Model 4006

The Smith & Wesson Model 4006 is a full-size semi-automatic pistol chambered in .40 S&W, part of Smith & Wesson’s third-generation semi-automatic pistol series that represented a significant improvement in design sophistication over the company’s earlier second-generation autos. Introduced in 1990 as one of the early offerings in the newly developed .40 S&W cartridge—a joint development between Smith & Wesson and Winchester—the Model 4006 was built as a duty pistol for law enforcement and professional use, featuring an all-stainless steel construction that provides exceptional corrosion resistance at the cost of additional weight.

The .40 S&W cartridge for which the 4006 is chambered was itself developed in direct response to the lessons of the 1986 FBI Miami shootout and the subsequent FBI ammunition testing program, which identified performance criteria that existing service cartridges did not fully meet. The .40 S&W was designed to deliver .41 Magnum-class ballistic performance in a cartridge that could be chambered in modified 9mm-size pistol frames, providing law enforcement with meaningfully improved terminal ballistics over 9mm without requiring the larger grip dimensions of .45 ACP.

The Model 4006’s double-action/single-action trigger system, positive magazine safety, and stainless steel construction made it a practical and durable law enforcement pistol, and it was adopted by numerous agencies during the period when the .40 S&W cartridge dominated law enforcement procurement. The 4006 was available in several configurations, including variants with traditional double-action triggers, double-action-only mechanisms for agencies that preferred consistent trigger pull, and de-cocking-only safeties.

Smith & Wesson’s third-generation pistols are collected as well-made examples of American service pistol design from the transitional period between the revolver era and the polymer-framed striker-fired pistol era that followed.