Thanks to the USA, along with The Late Great President Ronald Reagan and our powerful US Military and its build up in the 80's, resulting in bringing down the USSR communist block, Croatia became a democracy (footnote #2). The Croatians had the opportunity to make firearms, making a pistol in 1991, the one that started it all, the grandfather of our now beloved Springfield Armory XD series of pistols, The PHP.

The first Croatian handgun started it's production in 1991.The PHP model, which stands for Prvi Hrvatski Pivtolj (First Croatian Pistol), was a 9mm for use in Law Enforcement and the Croatian Military. The PHP was a crazy combination of a Beretta 92 and Walther P38. The PHP had a locking barrel and the Walther System of falling block as is also used on a Beretta 92. It was a double/single action pistol. The PHP's slide, frame, and smaller parts were milled out of solid blocks of steel. The PHP was made in three models: the Target, with a 6 inch barrel; the Service, with a 5 inch barrel; and the Compact, with a 4 inch barrel.. The most produced version was the Service model. The earlier models had a few issues with the magazines. This was fixed, however, by making them out of stronger materials and changing the follower Early in 1991 the war in Croatia(footnote#1) saw this weapon in action. Due to the quick manufacturing required by that war, quality became poor, and the PHP was only produced until 1994. In 1995, the pistol evolved to an HS95, which is Hrvatski Samokres(Croatian Pistol), again made in a 9mm. The biggest change was from a Walther falling block system to a Modified  Browning locking system. Smoother lines than the previous PHP had it looking very SIG-Sauer like. IM Metal was now utilizing a battle proven pistol design without any patent infringements. The HS95 was made entirely of investment casting(except the frame), costing less and less time to make. The early versions of the HS95 had reinforced ejection port lower parts that were latter dropped as the slide was adequate without them in testing. The HS95’s cool, newer features were that THIS pistol was fully ambidextrous; the slide release /decocking lever and the mag release button were on both sides of the HS95. Other new features were automatic firing pin safety, synthetic grip panels, and oversized trigger guard, leaving only two carryovers from the PHP; The disassembly lever was on the left side of the frame, and a cold hammer forged barrel. The sights were adjustable and then changed to classic dove tail bar/dot . This pistol was also utilized by Croatian Law Enforcement and the Military.

  Heckler&Koch(not Glock) pioneered the use of plastics in guns in the unique VP70 by the great HK engineer Helmut Weldel in 1968. This was the first polymer-framed pistol. In the 1980's Gaston Glock developed the well accepted Glock series of handguns.

  IM Metal of Croatia made it's first prototypes of their polymer (BASF-based ultramyed 66 material) pistol in 1998, again a 9mm. Advanced CAM/CAD machines helped bring design from paper to mass production quickly. The first models had plastic rails with a steel locking block in front, leaving the rear slide rails as polymer. The front rails were an integral part of the steel locking block. The main idea of IM Metal was KISS ( keep it simple stupid). The HS2000 had a mag release button, disassembly lever, and slide release, thus keeping it simple in looks like a SIG, Glock and 1911.

The mags were the same ones as in the PHP and the HS 95; made of steel, holding 15 rounds with holes in the back marked 5, 10, 15. The mag floorplates were made of the same polymer. Like the HS95, the HS2000's slide was made of investment casting. The slide has a firing/striker pin assembly, automatic firing pin safety, and shielded extractor. The sights were dot /bar with the ability to get night sights. Later they made a three dot system (again an HK design first on the P7 series, another Helmut Weldel design). On the HS2000 the ejection port was lowered and widened to prevent FTE and stovepipes, again using a Modified Browning Tilting barrel system. The barrel was fully supported by the slide (very un Glock-like KABOOM). Bohler, an Austrian barrel manufacturer (one of Europe’s finest) utilizes 2 inch bars that are cold hammer forged and rifled to the final shape of the HS2000 barrel. The barrel is made in a two part assembly, with the barrel and a rear reinforced head "hot" joined together and even secured with a pin. All barrels must pass a pressure, accuracy and quality test.

The recoil spring is a dual telescoping type (like a G27,G26 pioneered in early 90's by HK USP series). This buffer type system reduces stress on the HS2000 and shooter perceived recoil. The SA trigger is a single action, and is similar to a Browning model 10. The falling sear is engaged with the firing pin/striker so when you pull the trigger the sear slides down and disengages the firing pin. The grip safety ala 1911 Colt is a great idea in a polymer handgun. If you do not grip the pistol firmly the trigger is not in an activated position, rendering the pistol useless. Thus you won’t blow a hole in your car if you reholster and the trigger snags clothes (ala Glock). The safety blocks slide movement and also blocks the sear to prevent accidental discharge if the HS2000 is dropped. SAFETY BABY. Super easy field striping: First check that the chamber is unloaded. Then double check that the chamber is unloaded. Remove the mag, lock the slide to the rear, flip the SIG-like breakdown lever up, press the slide stop, making slide go forward, pull the trigger and the slide will come off. Remove the recoil spring and barrel for cleaning. To reassemble reverse the order.

Sources: 

Small Arms Reviews May 2001,The Croation Service Pistols BY Jani Kotnik

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 Footnotes:

(1) The Croatian War of Independence was a war in Croatia from 1991 to 1995. Initially, the war was between Croatia and the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA). Later, the conflict turned into fighting between the armed forces of the newly-independent Croatia and the rebelling Serb minority, who proclaimed an autonomous Republic of Serb Krajina. The Serbs were supported by the Yugoslavian National Army and Belgrade. The Croatian side aimed to establish sovereignty for the Republic of Croatia, previously a federal unit in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Croatia's rebelling Serbs had wanted to remain a part of Yugoslavia, effectively seeking new boundaries in those parts of Croatia with a Serb majority or significant minority. The war was striking for its brutality and intensity.

 (2) Since the adoption of the 1990 Constitution, Croatia has been a democratic republic. Between 1990 and 2000 it had a semi-presidential system, and since 2000 it has a parliamentary system.

The President of the Republic (Predsjednik) is the head of state, directly elected to a five-year term and is limited by the Constitution to a maximum of two terms. In addition to being the commander in chief of the armed forces, the president has the procedural duty of appointing the Prime minister with the consent of the Parliament, and has some influence on foreign policy. His official residence is Predsjednički dvori.

The Croatian Parliament (Sabor) is a unicameral legislative body (a second chamber, the "House of Counties", which was set up by the Constitution of 1990, was abolished in 2001^[2]). The number of the Sabor's members can vary from 100 to 160; they are all elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms. The plenary sessions of the Sabor take place from January 15 to July 15, and from September 15 to December 15.

The Croatian Government (Vlada) is headed by the Prime minister who has two deputy prime ministers and fourteen ministers in charge of particular sectors of activity. The executive branch is responsible for proposing legislation and a budget, executing the laws, and guiding the foreign and internal policies of the republic. Government's official residence is at Banski dvori.

Croatia has a three-tiered judicial system, consisting of the Supreme Court, county courts, and municipal courts. The Constitutional Court rules on matters regarding the Constitution