Springfield Hellion: The VHS-2 Bullpup Comes to the US

[@Grabbagar670]

I worked with the croatian army in the US army. They won't let you forget that they make our Springfield XD, or the VHS-2. They're very proud of their guns, and rightly so.

[@damyr]

LOL that's because we are a small nation (population 4 mil), so we are sometimes overly proud of everything we make, like we won an Olympic gold or something. :) But I guess that's still a bit of accomplishment in this world of big global players.

[@ivan-Croatian]

🤣

[@alihd-jd9gw]

كم مدى اطلاق النار كم يصل

[@jacobishii6121]

It's our Springfield XD .....it's a Croatian gun that Springfield bought the US lisc rights to

[@pineapple999100]

The XD is a turd. Lmao

[@MatoVuc]

Btw. That pin in the cheek piece that it pivots around is a product improvement. Our original rifles didn't have it for a period of about 2 years and many a cheek piece was lost in the woods and many a soldier was smoked for it.

[@logical-checkmate]

Cheers from the Czech republic. That's sweet rifle you made my Croatian brothers and sisters. 🇨🇿🍻🇭🇷

[@philbrotherton5720]

Were there any instances of the bolt being reassembled the opposite way to the ejection port & then being fired?

[@MatoVuc]

@@philbrotherton5720 none that i know of. Even if it was reassembled the wrong way, the worst that would happen is that the weapon would try to eject the round through the closed ejection port and jam up. The one incident that did result in a damaged rifle was when one fired a live round with the blank adapter on the barrel. The gun was damaged and needed to be sent to HS Produkt, but no one was injured.

[@CZProtton]

@@MatoVuc It seems like an amazingly well made rifle, are you one of the constructors? Or a soldier that got issued this thing? I would love to know how it behaves in the field, it looks like it should work very well.

[@mynick937]

@@MatoVuc Kada sam gledao prvi video gdje je rastavljao VHS 2 ,prvo šta sam pomislio bilo je Bit će te plastike svuda😅

[@bikkiikun]

The idea for doing everything inhouse was not just because of the "enemy" neighbour, but also to circumvent embargos or export stops.

[@engineer1941]

Yes, Croatian infantry man is fully equipped with gear from Croatia. Ifv is also localy produced licensed version or patria. There should have been tanks but project was killed in 2004.

[@thekraken1173]

I think it is because during the Yugoslavian Civil War, Zastava Factory was in Serbian controlled area. It made an effect on people.

[@shinobi-no-bueno]

@@engineer1941 as all countries should do

[@inyoface5456]

The thing is, because of the wartime embargo, the croatians were forced to smuggle in 30k AKs from Hungary and basically fought with sticks and stones, so they're trying to not let it happen again.

[@footballnick2]

@@shinobi-no-bueno Sub Saharan Africans can't design their own things.

[@janwacawik7432]

So there's "Kraut Space Magic", "Czechnology", "The French copy no one and no one copies the French", "Three Guys in a Shed" and "Nyet, rifle is fine". How should we refer to Croatian arms engineering?

[@PrototypeSpaceMonkey]

That Thanos meme of "Fine, I'll do it myself" comes to mind.

[@damyr]

@@PrototypeSpaceMonkey LOL

[@coolsenjoyer]

You forgot one, "Rifle is fine but needs some Finnishing touches"

[@eliharman]

For the homeland, ready!

[@jacobstaten2366]

"Croat Space Magic."

[@All-Fur-Coat_No-Trousers]

It's impressive that every part of the rifle was made under one roof. It's a thing of beauty

[@davidjernigan8161]

The Croatians seem to have put a lot of thought into this. They must have took any feedback they got from the end users of the original rifle and maybe even went beyond any requests made to make it better. I like it.

[@johnqpublic2718]

Still a bull-pizzle

[@varanid9]

Seems like a great rifle, but I kinda balk at the price. I also have reservations about not having a chrome lined barrel.

[@shooteveryday1841]

Well, they built a rifle from a set of requirements, iterated, and validated the design, including batteries of testing developed by a military. Having the hindsight of the problems of modern military rifles and bullpups was surely valuable. And even then- they had to go from VHS-1 to VHS-2. Bravo to the successful work of the engineers at HS Produkt.

[@u2beuser714]

@@varanid9 to my knowledge it costs 2000 dollars right?

[@Darth.Fluffy]

It actually seem like they went further. They addressed the complaints over OTHER bullpups.

[@MatoVuc]

In the Croatian military, we used proprietary VHS magazines that were inspired by G-36 magazines. On the VHS-1, they were more G-36 square-ish shaped, with the AR type magazine latch and bottom plate. They sucked... On the VHS-2, the developed a magazine that is shaped more like the pmag, with the G-36 latch system and snap-together system and a more AK like bottom plate. Those were excellent.

[@MildMisanthropeMaybeMassive]

G-36 magazines fit perfectly apparently.

