HS America

**Gun Test**
New HS2000 9mm
Guns & Weapons for Law Enforcement June 2000
Newest European service pistol boasts several innovations By Wiley Clapp A beavertail sap is an ulovely device to be sure. But when it's close combat at ultra short range and lethal force is not appropriate, the ugly old sap gets downright gorgeous in its ability to resolve conflict. It is a plain working tool that legions of old-time coppers came to respect in the same way a carpenter does a framing hammer. But what does this have to do with a new pistol that's being written up in a gun magazine? Not a lot, but I would really like to see the reader remember some things as he reads my description of the gun. This one is a tool-a tool for fighting for your life at close range. Yes, I assure you, never will one be found at Camp Perry. The new HS2000 is a service pistol designed for close combat. Gun Details Imported by HS America of Knoxville, TN, the HS2000 is a mid-to-large-sized 9mm pistol. It's 5.76 inches high by 7.2 inches long, with a 4.02-inch barrel. The company's small advertising pamphlet provides a piece of information we don't often see. The gun weighs 32.03 ounces when loaded full with a 15-round LE magazine. Empty, it runs to 22.88 ounces. The company literature also tells us the HS2000 will be available in .40 S&W, as well as 9mm Luger (which was the chambering of our single sample pistol). A .357 SIG version is also to be offered. Presumably, the .40 and .357 pistols will have magazines in the capacity range of 10 to 12 shots. Like nearly all of the other automatic pistols that fire high performance cartridges, the HS2000 has a breech locking system that works on the proven Browning system of short recoil. A barrel that tilts down at the rear is the key to making this gun work. As the slide recoils after firing a shot, a lug on the lower rear corner of the barrel encounters a cam surface in the receiver. This contact works in such a way as to force the rear of the barrel downward, causing it to unlock from the slide. The locking is like the system pioneered by SigSauer. A large squared breech end of the barrel indexes into the ejection port of the slide. In the rearward cycle after the pistol fires, the other side of the locking cam forces the barrel out of battery and allows the slide to continue to the rear for extraction, etc.The HS2000 is entirely typical of many other pistols in its operating system, although I have the impression the gun is particularly robust in the quality and strength of the various major parts. But it is a pistol with the style of a long sequence of modern autos. GLOCK is unquestionably the pioneer in the design, production and distribution of polymer frame/steel upper pistols with simplified trigger systems and high-capacity magazines. Since 1985, one pistol company after another has come up with new and different ways to wrap an effective pistol into these design parameters. A DAO trigger system is not really a new concept. It was used on pistols made in the first decade of the 20th Century and it makes the operations of the HS2000 admirably simple. For various reasons, the DAO trigger never got the respect it was due, and that will doubtless be true of the HS2000. Like other late 20th Century pistols, the Croation import has such a double-action only trigger. Most of the better ones have this kind of trigger system, which uses the inertia of the moving slide to partly cock the striker. As the slide recoils and returns to battery, the pistol's lockwork catches the striker just a little short of a fully cocked position. If remains for the trigger to pull the striker to a fully loaded (cocked) position when the shooter presses it to fire. Since trigger pressure accomplishes two functions-(1) fully cock the striker, then (2) release same to fire- it is accurately described as a double-action only (DAO) trigger. The moving slide has done a big part of the automatic functioning of the gun by using unavoidable slide movement to partially cock the striker. This has the effect of permitting a trigger pull that goes through a short arc with fairly light (4-6 pounds) pressure. It bears little resemblance to the long, smooth trigger action of a modern DA/SA revolver. In the HS2000 sample gun, the trigger arc is minimal and the pressure seems to be approximately 5 pounds. For a gun intended for crisis resolution, it's a good idea. Some critics are vocal about what they perceive as a disadvantage to this kind of DAO trigger system. If you attempt to fire the HS2000 and get a "click"-the loudest click you ever heard-instead of the "bang" you wanted, the pre-cocked striker is now all the way forward. To recock the striker, you must rack the slide manually. Unlike some of the early "Wondernine" pistols, you cannot simply pull the trigger a second time. But I have to point out that all of the better shooting schools teach their students that if they get the dreaded click, the answer is a drill so common that it has its own name and even a abbreviation. It's the Tap, Rack, Bang (TRB) drill, where the shooter instantly taps the bottom of the magazine, racks the slide and attempts another shot. This is the drill for any automatic pistol. The overwhelming reason why the shooter gets the click is because the magazine is not fully seated. A so-called second-strike capability has no relevance to real world combat shooting. The HS2000 goes merrily on its way without this feature and is an effective combat pistol. Part of the reason for the HS2000 effectiveness is the shape of the gun. Some unknown designer worked out some functional and attractive contours for this pistol. There is a