I remember thinking in the 1980s that the 10mm would be the cartridge of the future. Of course, it didn't turn out that way, and it is only a niche cartridge today. I think the 10mm story is very interesting, and S&W's 10xx pistols are a small part of the story.

The 10mm Auto was introduced by Dornaus & Dixon in the Bren Ten around 1984. The company produced a relatively small number of these pistols before going out of business. Colt resurected the 10mm cartridge by placing it in the Delta Elite around 1987. Colt's introduction of the Delta Elite probably saved the 10mm Auto from oblivion.

As noted above, the FBI was seeking a new pistol for agents after the Miami shootout in 1986. The 10mm cartridge was more powerful than the 9mms in use, and met the FBI test protocols. The 10mm Auto also was "different" and this probably played a role in the adoption of the pistol cartridge by the FBI - it offered the FBI a chance to take a leading role in police firearms issues by adopting both a new cartridge and a new pistol.

S&W followed Colt's Delta Elite lead and offered a variety of 10xx 3d Generation pistols. The 1006 is derived from the 4506, and S&W was attempting to capitalize on the popular interest in the 10mm Auto after the FBI's endorsement of the round.

The 1006 wasn't an enduring or popular pistol. S&W dropped the 1006 in 1992. From memory, I believe the 1006 was only in production for two years.

The introduction of the 4006 in 1990, shooting ammunition equivalent to the downloaded 10mm Auto, made the larger 1006 with it lower magazine capacity uncompetitive as a service pistol.

This page has some excellent links to articles from 1990 and 1991. Charles Petty's 1990 article in Shooting Times Handgun quarterly is especially interesting.

Ronald Carillo's BREN TEN: The Heir Apparent is an excellent book on the Bren Ten pistol.