[@lewhanwen4302]

@@MildMisanthropeMaybeMassive Yeah, they actually switched to G36 magazines The propertiary magazines were discontinued and rarely show up with the VHS-2.

[@MatoVuc]

@@lewhanwen4302 interesting. That was definitely not the case during my service.

[@stagalgiz1097]

I wish they had kept that in this release, since I have a Tommy Built TG36E (all German parts so consider it a G36E with only an American receiver and carry handle that are both built by Tommy Built Tactical). I have my review on the TG36E over on my channel with my buddy. Point is, I got rid of my AR's for the TG36E (also I'm third Generation German-American so I kinda like my Kraut gear and guns). I've wanted this to come out for awhile, just like the TG36E. Since I'm familiar with the charging handle on the G36, this wouldn't be much of a change in the battery of arms. FYI, I have 5,000 rounds through my TG36E, no issues and it will shoot steel cased without an issue. My TG36E is showing plenty of wear, and frankly a rifle that cost $3200 should be used. I didn't buy a safe or range queen. This will be my next purchase.

[@Buletspunge555]

@@stagalgiz1097 I would think getting a mag adaptor would be possible, and if they aren't offered by Springfield, looks easy to 3d print.

[@impcec6734]

I haven’t used a VHS for self-defense since I was little. Mind you it was a VHS copy of The Green Mile and I was throwing at my little brother, but I think the concept is still there.

[@MellowFellowOfYellow]

Walking the green mile walking the green mile

[@justindunlap1235]

you probably gave your little brother a concussion.

[@robertwright7937]

The book is much better. Especially the hardback. You can get some force behind that one.

[@helmsscotta]

But did you heal him afterward?

[@tombogan03884]

Should have walloped him with the Betamax. LOL

[@NamelocTheBard]

Feels weird realizing that bullpups really are an "old" idea. I remember being wowed as a child by models like the F2000, AUG, and P90, and now 20+ years later they're still treated like a novelty or something that small countries with tiny militaries blow wads of cash on because it sounds like a good idea.

[@ulvschmidt7174]

I am still awed by them

[@gunmadonna]

the aug dates all the way back to 1978, and there was an experimental british bullpup called the em2 in 1951!

[@theonewithin609]

The M4 is almost 40 years old... It's the US standard rifle... And somehow somethin from 20+ years ago is old? Strange.

[@NamelocTheBard]

@@theonewithin609 Yes, it's possible that two separate items can be old, that's how time works. Also Bullpups in general are in fact older than the M4, or any Armalite-derived rifle. The 20 years is just in reference to the F2000 specifically, as it was essentially one of the last "big things" in Bullpups for quite some time. Strange indeed.

[@RobertMorgan]

@@theonewithin609 40 years old? the 1960s were only 40 years ago? I'm almost 40 and was born in 1983, strange.

[@romanradman5025]

I actually work every summer as a student in company that is external collaborator to HS Product in field of electricity and automation and I have seen and been in almost every process of manufacturing this gun. I must say that, in general, HS is very sophisticated, organized and has helped many people from that area to get a job and to prosper. All in all, as I read the comments I can be very proud as a Croat and someone who worked there, but there's always room for improvement. :)

[@lairdcummings9092]

The VHS2 is showing up in a lot of my YT feeds... Lots of excitement about this rifle. Edit: That cam pin is a brilliant bit of simple-but-efficient engineering.

[@u2beuser714]

Croats gave americans this rifle now its americans turn to give croats the f-16

[@manifestman132]

@@u2beuser714 That plan fell through they bought Rafales instead. Also the Gripen is the better option.

[@onpsxmember]

Official release at shot show, so it'll be featured quite a bit. Media coverage ban lifted and so on.

[@madkoala2130]

@@manifestman132 what if there is war again in that region, then who will sell speer parts for those Gripens (Swedan is known to be neutral in every conflict unless they gave licence to someone else)

[@lairdcummings9092]

@@madkoala2130 if there's a demand, parts will be found. There are always plenty of merchants willing to provide, if the price is right.

[@mrjockt]

The VHS-2 was evaluated by the U.S. military, probably just in order to familiarise certain troops with it, they purchased 250 VHS-2’s back in 2015.

[@korgothofbarbaria2841]

Or 500?

[@mrjockt]

@@korgothofbarbaria2841 They purchased 500 of the earlier VHS-1 back in the early 2000’s for the same purpose.

[@mrjockt]

@@dirckthedork-knight1201 As I posted originally it was probably just to familiarise certain troops within the U.S. military in the use of the weapons, I very much doubt if there was any intention of ever issuing such a weapon to any branch of the regular military.

[@mpetersen6]

@@mrjockt Makes sense. I would expect the troops involved in the familiarization process would be SF or airborne personnel that could potentially be deployed into the area. A just in case situation.

[@MrCcfly]

@@mike-yd4py less then ak they use before

[@dominikajducic5858]

YES, finally we see this bullpup Croatian beauty on the US civilian market. I'm very happy my country's weapon manufacturers made what is probably the best deal they could make. The quality of HS firearms is respectable, the weapons look great, it was only a matter of time.