deep pocket for the web of the hand. The pocket at the high rear of the grip positions the hand so the trigger finger actually goes downward at a slant to the trigger. This gives the trigger finger improved leverage to work the DAO trigger system. There's also a thumb rest, a shallow oval-shaped depression, on each side of the gun. Front and back straps have larger panels of coarse checkering molded right in. Just below the trigger guard, the designers included a rounded recess that enables the shooter to get his longest finger a bit higher on the grip and control the recoil a bit better. The front face of the trigger guard has a hook and some lateral serrations molded in. Except for the panels of checkering, every bit of the pistol's receiver is an attractive and even crackle surface. The slide has the squarish, blocky contours of typical contemporary autos. It's made of milled steel appropriately heat treated and finished in a "Bruninal" tactical black color. It appears the grasping serrations at the rear of the slide were milled in place. Since the slide cross-section is stepped on each side, the serrations are actually two panels for each. Although I have never understood the need for high-speed takedown procedure, the HS2000 has on that's about as fast as you can get. To field strip the gun, drop the magazine, lock the slide back and ensure magazine well and chamber are clear of all ammunition. Then turn the takedown lever on the left side of the frame about 90 degrees upward. Apply pressure to the trigger, press the slide lock down and pull the barrel/slide unit off the receiver to the front. Don't attempt to further disaasemble the receiver, but remove the dual spring recoil and guide from an inverted slide, and then lift the barrel free. This is as far as you need to go for routine maintenance. But while the gun is disassembled, take a look at the innards. Note the heavy, thick sheet steel parts in the trigger mechanism. Two pair of right and left slide rails control the fore and aft movement of the slide. Also note the thick polymer in the dust cover area. There's no way this one will bend under stress of an attached light, as some pistols have already done. This is a strong, sturdy pistol. Four Safeties You may recall that I made my intial case for the HS2000 as a pistol well suited for close range fighting. Understanding that premise means taking a closer look at the handling features and controls. Handling the HS2000 is simplicity itself-load athe pistol, pull the trigger and it fires. There are no conditions of readiness or intermediate controls to manage. Pull the trigger and it fires. There are four safeties that are passive, in that nothing more than a firm and proper grip is required for the pistol to shoot. Believe it or not, the HS2000 has a grip safety that blocks trigger movement, even when the striker is pre-cocked. This is a feature almost never seen on a new pistol design these days, but it works as well as it did in 1911. There's also a trigger safety that most of us first saw on the Glock 17, but actually dates back to DAO ("hammerless") revolvers made in the 1880s. A curved lever on the face of the trigger, this one keeps the trigger from moving util the shooter presses it in and it clears the frame of the pistol. Like almost all modern pistols there's a firing pin safety where the striker is prevented from moving unless the trigger is pressed. And finally, the Croatian designers count the disconnector as a safety. It prevents out-of-battery firing and if you have ever had this happen ( I have), you will appreciate it very much. The slide must be fully in battery, and if it is not, the safety prevents firing. There is no manual safety, nor is there any need for one. If you can imagine some kind of giant bandsaw, consider what you would have if you sliced the HS2000 in two, cutting along the centerline of the pistol from butt to muzzle. Obviously, two halves result, but careful examination shows something interesting. For operational usage, the right side of the HS2000 is the same as the left side. For all practical the HS2000 is ambidextrous. That's a major advantage the closer you get to your adversary. If you are forced to shift hands because you are fending off a close attack, it's good to know you can perform every tactical operation neccessary with either hand. Consider checking the pistol's state of readiness. At the top dead center rear of the pistol's ejection port, there's a small block of steel that projects up when there is a cartridge in the chamber. Also, look at the rear face of the slide, where a pin sticks out when the striker is cocked. With one sweep of the non-shooting hand, a shooter can determine if he's got a round up the spout and whether the action is set to fire. The same is true when it comes to changing magazines. Inward pressure on the magazine catch from either side will drop the magazine free from the gun, allowing a speed magazine change. We first found an ambi magazine catch on the original Walther P88 and a few other guns, but I can't really understand why it isn't on everything. Some right-handed handgunners prefer to use the tip of their trigger finger to press in from the right side. Portsiders now have the same options. I don't claim that the gun is bilaterally symmetrical, only that the important tactical functions are set up for ambidextrous use. The takedown lever is on the left side and so is the slide lock. In the case of a feedway malfunction, the slide lock becomes a tactical control (rip out the magazine, work the slide three times, lock the slide back, insert and tap a new magazine, rack the slide and fire). With