On the Midway USA site, some spare parts are listed for the S&W "1006" and some for the S&W "1006 R3".

Are these two names for the same model? If not, how does the R3 differ from other 1006s? Were there "R1" and "R2" variants?

Best I can find is that the barrel hood will be different on an "R3".  The entire S&W third generation line went through several revisions, but I don't know how many of these impacted the 10XX guns.

Shadow may have more information as the resident 10XX junkie

Yeah, Shadow would be your man........but he's a little preoccupied with Issac.

The 1006's only differences were fixed sites and adjustible sights (the slides are cut different for each type of sight).  They made a change in the grips, this was suppose to help should the gun be dropped at a particular angle the grip might crack and allow the main spring to unseat and render the gun un functional.   In the last production runs they used some MIM parts which were black in color, like triggers and hammers.  None of these were a particular revision that I know of...Some parts will cross over from the 40xx & 45xx series.  Numrich Gun Parts has some info as to what fits which!
http://www.gunpartscorp.com/

Could you be more specific as to the parts you are refering to?

There was a revision/change of the magazine followers from the yellow ones to the white ones, however this was done to improve reliability of feeding.  Myself and others have had no issues with any of my magazines feeding with either yellow or white followers shooting 10mm's.  I also tested both using the 40S&W's & 9x25Dillon's using my conversion barrels.

Yes been doing plenty clean up since the storm!

All I can find is a reference to a 1006 R3 barrel.  Google-foo finds a few conversations about the barrel hood being different.

I would assume if you knew which was the larger hood, you could by that.  If it didn't fit, you could file it.

The barrel hoods for the 10mm remained the same, however the 45xx series did have changes to the width of the barrel hood.

The new barrels' hoods are cut slightly longer to allow for proper fitting to the slide to compensate for variations or wear if noted.

I realize this thread is ancient history but as our model 1006's begin to wear this will be asked again, and there is still no good responses when googled. Just got mine back after a 9 month wait from Smith, a bunch of replacement parts for sure were needed. I figured a new barrel and I'll almost have a new weapon lol. So I sent Smith and Wesson CS an email and ask the difference between the 2 barrels that Midway USA has listed and several days later I received a response and is as follows: In terms of getting a barrel for a 1006 the only barrel that is available is the current version of the barrel, our item #236060000, which is currently available from us. If you would like to order please call 800-331-0852 ext. 4125. I did a search on this part number on Midway USA's site and it comes up with the S&W 1006 R 3. I hope this helps. I'll be ordering mine next Monday from S&W directly so if it doesn't fit I can at least get my money back. I presently own a 1006 fixed Novak Sight Smith TFJ 12XX. I'll follow up whenever it comes in and post here and on Midways site. If any googles this question again it can be clarified. Hope this helps someone. Oh I forgot, new to forum but have read it for years...great stuff here, ty.

Welcome aboard, Mac.

Macdan27, Welcome to the forum!  Most of the S&W10xx guns may not have been shot a whole bunch although those that were active duty guns could have been used more.  That may have been the issue with yours showing some wear.

The "new barrel hoods" maybe cut wider (this would allow it to be better centered) and slightly longer (trimmed to allow least amount of end play for lockup into the slide) to allow them to be fit to the slide in order to allow the best fit.  The area under the barrel where it rides on top of the slide stop pin may also need to be lightly stoned to make it fit properly for best lock up.  These are the things I had to do to my Bar-Sto 40S&W and 9x25Dillon conversion barrels to fit them to my slide.

Good luck with getting things to fit and work right. (take your time (you or your gunsmith), removing small amounts and testing the fit)

Thanks for the welcome 49 and Shadow. I'm glad I took the plunge and finally registered here. Shadow I appreciate the tips on possibly needing to stone certain parts of my barrel hood and underneath  barrel lock up lugs when it gets here. I will compare the original and new side barrel closely. I have a medium square stone on the way. I ordered the barrel..1006 R3 from Smith CS yesterday, their about 125.00 atm and said to take about 4 weeks to be delivered. Doesn't appear I could get a another guide rod so hope the aluminum one it has though well worn worn will hold up for me.

Mac welcome to the forum, good to have you aboard.

Just received an R3 barrel from S&W. Took about 30 days to ship. Cost with shipping about $170( ouch). It took about 15 min. to fit. Works just
fine. It turns out the only thing wrong with the original barrel is that it needed more cleaning. If you need a new barrel order it from Midway for about $105 when they finally receive them.

Dave