[@frankopanklaric]

Yea, but then you remember it's springfield and start to feel sorry for HS.

[@angrydragon4574]

They can't go wrong with entering the US civilian arms market. Especially when it already takes AR mags.

[@shinobi-no-bueno]

@@frankopanklaric what problems have you run into with Springfield firearms

[@noahjackl2240]

@@shinobi-no-bueno Alot of pro-2a guys don’t like them because they had a business relationship with I believe a contractor that backed a gun control bill in Illinois, but that relationship is now over.

[@chickensbelike2790]

@@shinobi-no-bueno my only issue i ever had was the springfield hellcat pistol, it couldve been a lemon but that thing could not group for shit. Im not afraid to admit im an amateur shooter and my groupings arent great to begin with but I couldnt shoot true with that pistol no matter what I tried. anyways this VHS2 that they have sure looks promising and I might see myself owning one in the next few years.

[@BrandonMeyer1641]

I had the chance to travel to Croatia in 2018 it is a beautiful country with amazing food and good people. The years of the war still live in the collective consciousness of the nation. I was there when they made it to the semi finals of the World Cup and it was a sight to behold. This rifle like the country of origin is beautiful and high quality.

[@ghkk9941]

And some Americans joined us to defend country from Serbian aggression. And many other countries foreign volunteers

[@zagrepcanin82]

Thank you bro

[@pixsilvb9638]

They went to the last world cup final against France. Croatia has a pretty good resume in world cups. Land of inventors and creative minds; like Nikola Tesla, inventor of the AC (alternating current); or Slavoljub Penkala inventor of the fountain pen; or Ivan Lupis, created the concept for the modern torpedo.

[@Clash_CT_Rocker69]

@@pixsilvb9638 You forget mention Faust Vrančić, inventor of parachute (homo volans) or David Schwartz - air ship and his invention has been STOLEN by Zeppelin.

[@tihomirrasperic]

you forget (or didn't know) Croatia fought for 400 years against the Turks, and two world wars 50 years of "peace" in Yugoslavia cannot erase the military spirit We have been at war for 300 years longer than the Israelis

[@JohnSmith-te1zd]

Just want to say thanks for keeping your channel the same over all these years and not pressing unrelated sponsors on your viewers in every video. It's nice to see someone making content simply to spread knowledge and not just trying to grow your channel purely for monetary gain. You and Paul Harrell are SEVERELY underrated.

[@johnbartlet6669]

That is an elegant design. Two thumbs up for the Croats, great work.

[@johnbartlet6669]

@@MansMan42069 The last one

[@benjaminfinlay829]

This seems to be a very well-designed rifle. Very impressive work on the part of the designer and manufacturer.

[@nickprater1524]

Very excited to see this being imported finally, my only concern is cost. If they want to carve out their own section in the market its gonna have to cost less than the Tavor/Aug

[@ForgottenWeapons]

Honestly, I was surprised at the price; I expected it to be higher.

[@molonlabe420]

@@0neDoomedSpaceMarine correct

[@ls200076]

@@0neDoomedSpaceMarine Yup, 2000. I expected higher.

[@geodkyt]

MSRP is $2K, which means i expect "street" price by the end of the year will be around what an AUG is.

[@geodkyt]

@Sqwee it's a Melonite coated barrel, not bare steel. Superior corrosion resistance and accuracy to typical chrome lined barrels, and unless your doing mag dumps or otherwise treating it like a machinegun barrel, should be just fine. You might see excessive erosion compared to chrome that actually starts to affect accuracy more than chrome does after 5000+ rounds.

[@metal4ever516]

I have to say, when I looked at it, I thought it was going to be tricky to field strip. Holy heck was I wrong. This looks like a bullpup I might actually buy if I was in the market for one. Well played HS, well played.

[@hvymtal8566]

The gun also has some serious combat chops already, too. 100,000 were purchased by Iraq for use by the federal police, the army, and special forces during the conflict with IS. Naturally a number ended up in Syria, too Pics started showing up around 2016-2017 and the guns appear to still be in widespread use. So it's a combat-proven new bullpup as well

[@marekh.4497]

Very neat looking, impressive gun, however I have some concerns that the DVD rifle will make it obsolete

[@tadeuszkrassowski9300]

Use the Force, Marek... Beyond BlueRa(y)dom you look!😉

[@kj3n569]

Which will soon be replaced by the BluRay Gun. Technology. It moves fast.

[@biglypox]

Illegally downloaded guns will lead to its obsolescence too 🤔

[@ArcturusOTE]

@@biglypox Mmm, 3D printed guns So far no gas systems but roller delayed blowback seems feasible enough

[@CroHOOLIGANs]

Wtf you talking about new model will be named Streamio ( whit options to stream netflix & amazon prime at same time)

[@sempre_avanti_01]

As you suggested, I imagine a 3rd party manufacturer like Geissele Automatics will contemplate its own trigger upgrades to this rifle. That would be quite a rig!