good ammunition and a properly maintained pistol, such a jam is rare, but the southpaw is in a little trouble. If all of the forgoing careful attention to the tactical operation of the HS2000 were not enough, consider on more feature of the gun. The recoil spring is a dual spring system mounted on a fixed guide rod. The rod is set to project forward from the front face of the slide just a small fraction of an inch. this is a standoff device that prevents a close-in attacker from pushing the slide of you pistol back and out of battery, rendering it incapable of firing. It should be obvious that a contact shot is possible. Shooting Impressions We spent a good amount of time shooting the HS2000 to check out all of these fancy features. While there are so many points related to shooting at powder burn distances, this pistol is also a decent gun out to 25 yards or more. I would like to have a better trigger, but then that's something I always want. This one goes after about five pounds of rather draggy pressure. The sights are fixed type, dovetailed into the top of the slide. Big enough to be clearly seen, the system has a single white dot on the front sight and a matching white dot on each side of the rear sight notch. We went to the bench with a Winchester pistol rest for accuracy testing. The results could have been better. Most groups were bigger than four inches and some were larger than five. That may or may not be enough for a combat handgun, but most pistols will do better. There were no malfunctions of any kind. The size and weight of the pistol make handling the minimal 9mm recoil a snap. It's a pleasing gun with which to shoot fast combat drills. From a design standpoint, this one has some innovations. Not many pistols have separate loaded chamber indicators and cocking indicators. Nor do they use an old-fashioned grip safety or ultr-modern ambidextrous magazine safety. The magazines are made of chrome-plated steel that's heavier than you see on most guns. As a matter of fact, everything about the HS2000 says "strong, reliable, shootable." I believe this is a handgun that deserves the attention of every serious handgunner.

Imported by HS America of Knoxville, TN, the HS2000 is a mid-to-large-sized 9mm pistol. It's 5.76 inches high by 7.2 inches long, with a 4.02-inch barrel. The company's small advertising pamphlet provides a piece of information we don't often see. The gun weighs 32.03 ounces when loaded full with a 15-round LE magazine. Empty, it runs to 22.88 ounces. The company literature also tells us the HS2000 will be available in .40 S&W, as well as 9mm Luger (which was the chambering of our single sample pistol). A .357 SIG version is also to be offered. Presumably, the .40 and .357 pistols will have magazines in the capacity range of 10 to 12 shots. Like nearly all of the other automatic pistols that fire high performance cartridges, the HS2000 has a breech locking system that works on the proven Browning system of short recoil. A barrel that tilts down at the rear is the key to making this gun work. As the slide recoils after firing a shot, a lug on the lower rear corner of the barrel encounters a cam surface in the receiver. This contact works in such a way as to force the rear of the barrel downward, causing it to unlock from the slide. The locking is like the system pioneered by SigSauer. A large squared breech end of the barrel indexes into the ejection port of the slide. In the rearward cycle after the pistol fires, the other side of the locking cam forces the barrel out of battery and allows the slide to continue to the rear for extraction, etc.The

HS2000 is entirely typical of many other pistols in its operating system, although I have the impression the gun is particularly robust in the quality and strength of the various major parts. But it is a pistol with the style of a long sequence of modern autos. GLOCK is unquestionably the pioneer in the design, production and distribution of polymer frame/steel upper pistols with simplified trigger systems and high-capacity magazines. Since 1985, one pistol company after another has come up with new and different ways to wrap an effective pistol into these design parameters. A DAO trigger system is not really a new concept. It was used on pistols made in the first decade of the 20th Century and it makes the operations of the HS2000 admirably simple. For various reasons, the DAO trigger never got the respect it was due, and that will doubtless be true of the HS2000. Like other late 20th Century pistols, the Croation import has such a double-action only trigger. Most of the better ones have this kind of trigger system, which uses the inertia of the moving slide to partly cock the striker. As the slide recoils and returns to battery, the pistol's lockwork catches the striker just a little short of a fully cocked position. If remains for the trigger to pull the striker to a fully loaded (cocked) position when the shooter presses it to fire. Since trigger pressure accomplishes two functions-(1) fully cock the striker, then (2) release same to fire- it is accurately described as a double-action only (DAO) trigger. The moving slide has done a big part of the automatic functioning of the gun by using unavoidable slide movement to partially cock the striker. This has the effect of permitting a trigger pull that goes through a short arc with fairly light (4-6 pounds) pressure. It bears little resemblance to the long, smooth trigger action of a modern DA/SA revolver. In the HS2000 sample gun, the trigger arc is minimal and the pressure seems to be approximately 5 pounds. For a gun intended for crisis resolution, it's a good idea.

