HS Produkt d.o.o. is a Croatian firearms manufacturing company, best known for design and production of the HS2000 and XDM series of

semi-automatic pistol A semi-automatic pistol is a type of repeating single-chamber handgun ( pistol) that automatically cycles its action to insert the subsequent cartridge into the chamber (self-loading), but requires manual actuation of the trigger to actu ...

s, which are sold in the United States market by

Springfield Armory, Inc. Springfield Armory, Inc., is an American commercial firearms manufacturer and importer based in Geneseo, Illinois. Founded in 1974 by Bob Reese and family, the company produces rifles such as the M1A and imports handguns such as the XD seri ...

, under their XD, XD-S, XD-M, and Hellcat brandings.

History

HS Produkt was founded as IM Metal in 1991, after the first democratic election in the Republic of Croatia. Since company founding its headquarters was situated in the town of Ozalj, Croatia, about 50 kilometers southwest of the capital

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

, and its manufacturing facility was relocated to

Karlovac Karlovac () is a city in central Croatia. According to the 2011 census, its population was 55,705. Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County. The city is located on the Zagreb-Rijeka highway and railway line, south-west of Zagre ...

in 2000. At the beginning of 2001, following the success of the HS2000 pistols on the world market, the company changed its name to HS Produkt. HS Produkt's current production facility produces about 30,000 pistols per month with a trend of continued growth; ninety percent of production is exported to the United States. The number of employees rose from around 80 in 2000 to nearly 1000 in 2007, making HS Produkt the leading employer in

Karlovac County Karlovac County ( hr, Karlovačka županija) is a county in central Croatia, with the administrative center in Karlovac. The city of Karlovac is a fort from the times of the Military Frontier. It was built as a six-side star fort in the 16th c ...

. Founders and co-owners of HS Produkt, Ivan Žabčić and Marko Vuković, are both mechanical engineers; Vuković is the chief designer behind most of the company's products. Vuković also has combat experience as a veteran of the

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yug ...

, in which he was wounded twice. HS Produkt is in 2016, one of the suppliers competing for the replacement of French army rifles alongside manufacturers such as Beretta (Italy), FN Herstal (Belgium), Swiss Arms (Switzerland) and Heckler & Koch (Germany).

Products

Early products

* PHP (Prvi Hrvatski Pištolj), a semi-automatic pistol, manufactured from 1991 to 1994 was the company's first design. It was based on Walther P38, with some features common with

Beretta 92 The Beretta 92 (also Beretta 96 and Beretta 98) is a series of semi-automatic pistols designed and manufactured by Beretta of Italy. The Beretta 92 was designed in 1975, and production began in 1976. Many variants in several different calibers ...

. * HS95 (''Hrvatski Samokres 95'') was the second handgun model, described as an unlicensed copy of the

SIG Sauer P226 Sig used as a name may refer to: *Sig (given name) *Sig, Algeria, a city on the banks of the Sig River *Sig Alert, an alert for traffic congestion in California, named after Loyd Sigmon *Sig River, a river of Algeria also known as Mekerra sig (lo ...

with some original external features. These early all-metal pistols were considered solid designs, but were plagued by quality issues due in large part to the difficulties of manufacturing during wartime.

HS2000 pistol

The company's most successful product, the HS2000 (''Hrvatski Samokres 2000'') polymer-framed semi-automatic pistol, was HS Produkt's third pistol in a series developed on the basis of experience gained during the

. It was introduced in 1999. It is marketed in the US by

as the XD (eXtreme Duty) series. The pistol is the standard sidearm of the Croatian Armed Forces and Police. It has attained a niche of its own on the world market; , more than 500,000 pistols have been sold in the US, where it is popular both with law enforcement and the country's civilian market.

Hellcat pistol

This micro-compact polymer-framed semi-automatic pistol is produced by HS Produkt and marketed by Springfield Armory, Inc., as the Hellcat. Its original name is HS Produkt H11. It was designed as a

concealed carry Concealed carry, or carrying a concealed weapon (CCW), is the practice of carrying a weapon (usually a sidearm such as a handgun), either in proximity to or on one's person or in public places in a manner that hides or conceals the weapon's pr ...

weapon, similar to SIG Sauer P365.

VHS assault rifle

VHS assault rifle is a 5.56×45mm NATO

bullpup A bullpup firearm is one with its firing grip located in front of the breech of the weapon, instead of behind it. This creates a weapon with a shorter overall length for a given barrel length, and one that is often lighter, more compact, conce ...

select-fire Selective fire is the capability of a weapon to be adjusted to fire in semi-automatic, fully automatic, and/or burst mode. The modes are chosen by means of a selector switch, which varies depending on the weapon's design. Some selective-fire w ...

weapon that was first introduced at the 2007 iKA, the annual Croatian innovation display that takes place in the city of

. The development was carried on following a request of the Croatian Army for a new infantry rifle to update the individual equipment to NATO standards. On 19 November 2007, the Croatian Ministry of Defence placed an order for an experimental batch of 50 rifles to be tested by the Croatian contingent currently deployed in Afghanistan within the

ISAF ' ps, کمک او همکاري ' , allies = Afghanistan , opponents = Taliban Al-Qaeda , commander1 = , commander1_label = Commander , commander2 = , commander2_label = , commander3 = , command ...

. Full-scale production began towards the end of 2008, when field testing completed. Other nations, including Kuwait and Venezuela have shown interest in acquiring the rifle. On 12 May 2009, the Croatian Minister of Defence Branko Vukelić confirmed the positive end of a

torture test Stress testing (sometimes called torture testing) is a form of deliberately intense or thorough testing used to determine the stability of a given system, critical infrastructure or entity. It involves testing beyond normal operational capacity, ...

over the rifle and on 15 May officially signed a contract with HS Produkt for the acquisition of 20,000 rifle kits (both versions) for a medium price of 14,503 Croatian kunas each (as of December 8, 2018, approximately 2233.70 USD or 1961.52 EUR). A new and improved version of the VHS rifle, known as the VHS-2, was introduced in April 2013. It introduced a new, more conventional fire selector, a redesigned carrying handle, an adjustable-length buttstock, and an ambidextrous cartridge casings ejection system that can be configured for either right or left side ejection in less than a minute. Both rifles come in two barrel lengths designated as D (long) and K (

carbine A carbine ( or ) is a long gun that has a barrel shortened from its original length. Most modern carbines are rifles that are compact versions of a longer rifle or are rifles chambered for less powerful cartridges. The smaller size and lighte ...

) variants. Both rifles can be equipped with 40x46mm VHS-BG

grenade launcher A grenade launcher is a weapon that fires a specially-designed large-caliber projectile, often with an explosive, smoke or gas warhead. Today, the term generally refers to a class of dedicated firearms firing unitary grenade cartridges. The mo ...

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hs Produkt Manufacturing companies established in 1991 Firearm manufacturers of Croatia Privately held companies Karlovac County Croatian brands Croatian companies established in 1991