[@CKshouta]

or KE arms?

[@americanmilitiaman88]

They did for the tavor

[@caporalmilitary7240]

top 5 weapon 3Dprinters 😮😮😮kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWK7YXhrrMajm80

[@brian8152]

This has basically everything I love in a rifle design. Really great design. Just from looking at it, this seems like a really great design period, but especially for a bullpup

[@andersjjensen]

"Bulb-up", not bullpup. Bulls get calves, not pups :P (Well the cows get the calves when the bull has done the job, but you know what I mean!).

[@brian8152]

@@andersjjensen lol

[@fleebogazeezig6642]

Reminds me of a blockier halo battle rifle

[@squidy4082]

It’s all plastic lmao

[@washingtoncommandcenter5541]

That cam pin solution for changing ejection is genius-level stuff. I feel like there are the quick and dirty utilitarian type things that get the job like just adding or swapping deflectors and even overly complicated stuff like you see with forward ejecting but that Cam pin set up is just next level, and as a person that loves firearm design I think that's really impressive.

[@tihomirrasperic]

there is a promotional video of the factory, I think you need less than 2 minutes to change left or right

[@Sleepy_Alligator]

It's an elegant solution, beautiful in its functional simplicity.

[@hoilst265]

@@Sleepy_Alligator F2000: good engineering. VHS-2: good design.

[@net-twin-de]

For my opinion one of the best bullpups ever created. Everything is ergonomic, very well thought out and can even be fully used by left- and right-handed people without any disadvantages.

[@xm-5178]

I just saw James from TFB-TV do a review of this on KZbin as well. This really does seem like a good choice for those looking for a semi-affordable bullpup carbine that isn't an AUG or the MDRX, both of which fetch a pretty penny

[@Fiendir]

It's like a FAMAS, AUG and G36 had a baby. Scientists are too baffled and embarrassed to explain how it actually happened, but the end result is looking pretty neat imo

[@revylagoon716]

Except it’s got a $2200 price tag, over the aug and tavor

[@ihurricane7]

This is priced similarly to the AUG. Might be even more expensive in the short term with demand

[@xm-5178]

@@revylagoon716, that you are right. At least it isn't as expensive as the MDRX though. I priced one out with a 5.56/.223 Wylde chamber with a 20 inch barrel, FDE upper and lower, forward eject, and a BLKLB integrated bi-pod fore end and it came out to be over 3 grand so the Hellion is pocket change by comparison. I guess your paying for the American made build quality and better trigger with the MDRX but is it worth between $800 to a $1000 more for that? I'm not so sure myself but I still would love to get one

[@roc00851]

Kel TEC RDB!

[@MatoVuc]

Captive pins? They certainly weren't captive on my service rifle. Good to see the product improvements we were the guinnea pigs for bore fruit. Wonder if they made an extended handguard for the D version

[@darkogaurina4778]

Zanimljivo, jesi imao mehaničke nišane ili

[@jakovmarenic2460]

Did you ever click those pins in and out non stop while waiting for your turn at the range

[@MatoVuc]

@@darkogaurina4778 da. Dužio sam VHS-D1 i VHS-2D, obje sa mehaničkim ciljnicima. Taman su počeli dobivati one ugrađene CT ciljnike od Ruđera, ali to je išlo prvenstveno izvićačima i probranima u regularnim desetinama, ali nisam skužio po kojoj logici

[@MatoVuc]

@@jakovmarenic2460 no, but i did place the pins in the side vent holes of the handguard during disassembly. Worked much like those holes in the G-36 stock, if a bit improvised

[@darkogaurina4778]

@@MatoVuc kako uopče izgleda desetina, mislim tko tko duži što se tiče puške i optike

[@edokdicht]

I really like this rifle, it's the closest thing we have to a "modern" FAMAS "look-alike".

[@Rensune]

FAMAS, but better.

[@RedXlV]

I wish it had a more FAMAS-like carry handle, just for aesthetic reasons.

[@shinobi-no-bueno]

@@RedXlV I do not

[@ScottKenny1978]

@@RedXlV this looks like the FAMAS with FELÍN gear. And I *want* one.

[@aizseeker3622]

Remind me of Halo BR

[@NonyaDamnbusiness]

Those of us who drove M1A1 Heavy tanks through Croatia into Bosnia back in the winter of '95 to stop the war there have never forgotten Croatia. Drove an M1A1 across the first floating pontoon bridge deployed in an active Army operation anywhere on the planet since World War II. We froze our butts off in the snow too. Of course the border area near Bosnia was pretty much blasted out rubble back then but the Croatians very quickly rebuilt it all. Croatia is now a vacation hotspot and highly recommended. I went back once summer for a week's vacation in 00s when I was still living in Germany and it's a fantastic country with a lot of history and some really nice people. Like any other eastern European country, if you show them respect they'll return it in kind. And hoo boy do they *hate* commies there. Can't say I blame them at all. I also have a nice XD in .45 and an XDm in 9mm and both pistols have been flawless in operation, the XDm in particular has a nice crisp trigger is more accurate than even my skills can provide. All I did was slap easier-to-see fiber-optic night sights on them and left the rest alone, but I ran with the white dots for years with no real issues.

