Guns of the Decades - 1990s: Smith & Wesson 4006. A Gun Lost to Time

Welcome back to Guns of the Decades. In this article series, we pick a firearm and discuss its place in a particular decade. It's not supposed to be an all-encompassing record of the gun, it's just a fun read about a firearm you may have forgotten about. In today's article, the decade is the 1990s, and the firearm is the Smith & Wesson 4006.

Guns of the Decades @ TFB:

• Guns of the Decades - 1980s: SIG Sauer P226
• Guns of the Decades - 1970s: Smith & Wesson Model 29
• Guns of the Decades - 1960s: Colt 607 - Colt’s First AR-15 Carbine

The 90s were a pretty good decade. Rebellious teens wore Jinco jeans and listened to punk rock bands. Gas was still cheap. The idea of a fast food value menu was coming to fruition. Even in the late 90s, most people didn't have cell phones or the internet.

The 90s feels like just yesterday to most people who were alive in the era. It pains me to say how long ago the 90s were because I really don't want to believe the decade was over 25 years ago.

The Smith & Wesson Model 4006 is a gun from the 90s that most people have probably forgotten about, or maybe one that people just don't think about anymore. It is a double/single-action firearm, with a stainless steel slide and frame. It holds 11 rounds of .40 S&W, which was Smith & Wesson’s newest cartridge at the time. It has a slide-mounted safety and a magazine safety that prevents the user from being able to fire the weapon when the magazine is removed. The caliber and safety features were very indicative of the era.

Even if you've never heard of the 4006, you've probably seen 4006 - adjacent models in movies. In the movie “Training Day,” Detective Alonzo played by Denzel Washington carried twin 4506s, which were basically a 4006 in .45 ACP. In “Lethal Weapon 2, 3 and 4”, Detective Roger Murtaugh played by Danny Glover had a Smith & Wesson 5906, which was a 4006 in 9mm. The platform was incredibly popular in the period.

From what I've gathered, the first two digits in the firearm name denote the caliber, the third designates action, and the last digit denotes the frame material. The 40 (.40 caliber) 0 (double/ single action) 6 (stainless steel frame/slide) is a very heavy gun, but they did make a 4003 which featured a lighter-weight aluminum alloy frame.

In the 90s, hollow point bullet technology was not at the same level as it is today. Today, modern 9mm hollow points can rival heavier rounds like the .40 and .45 in terminal ballistics. Most people now lean towards 9mm ammo for self-defense. In the 90s, 9mm was considered a cartridge that couldn't match the stopping power of the .40 or .45. In fact, many law enforcement agencies tended to favor the .40 because it provided a good balance of capacity and stopping power. The 4006 was adopted by many troopers and patrolmen of the day. It was a very popular firearm. So was the 4006 a good choice?

The 4006 held 11 rounds of 40, whereas most 9mms of the day held around 15-17 rounds. The heavy-weight stainless steel frame most likely soaked up much of the increased recoil of the 40. I'd imagine I'd like shooting it, but wouldn't want to carry it every day. I think the 4006 would've been a great home defense, road rage defense, or weekend competition/ plinking pistol. Smith & Wesson is and was a well-known and reliable handgun manufacturer at the time, so I think it was a really good choice for a semi-auto in .40 S&W.

Ultimately, the 4006, and all metal-framed double/single action firearms had to compete with the new “Tupperware” pistols that were being imported. These new firearms were much lighter and had consistent striker-fired trigger pulls. Those who had to carry a firearm on their hip each day started to prefer the lighter weight that a polymer firearm could offer and started adopting the Glock. Decades later, the DA/SA metal-milled pistol has almost gone the way of the dodo. Heck, even Smith & Wesson themselves are now known for their spin on the striker-fired polymer pistol.

I have a soft spot for metal-framed handguns. They take more to manufacture and lead to a more balanced pistol in my opinion. Maybe polymer pistols are like fast food. They're there to feed the masses and feel good at the moment, but a well-made metal firearm is like a quality ribeye. I love my polymer pistols too and think they have additional pros like being lightweight, affordable, and corrosion resistant, but stainless steel is now an exotic firearm material. It’s rare to see a stainless steel pistol on the store shelves that's not a 1911, and when you do they're expensive.

In the past few years, Smith has started to make some of their once polymer firearms into metal-framed handguns, which I think is really cool. I don't have a need to carry a full-size firearm every day. I carry a micro-compact, but I like a full-sized handgun for home defense or when I'm on the road. I enjoy shooting a heavier frame gun. I'm optimistic their new metal series will be a great blend of both worlds, by adding a little weight and retaining all of the good design enhancements that S&W has made over the years.

So what do you think? Did you have a Smith & Wesson hammer-fired metal-framed gun back in the 90s? Was it a good pick for the day? Did you trade it in for a different model, or are you still holding out?

I want to give a big thanks to the guys at my local gun shop who allowed me to take photos of this 4006 to share here. I bet they probably haven't had anyone ask for a 4006 in years, and I was very surprised they had a 4006. Without those guys and their time, this article wouldn't have been possible.