The development of the cartridge was started by the famous American arms firm Smith & Wesson in 1986, commissioned by the FBI. The customer set a task to create a munition that would provide fairly accurate shooting, but would have more power than 9mm rounds. In addition, customers believed it was important to ensure that the bullet also produced a powerful stopping action when hit. In doing so, it was necessary to combine this with the minimum possible recoil.
A caliber of 0.40 inches (10.2 mm) was proposed for this purpose by an FBI employee.

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The designers went along this path, leaving the caliber 10.2 mm, as in 10 mm Auto, but reducing the length of the cartridges from 25.2 to 21.6 mm. The bullets in the new cartridge were the same as in the 10 mm Auto, although the FBI found it possible to use the lighter bullets as standard, reducing the bullet's desired weight from 13.6 to 12.24 grams and the initial bullet speed from 366 to 300 meters per second.

Considering these factors, the arms firm Smith & Wesson, together with the other largest American ammunition manufacturer Winchester-Olin, in 1989-1990 created a shorter 10x22 mm pistol cartridge. The new cartridge soon received the designation .40 S & W (Smith & Wesson), which was excellent for use in two-row magazine.
In the series the cartridge .40 S & W went in 1990. Almost simultaneously, Smith & Wesson began serial production of pistols for this munition. The new cartridge firmly took its place between the two "kings" - the European 9 mm Parabellum and the American .45 ACP.