[@sbreheny]

I find it interesting that this rifle actually has a "forward assist" - if you press down on the metal tab at the back of the charging handle it makes it reciprocating until you release the tab. This does not seem to be documented in Springfield Armory's manual.

[@snicklefritz4209]

That seems like a really solid well manufactured rifle. Reminds me of a supremely improved FAMAS

[@TheNinjaDC]

As the XD line has shown, the Croatians make great arms.

[@TheSlasherJunkie]

If you watch his video on the VHS-2, that’s essentially what it is. The French were looking at replacing the FAMAS, Croatia took the commercial version and modernized the hell out of it thinking that the ease of transition would win the contest. It still lost to the HK-416, but I’m incredibly happy these bad boys are getting imported.

[@defconart7387]

@@TheSlasherJunkie Yeahhh to me our leaders just wanted the 416 and they found excuses to all the other weapon in list. The VHS-2 was following our training and doctrine, it was really logic to take it. I like the 416 but it's asking a lot of effort to re learn all the training, cleaning etc ... that's a bit sad, I would have love to see our guys with that rifle ^^

[@mdc2296]

@@TheNinjaDC That's a joke...right?

[@mdc2296]

@@0neDoomedSpaceMarine The police department I worked for had a list of guns that were prohibited to be carried by officers due to safety, reliability, and general quality issues. The Springfield XD in any of its iterations was second on the list right under the S&W SD9VE. I've personally seen them fail time and time again, they're far from good guns.

[@Furluge]

9:19 - That adjustable length of pull is something that interests me the most. So many bullpups can't do that. They keep forgetting the advantages of fitting the gun to the shooter in the quest to make it small.

[@tihomirrasperic]

there are also two barrel lengths shorter 16" (shown) for paratroopers and special forces and a longer barrel 20" for normal infantry

[@MrLM002]

@@tihomirrasperic Springfield definitely needs to import the 20 inch barrel models to the US. For 5.56 bullpups the standard barrel length should be 20 inches.

[@clownworld4655]

It’s really nice, but the only issue is that the hellion/vhs already has a pretty long LOP even when fully collapsed. Mainly helps if you’re very tall

[@radomane]

I’d love to see a 9-hole review of this gun, and seeing what he thinks of the iron sights.

[@clownworld4655]

Just picked one up after spending months deciding on a bullpup. Love it

[@BCJAZZZ]

As a european (Czech), I was looking through websites of HS Produkt, as I like their pistols, and stumbled upon this rifle like two years ago... I wished You made a video about theirs VHS, and here we go. Thanks Ian! New toy to get hand on to...

[@parrotraiser6541]

That is a truly impressive piece of design (and design of a piece). The only possible improvement I could see would be for the appropriate ejector cover to be selected by the change of cam position. That might not be feasible, but for sure somebody's going to forget to swap both parts at least once.

[@tazthedevil22]

Understandable. Luckily making this mistake is easily fixed by just popping the cheekweld up and switching the pin. Forgetting this will only result in a failure to eject malfunction that wont cause any huge problems. Off course this sucks if it happens in a firefight, but even on a m4 it's very easy to create a non functioning weapon by forgetting one important step during maintenance.

[@JohnDoe-pv2iu]

It reminds me of what Kalashnikov said to Stoner, '...you must have very intelligent soldiers...!'. That said, some soldiers would figure out how to dick-up a bow and arrow! I do like the gas system though. It's a fine weapon. The individual soldiers shouldn't need to disassemble the bolt carrier group because it keeps the gas out of the receiver. Pretty cool! Ya'll Take Care and be safe, John

[@JohnDoe-pv2iu]

Also reminds me that every time soldiers came across files in Iraq... Their M4s seemed to 'break' and the 3 shot burst position started shooting full auto... If a Soldier can screw with it, it will be screwed with... Ya'll Take Care and be safe, John

[@tazthedevil22]

@@JohnDoe-pv2iu lol. Glad our "m4's" have the fun mode back instead of the burst.

[@parrotraiser6541]

@@JohnDoe-pv2iu Murphy Rules!

[@Soopah_SLeyh]

Even after watching this video and realizing the VHS2 was made after Killzone, I will still always look at it like it's the Helghast rifle from those games... really excited for this one, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for the video, Ian. 👍

[@angrydragon4574]

You know what? It looks better than the Helghast rifle.

[@gabenewell3955]

@@angrydragon4574 I’m gonna have to disagree the helghast rifle has a cylindrical mag and that’s cool

[@automatonm99]

This gun is in Insurgency Sandstorm as well liked it ever since I saw it in game.

