HS2000: The Perfected Croatian Pistol that Became the Springfield XD

Cool Forgotten Weapons merch! With the HS95, Croatian manufacturer IM Metal (later to become HS Produkt) had learned how to effectively manufacture a good pistol. However, the design had some shortcomings and had not been accepted by Croatian police forces, nor had any commercial export contracts materialized. The company recognized that the way of the future was polymer framed, striker-fired pistols - so they set out to create just that. Working with a variety of military and technical experts, they developed the processes to manufacture a polymer frame of the requisite strength and durability for a handgun. Mated with a simple-but-effective slide assembly, the HS2000 was born. The development began in 1998, the first pistols were made in 1999, and mass production was underway by 2000. The guns were adopted by Croatia