Some critics are vocal about what they perceive as a disadvantage to this kind of DAO trigger system. If you attempt to fire the HS2000 and get a "click"-the loudest click you ever heard-instead of the "bang" you wanted, the pre-cocked striker is now all the way forward. To recock the striker, you must rack the slide manually. Unlike some of the early "Wondernine" pistols, you cannot simply pull the trigger a second time. But I have to point out that all of the better shooting schools teach their students that if they get the dreaded click, the answer is a drill so common that it has its own name and even a abbreviation. It's the Tap, Rack, Bang (TRB) drill, where the shooter instantly taps the bottom of the magazine, racks the slide and attempts another shot. This is the drill for any automatic pistol. The overwhelming reason why the shooter gets the click is because the magazine is not fully seated. A so-called second-strike capability has no relevance to real world combat shooting. The HS2000 goes merrily on its way without this feature and is an effective combat pistol. Part of the reason for the HS2000 effectiveness is the shape of the gun. Some unknown designer worked out some functional and attractive contours for this pistol. There is a deep pocket for the web of the hand. The pocket at the high rear of the grip positions the hand so the trigger finger actually goes downward at a slant to the trigger. This gives the trigger finger improved leverage to work the DAO trigger system. There's also a thumb rest, a shallow oval-shaped depression, on each side of the gun. Front and back straps have larger panels of coarse checkering molded right in. Just below the trigger guard, the designers included a rounded recess that enables the shooter to get his longest finger a bit higher on the grip and control the recoil a bit better. The front face of the trigger guard has a hook and some lateral serrations molded in. Except for the panels of checkering, every bit of the pistol's receiver is an attractive and even crackle surface. The slide has the squarish, blocky contours of typical contemporary autos. It's made of milled steel appropriately heat treated and finished in a "Bruninal" tactical black color. It appears the grasping serrations at the rear of the slide were milled in place. Since the slide cross-section is stepped on each side, the serrations are actually two panels for each. Although I have never understood the need for high-speed takedown procedure, the HS2000 has on that's about as fast as you can get. To field strip the gun, drop the magazine, lock the slide back and ensure magazine well and chamber are clear of all ammunition. Then turn the takedown lever on the left side of the frame about 90 degrees upward. Apply pressure to the trigger, press the slide lock down and pull the barrel/slide unit off the receiver to the front. Don't attempt to further disaasemble the receiver, but remove the dual spring recoil and guide from an inverted slide, and then lift the barrel free. This is as far as you need to go for routine maintenance. But while the gun is disassembled, take a look at the innards. Note the heavy, thick sheet steel parts in the trigger mechanism. Two pair of right and left slide rails control the fore and aft movement of the slide. Also note the thick polymer in the dust cover area. There's no way this one will bend under stress of an attached light, as some pistols have already done. This is a strong, sturdy pistol.