[@garrickanderson4533]

Well after that tidbit if I ever get one I'll make a plan to have Stahl Arms engraved on it

[@zim3900]

Yeah, I've been watching this whole video thinking that I need one because it's the closest thing I've seen to an STA-52.

[@kmech3rd]

I just love that Ian got a dig in at the VHS/BETA jokes... Kinda annoyed because I was going to crack one, but hey, Ian breaking the fourth wall was funnier.

[@beargillium2369]

The Fourth wall is the camera... being a presentation type video he's speaking directly to the audience the entire time. Plus the joke is clearly that they've done away with the clock because nobody could ever set it correctly.

[@WheeledandWellArmed]

HELLION, great name, and fairly easy take down for a well thought out military rifle. Thanks

[@nikolabradac]

Excellent channel and excellent videos on Croatian firearms. I would recommend you do an interview with HS product designers, I met some of them and they have very interesting stories about why the made the VHS like they did. The stories are full of anecdotes from Croatian war, Yugoslav army, French foreign army, etc. When you see all the Hellion reviews from USA, you ask yourself why did they do some features like this, but they have excellent answers why.

[@ilocosmetro]

I just got a new dream rifle. Also, the more obtainable FAMAS

[@christraven]

Okay, I once declared I wanted nothing more in life than the Laugo Alien. Now I feel like I'm being unfaithful because I feel the exact same way about this.

[@PassiveDestroyer]

Why not both?

[@Jebotito]

@@PassiveDestroyer well 7000 bucks later you can ask yourself that question again lol

[@PassiveDestroyer]

@@Jebotito No thanks, I'm intrigued by both, but I don't really crave either.

[@peasant_shots]

That's some expensive taste you have my friend

[@Jebotito]

@LabRat Knatz well the alien was around 5k if i remember correctly and the VHS is 2k, right?

[@Gerilac001]

Wonderful! Finally, this exists! Can't wait to see where it goes from here.

[@ConsolasEight]

6:42 - great moment! I've always wanted to see a live side by side lineup of a bullpup and classic rifle to see exactly what you're saving in terms of space.

[@benscoble7346]

My biggest issue with bulpups (as a former soldier) was cleaning was a bugger. I know you like to not pick on in range on little things, and yeah that’s in depth. But practically, as a soldier it’s serviceability in the field. So stoppages and cleaning. And in this regard this looks rather promising. I think I’d be very happy to have been issued it 👌

[@BasedBelkan8492]

possibly a must shoot gun for me, it's like a "there's everything you don't know you wanted" gun

[@brasstard7.627]

Seen this rifle a bunch of times in combat videos in the war against ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Always wondered why they never imported them to the US, better late than never

[@mikistjep]

It's been battle tested and improved much, so you guys ger the final product. Us arms market is pretty demanding, and if it wasn't good, it wouldn't fly.

[@CroHOOLIGANs]

In Iraq it got nick name isis killer ( urban battle for Mosul) ,, that why big + 😃

[@RunnerBlade1911]

Glad to see Croatian weapons manufacturing being showcased. Love and Hail from Croatia! :)

[@WTFisTingispingis]

Ayyy, you guys make pretty decent guns.

[@sik59rt]

@@WTFisTingispingis like?

[@TheLoveTrain]

@@sik59rt The VHS-2...

[@varanid9]

Hail, Croatian brother!

[@kennys9644]

@@sik59rt And the HS2000

[@joe7327]

Very innovative. This is a bullpup I could learn to love. Well done Croatia.

[@dn5101]

I love mine. 75-250 yrds she's a beast. Happy to have a different platform to expand my versatility. Where's my 7.62 barrel kit. I'm waiting...

[@PaJamB]

…I would like one. First pistol I ever bought (just over a year ago now) was Springfield Hellcat OSP. Everybody doubted it, but I looked into it quite a bit. Grew up in a firearm friendly family, but took my sweet time getting my license. Once we went to the range dad and my middle brother were impressed to say the least. A joy to shoot. Thank you for the spotlight on this new rifle Ian!

[@AC_702]

That's a pretty cool weapon. When Ian first reviewed it, I was impressed. And now it is coming to the US for sale? I like bullpups so this is pretty cool!

[@ab5olut3zero95]

I’m definitely interested in getting one of these. I’ve liked the rifle since I served with some Croats in Poland, but never got to play with their toys. Now I think I’ll just go pick up my own!

[@baomao7243]

Love the modularity. Almost feels like Lego’s with retaining pins opus a few metal pieces, where “beyond polymer” strength is req’d. Clever.

[@maxplaysgamesmore8552]

This is really freaking cool. The first bullpup I’ve seen that I’ve ever actually really wanted now.

[@tonyflamingo8113]

Always a good day when I get a new forgotten weapons video notification

[@option350z]

I can confirm. Gun Jesus brings all the joy

[@dawnkeyy]

As a big fan of this channel from Croatia, this is exciting! Predictably, I'd like to comment on the war. I would just like to say that while you could technically call it a civil war, it was more a war of independence. Yugoslavia was a socialist federation, and we wanted out in the 90s, riding the wave of downfall of communism in general, but Serbia (whose whole thing was being the main benefitor of the yugoslavia thing) didn't like the idea, hence the war, in a nutshell, from the croatian perspective. You know how these balkans nationalistic things are, I just had an itch and had to write this.

