocating the extractor substantially reduces lateral stress on the extractor effectively extending its service life. The extractor was
also beefed-up for additional durability. The
trigger, magazine catch and sear are easily
serviced on SW 76, pivoting on removable
pins that are secured with E-clips. While
the sear on the original M76 is easily removable, the trigger and magazine catch are
semi-permanently riveted in place.
The SW 76 uses the same magazines as
the original Model 76 and, like the original, the plentiful Suomi magazine will fit
and function in the gun with some minor
fitting. The new SW 76 comes with instructions on altering the Suomi magazines.
Jim also has designed a suppressor specifically for his new SW 76. The powder
coated suppressor uses standard 9mm ammunition and is designed to reduce its velocity to subsonic speeds. The suppressor
will also fit and function on the Smith &
Wesson M76, the MK Arms MK760 and
the Southern Tool M76A1 guns.
I was able to get a first hand look and an
opportunity to test fire the SW 76 at a recent shoot in Ohio. The SW 76 is indeed a
dead ringer for the original M76. Jim
brought along several of his SW 76 submachine guns to the shoot and all worked perfectly. He also brought along his new suppressor. It, too, was quite impressive and
quiet even when firing standard super-sonic
9mm ammunition.

28

Left side view of

the SW 76. This
weapon has the optional black powder
coat finish.

Magazine markings. Note that the SW 76 logo that lacks

the & between the letters.

As mentioned earlier, the availability of

these guns is limited to 100 pieces , and this
is probably one of the last opportunit ies for
buyers to purchase a brand new design and
newly manufactured machine gun. Jim has
a CD available that has close-up views of
the SW 76 submachine gun, plus live-fire
demonstrations both with and without Jims
new suppressor. The CD even includes
complete assembly and disassembly procedures. The cost of the CD is $10.00 and is

The Small Arms Review Vol. 9 No. 5 February 2006

free to dealers that send in a copy of their

SOT. Dealer prices for the SW 76 and suppressors are available upon request.
For more information, visit Jims website
at; wwww.jmbdistribution.com. Email;
jburges@insight.rr.com
JMB Distribution
4291 Valley Quail S.
Westerville, Ohio 43081