I don't recall that it was Smith that screwed up all the other products, rather it was the Bangor Punta group that had taken over Smith, SCamper Camper, Brunswick, Alcan, Harley, plus a leather company, a plastics company and a shotgun manufacturer. 70s, we had a check of a time getting anything good from S&W plus we had, as dealers, to buy "related" carp to get it from the distributors.
That said, I'm not pleased with either their or TC's service in recent years.