I’ve done the 1976 program a few times. In fact, I did it recently. It works as planned. I don’t think it’s magical though. It is the foundation of Fred Hatfield’s 80 days powerlifting cycle (Fred visited the USSR and adapted such a cycle to a full 9-10 weeks powerlifting program. Hatfield squatted 1014lbs at 45 years of age in competition), which is what gave me my first 500lbs deadlift and 405lbs squat when I was 17 (maybe 18, it was a long time ago).
And that Hatfield program is itself the foundation of my own 915 program (which you can find on T-nation) and The Power Look program (also on T-nation).