SMITH & WESSON Gun Values

SMITH & WESSON

In 1965, Smith & Wesson was purchased from the Wesson family by the conglomerate Bangor Punta. A major diversification program led to the in-house design of an airgun line. With the aid of a former Crosman engineer, four airgun models were developed: pistol Models 78G, 79G, and rifle Models 77A and 80G ("A" for "air"; "G" for "gas"). The Model 77A was a .22-caliber pump pneumatic pellet rifle with a less-than-sleek wood stock and forearm-pump lever. The Model 78G was a single-shot .22 caliber pellet pistol designed to resemble the popular Smith & Wesson Model 41 target automatic. The Model 79G was the .177 caliber version. Both had adjustable rear sights and power. Early versions had adjustable triggers (for sear engagement), later models had non-adjustable trigger mechanisms. A few problems included gas leakage through porous frame castings.
Smith & Wesson´s Air Gun Division introduced their fourth and final model in 1972, the Model 80G rifle. It was designed by Roger Curran, formerly with Remington. This autoloader fired .175 caliber BBs from a tubular magazine below the barrel. In 1973, the Air Gun Division moved from Tampa, FL to Springfield, MA, so some early Model 80G rifles are marked with a Florida address, as are some Model 77A rifles.
In 1978, the Air Gun Division returned to Florida in a part of the former Westinghouse complex and the Model 77A was dropped. Due to changing from a sprayed paint finish to a baked powder-coat finish, Springfield production pistols have a duller, more uniform finish than earlier production. Also around this time, Curran began to develop a CO₂ pellet revolver, although Smith & Wesson was not destined to complete development of this model.
Around 1980, Bangor Punta decided that Smith & Wesson should concentrate more on its core handgun business. The Air Gun Division was sold to Daisy. Daisy renamed the Smith & Wesson Models 78G and 79G as the Daisy Powerline Models 780 and 790. A nickel-plated model .177 caliber version was introduced as the Power Line Model 41– in honor of the original Smith & Wesson Model 41 firearm.
Smith & Wesson again entered the airgun field in 1999, when they introduced two models made for them by Umarex of Germany: the .177 caliber 10 shot CO₂ pellet revolvers, Models 586 and 686. These were close copies of the .357 Magnum Smith & Wesson revolvers bearing the same numbers.
For more information and current pricing on both new and used Smith & Wesson firearms, please refer to the Blue Book of Gun Values (also available online).

Current manufacturer of firearms located in Springfield, MA. S&W Airguns are currently imported and distributed by Umarex USA, located in Fort Smith, AR beginning 2006.