When Wayne Daniels took over control of RPB in 1978, he introduced a semiautomatic pistol version of the iconic MAC submachine gun. Called the “SAP” (Semi Automatic Pistol), there were three versions; .380, 9mm, and .45. They fired form an open bolt, and were virtually identical to the full auto type, but with a permanently engaged semiautomatic disconnector. The ATF approved this design in 1978, and then reneged and reclassified the design as a machine gun in 1982 after a lot of people made some…changes to them. The existing open-bolt semiautomatic guns were grandfathered in, but new production examples were required to be registered.
Given the $200 tax on what was still a sub-$200 gun, this totally squashed the market for RPB. Daniels brought in a designer (Max Atchisson) to come up with a closed-bolt semiautomatic MAC, and re-formed the company as SWD (his and his wife’s initials; Sylvia Wayne Daniels) to produce that design.
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