[@ironwolfF1]

My understanding is that the Serbs quietly nursed a grudge going back to WWII (held in check by Tito), where Croatians (for the most part) took the side of the Axis, _and_ that Croatia has a sizeable ethnic German population, about 1/3 iirc; the Balkans being Balkans, the Serbs took the opportunity 'settle accounts' until Germany (under Kohl) quietly sent military aid to the Croatians...who then sent the Serbs packing. Yeah, I'm simplifying things a bit, but as I understand it, the Croats always considered themselves a separate entity and almost got independence (and their own king) in the final years of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

[@WesMerc]

@@ironwolfF1 yeah the Croats did some genociding in WW2 against the Serbs .

[@dawnkeyy]

@@ironwolfF1 Well, the devil is in the details. The nazi Croatia thing? Yeah. The numbers are debated, within an order of magnitude even. The croatian nationalists tend to lower them, the Yugoslavian government inflated them greatly. Most independent historians, as far as i know, are somewhere in the middle. Not many people know Serbia was also a nazi territory which had a Serb on top, and was one of the first territories that proudly announced it is juden-frei. Digression. The 1/3rd german ethnic population is total news to me. Could you provide me with a source for that? Also way worth mentioning croatia had antifascist partizans (Tito being a leader of the group at some point, earning his reputation). As far as the whole nazi puppet thing goes, Croatia has been under foreign rule for centuries (the austro hungarian empire, venetians, ottoman threat) then we found ourselves in Yugoslavias which were a Serbian "great Serbia" wet dream- not good for us. When we were given the opportunity to have our own country (by the nazis), a lot of people welcomed it as the coming true of a centuries long dream. Which is, in retrospect, of course, silly, since you know, the whole puppet thing. A lot of ethnic cleansing was done, general crimes against humanity. Then, yugoslavia under Tito, exploited Croatia, forcing of "brotherhood and unity", trying to create a one people out of many. That tends to breed strong nationalism which can still regrettably be found here. Tito died, things started going to shit, communism dying was trendy, "hey we'd like out"- no -war. There was a lot of Serbian propaganda directed towards the serbs living on croatian soil that this would be just like the nazi Croatia, so there was panic amongst the Serbs here, MANY of them fled to serbia, some stayed and fought. War crimes, hospital bombings, mass murder of civilians (from the serbian side, but mind you, I'm a croat so I assume there were things we did we weren't exactly taught in school). Bosnia was especially rough because there you had a third faction of muslims, mixed in with croats and serbs, and many many ugly things happened there commited by all sides. Edit: but yeah, I'm not sure about other parts of the world, but the Balkan mentality is very much that of revenue. "They massacred our people". And so it goes in circles.

[@AppleCinnamonPie]

And both Croatia and Serbia wanted a slice of Bosnia, and committed war crimes and ethnic cleansing of Bosniaks.

[@dawnkeyy]

@@AppleCinnamonPie Yea, it was ugly. But the thing also is, "bosniaks" was a new concept then. There used to be croats (and maybe serbs, idk) of muslim faith. Just as there were croats of Orthodox faith, but after the war, they are seen as serbs, and have either converted or, I don't know honestly.

[@NumbData]

Everything seems really well thought out on this, I followed that field strip really easily.

[@ThorsMartell]

For a country as small as Croatia, having a complete domestic production [including all the parts] of a service rifle in similar quality to other modern rifles [certainly better than the Russian AK-12] is quite an achievment. And an important step towards protecting your national independence even under hostile circumstances. Congratulations Croatia.

[@davidbeason3399]

Got to play with the VHS when I was in the Navy. It's a fantastic rifle.

[@Shimpriv]

Interesting, so adjustable stock is actually changing the length of the rod recoil spring travels on. Wonder if that has an effect on firing rate.

[@randomnobodovsky3692]

To me, it looks like spring travels inside the interior piece of stock (the part over which the adjustable buttstock can be moved).

[@otm646]

Being a military rifle it's likely over gassed enough to not make a difference, especially in semi-automatic form. If it was select fire I would be curious to see if there was a slightly different RPM.

[@Firefox13A]

Excellent video. Just picked one up and am learning it inside and out before firing. Pairing it with a Trijicon TA31H ACOG.

[@bryy2053]

Like springfield to cheese it up with a goofy name. Hopefully it will be better than the XD or saint because this looks very interesting.

[@ForgottenWeapons]

Yeah, I wish they would stop doing that.

[@geodkyt]

At least they trust us to know where the grip is this time...

[@parsecboy4954]

@@geodkyt But not how to actuate the back up irons 😂

[@tanall5959]

Gotta have something trademarkable, dontcha know.

