Description
Few firearms capture the spirit of early Performance Center experimentation quite like this remarkable Smith & Wesson Prototype Model 4006 Performance Center Special, built specifically for champion shooter Judy Woolley during the formative years of Smith & Wesson’s elite custom shop.
Established in 1990, the Smith & Wesson Performance Center was created to design and build highly specialized firearms for competitive shooters and professionals who required precision beyond standard production models. This prototype represents one of those early efforts—an advanced competition pistol tailored for the fast-paced demands of Steel Challenge competition in the early 1990s.
According to factory historical documentation from the Smith & Wesson Historical Foundation, this pistol was shipped directly to Judy Woolley on February 7, 1992, as a special Performance Center production model. Built on the robust Model 4006 platform, the pistol features extensive modifications designed specifically for competitive shooting.
The pistol is fitted with a 5-inch barrel equipped with a Schuemann Hybrid compensator, an advanced design that dramatically reduces muzzle rise and improves recovery between shots. The slide and frame wear a satin stainless finish, while the action was carefully tuned by the Performance Center to deliver an exceptionally smooth trigger in both single- and double-action, an essential feature for top-level competition.
One of the most striking elements of this prototype is its period competition optic system. A B-Square steel mount securely positions a Tasco ProPoint red dot sight above the slide, representing one of the early red-dot competition configurations used during the rise of optical sights in action shooting sports. Today, this setup stands as a fascinating snapshot of early race-gun engineering.
The overall configuration reflects the experimental spirit of early Performance Center builds, when Smith & Wesson engineers worked closely with elite shooters to push the boundaries of performance handgun design.
Firearms directly associated with prominent competitive shooters are rarely encountered, and examples from the early Performance Center era are especially scarce. As a documented pistol built for Steel Challenge competition and shipped directly to Judy Woolley, this prototype represents an exceptional piece of Smith & Wesson competition history.
For collectors of Performance Center prototypes, competition firearms, or historically significant Smith & Wesson pistols, this extraordinary handgun stands as both a technical artifact and a tangible link to the evolution of modern action shooting.
