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 pistols, which are sold in the United States market by Springfield Armory, Inc., under their XD, XD-S, XD-M, Echelon 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, and its manufacturing facility was relocated to Karlovac 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.
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, 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
Krešimir, a semi-automatic grenade launcher manufactured in 1991 used a 5-round magazine of M50 hand grenades with percussion fuses. A second magazine held 7.62x39mm grenade-launching blank cartridges. It was named upon king Peter Krešimir IV of Croatia. ALKA M-93, a 9x19mm submachine gun manufactured from 1994 to 1995. The weapon had a lightweight bolt with a short travel, which allowed for a very high rate of fire (1200 RPM).
PHP (Prvi Hrvatski Pištolj), a semi-automatic pistol, manufactured from 1991 to 1994 was the company's first pistol design. It was based on Walther P38, with some features common with Beretta 92.
HS95 (Hrvatski Samokres 95) was the second handgun model, described as an unlicensed copy of the SIG Sauer P226 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.
RHS revolver designed by Hrvoje Rapić was chambered in 9x19mm pistol ammunition, serial production was planned for 2013.
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 Croatian War of Independence. It was introduced in 1999. It is marketed in the US by Springfield Armory, Inc. 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 international name is HS Produkt H11. It was designed as a concealed carry weapon, similar to SIG Sauer P365.
Echelon pistol
In an effort to appeal to new military and police tenders as well as introduce a forward-looking new design, the company has brought out a pistol based on a serialized chassis like that of the SIG Sauer P365 and P320. The Echelon is a full-size gun that has a modular, self-contained fire-control chassis that is removable for cleaning and maintenance.
VHS assault rifle
VHS assault rifle is a 5.56×45mm NATO bullpup select-fire weapon that was first introduced at the 2007 iKA, the annual Croatian innovation display that takes place in the city of Karlovac. 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.