You may recall that I made my intial case for the HS2000 as a pistol well suited for close range fighting. Understanding that premise means taking a closer look at the handling features and controls. Handling the HS2000 is simplicity itself-load athe pistol, pull the trigger and it fires. There are no conditions of readiness or intermediate controls to manage. Pull the trigger and it fires. There are four safeties that are passive, in that nothing more than a firm and proper grip is required for the pistol to shoot. Believe it or not, the HS2000 has a grip safety that blocks trigger movement, even when the striker is pre-cocked. This is a feature almost never seen on a new pistol design these days, but it works as well as it did in 1911. There's also a trigger safety that most of us first saw on the Glock 17, but actually dates back to DAO ("hammerless") revolvers made in the 1880s. A curved lever on the face of the trigger, this one keeps the trigger from moving util the shooter presses it in and it clears the frame of the pistol. Like almost all modern pistols there's a firing pin safety where the striker is prevented from moving unless the trigger is pressed. And finally, the Croatian designers count the disconnector as a safety. It prevents out-of-battery firing and if you have ever had this happen ( I have), you will appreciate it very much. The slide must be fully in battery, and if it is not, the safety prevents firing. There is no manual safety, nor is there any need for one. If you can imagine some kind of giant bandsaw, consider what you would have if you sliced the HS2000 in two, cutting along the centerline of the pistol from butt to muzzle. Obviously, two halves result, but careful examination shows something interesting. For operational usage, the right side of the HS2000 is the same as the left side. For all practical the HS2000 is ambidextrous. That's a major advantage the closer you get to your adversary. If you are forced to shift hands because you are fending off a close attack, it's good to know you can perform every tactical operation neccessary with either hand. Consider checking the pistol's state of readiness. At the top dead center rear of the pistol's ejection port, there's a small block of steel that projects up when there is a cartridge in the chamber. Also, look at the rear face of the slide, where a pin sticks out when the striker is cocked. With one sweep of the non-shooting hand, a shooter can determine if he's got a round up the spout and whether the action is set to fire. The same is true when it comes to changing magazines. Inward pressure on the magazine catch from either side will drop the magazine free from the gun, allowing a speed magazine change. We first found an ambi magazine catch on the original Walther P88 and a few other guns, but I can't really understand why it isn't on everything. Some right-handed handgunners prefer to use the tip of their trigger finger to press in from the right side. Portsiders now have the same options. I don't claim that the gun is bilaterally symmetrical, only that the important tactical functions are set up for ambidextrous use. The takedown lever is on the left side and so is the slide lock. In the case of a feedway malfunction, the slide lock becomes a tactical control (rip out the magazine, work the slide three times, lock the slide back, insert and tap a new magazine, rack the slide and fire). With good ammunition and a properly maintained pistol, such a jam is rare, but the southpaw is in a little trouble. If all of the forgoing careful attention to the tactical operation of the HS2000 were not enough, consider on more feature of the gun. The recoil spring is a dual spring system mounted on a fixed guide rod. The rod is set to project forward from the front face of the slide just a small fraction of an inch. this is a standoff device that prevents a close-in attacker from pushing the slide of you pistol back and out of battery, rendering it incapable of firing. It should be obvious that a contact shot is possible.

We spent a good amount of time shooting the HS2000 to check out all of these fancy features. While there are so many points related to shooting at powder burn distances, this pistol is also a decent gun out to 25 yards or more. I would like to have a better trigger, but then that's something I always want. This one goes after about five pounds of rather draggy pressure. The sights are fixed type, dovetailed into the top of the slide. Big enough to be clearly seen, the system has a single white dot on the front sight and a matching white dot on each side of the rear sight notch. We went to the bench with a Winchester pistol rest for accuracy testing. The results could have been better. Most groups were bigger than four inches and some were larger than five. That may or may not be enough for a combat handgun, but most pistols will do better. There were no malfunctions of any kind. The size and weight of the pistol make handling the minimal 9mm recoil a snap. It's a pleasing gun with which to shoot fast combat drills. From a design standpoint, this one has some innovations. Not many pistols have separate loaded chamber indicators and cocking indicators. Nor do they use an old-fashioned grip safety or ultr-modern ambidextrous magazine safety. The magazines are made of chrome-plated steel that's heavier than you see on most guns. As a matter of fact, everything about the HS2000 says "strong, reliable, shootable." I believe this is a handgun that deserves the attention of every serious handgunner.