A Path Less Traveled: IM Metal's Tavor-Based Prototype for the VHS-1
Prototype & Trials Weapons
•
8m 56s
Today we are continuing to trace the development of the IM Metal / HS Produkt VHS rifles. During this period, Croatia briefly considered adopting the Israeli Tavor rifle. Part of the adoption would have included a license for domestic production, and HS Produkt would have been the company to do the manufacturing. As a result, the company got a good look at the Tavor, and when the government decided not to adopt it, the company decided to integrate some of the features into one of their own prototypes. This led to a split in development, with the company developing one design based on a gas-operated conversion of the FAMAS and a second design based on elements of the Tavor.
Only a small number of prototypes of each style were built, for comparative testing. This Tavor-type example also has an integrated 40mm under barrel grenade launcher. It has an AR-180-like rotating multi-lug bolt, basic iron sights, and a creative (but woefully impractical) bipod built into the pistol grip and trigger guard.
Many thanks to HS Produkt for giving me access to prototypes like this one to film for posterity!
Up Next in Prototype & Trials Weapons
-
Genesis of the VHS: IM Metal Gets a F...
After their abortive effort at designing a bullpup AK conversion, IM Metal (later to become HS Produkt) decided to make another try at developing a rifle for the Croatian Army. This time, they decided to base their design on the FAMAS. Why that rifle? Well, at the time the Croatian Homeland War w...
-
Croatia's Prototype Bullpup AK Conver...
The HS Produkt company, best known for making the XD pistols sold in the US by Springfield, was originally called IM Metal, and was a general fabrication company in Croatia. When the Croatian Homeland War began, there was a clear need for domestic small arms production, and the two engineers at I...
-
PDW on Steroids: the vz68 and the Sko...
The original Scorpion was adopted in .32 ACP caliber as the vz.61 by the Czechoslovakian military – but development of the Scorpion did not end there. Prototypes were also developed in .380, 9×18 Makarov, and 9x19mm. In particular, the 9x19mm version, designated vz.68, got as far as field trials ...