[@leonardwei3914]

I always joke that they called their AR-15 line Saint because Chris on the channel Small Arms Solutions consider their M1A line a sinner.

[@calebtueller5412]

that was a really slick disassembly I'm impressed

[@mcdon2401]

For some reason, my inner gadget geek got a kick out of watching the strip down. Decent design and engineering always makes me happy.

[@Airsoftotaku]

Beta fans: If VHS is so good, why isn't there a VHS2? Croatia:

[@COIcultist]

Will they do a Video 2000 version?

[@derarbeitslosehaiderakalal4904]

Damn this thing looks so sick. Thanks for showing it to us♡

[@F-5E3_Tiger_II]

at first sight, I was pretty skeptical. Now I am rather impressed with this rifle

[@toddfeltman3748]

I’ve watched several videos on this new import, and you’re the first to show its complete disassembly. Very cool! Thank you for another great video!

[@thomasbotos7271]

Just purchased a Hellion. Thanks for the brake down, very helpful.

[@stewartjohnson7347]

I just purchased mine and it is my first Bullpup

[@DANO-4899]

Great video Ian. I'm not usually a fan of bullpup rifles, but this looks like a very interesting design. Can't wait to see you shoot it, see how it runs. Thanks for all you do Ian. You are truly awesome.

[@Hellsong89]

My only issue with bullpups is price, the trigger feel and how well balanced the rifle is given the weight should be same or less than full length rifle. Also how much my government hates self reloading rifles and guns over all. Getting one would be huge paper hell and probably would not get it with out huge expense in time and money.

[@stuartgorka989]

If you look as his past videos, he's shot the military/police versions already with good success. Hopefully the import version does as well.

[@kfeltenberger]

“Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.” ~ Steve Jobs. This is simple, elegant, and has some really amazing design work in it.

[@anthonyortiz4538]

This pup is VERY VERY awesome I’m super interested in getting my hands on one looks well built and the thought that went into it is fantastic wel done Croatia and well done Ian great video thank you brother 🙏

[@Bigcat726]

I've always been interested to see comparison with other bull pups like the Tavor, FAMAS, Aug, SA-80a2

[@WojtekTheBear2005]

Hala Madrid

[@johnshockley7921]

One of the best reviews on this weapon I've seen, especially on how to change the ejection for lefties. Thanks, just subscribed

[@SirRigbyBaconKaiser]

I was about to ask is this merely from a trade agreement or has Springfield financially invested in HS Product?

[@ForgottenWeapons]

Just an import arrangement, as far as I can tell.

[@Maker5464]

HS Produkt is more than ten times size of Springdield Armory, they could buy SA not the other way around, they just bought a bank because why not

[@matthewf6852]

@@Maker5464 that seems like a stretch

[@u2beuser714]

@@matthewf6852 ah believe me , he is the least nationalist croat

[@HircineDaWolf]

@@BangBangBang. they are still good guns, remember who made them not imported them. XDs are great guns.

[@Craterfist]

I just spent this whole video going "damn that's slick and clever" again and again. I'm very interested, I need to find a range to try one.

[@themeatpopsicle]

If you've ever seen Croatia's national water polo team, you'd realize the potential need for a very long length of pull 😂

[@johnnybagofdoughnuts4193]

Lol. That’s like saying “Of course the A2 stock is the right length! Have you ever seen the American gold medal winning basketball team?!”

[@themeatpopsicle]

@@johnnybagofdoughnuts4193 IT IS A JOKE ffs

[@robydee920]

@@themeatpopsicle well it shouldn't be a joke because males from Dalmatia on Croatia’s coast are currently the tallest in the world in the 18-year-old category, that is according to an extensive anthropometric survey among 1,803 young men and 782 girls in 66 schools in 23 cities, aged 17 to 20 and overall Croatian men are the 7th tallest on the planet while today the United States ranks 40th.

[@johnnybagofdoughnuts4193]

@@themeatpopsicle I can’t stop laughing

[@themeatpopsicle]

@@johnnybagofdoughnuts4193 Don't particularly care if you don't think it's funny. The joke was not for you.

[@njva228]

A very nice looking rifle, good stuff neighbors! Would love to try it out some day.

[@JustinWillisDevil240Z]

As a long time fan of the Serious Sam video games I have been well aware of the country of Croatia for many years as the developer Croteam is located there.

[@DJGuatemala83]

Some of those "sling attachment points" also come in handy for tie down points for SI with 550 cord. Tie down ur laser Peq15, etc, scopes or EOTechs, takedown ur lasers. Etc.

[@jalenad11]

A private will still lose something...

[@garyguymon9857]

"The Bullpup Trigger" seems to be the next mountain to climb for the design type. There are after market "Fixes" but they also seem like a repair for an item that shouldn't be marketed as a repairable of fixable product right off the shelf.

[@gunfaceUK]

Meh, I had a bullpup as my service rifle for 12 years and when I first picked up an AR I thought the trigger was a POS. A good shooter will get used to whatever weapon they run.

[@garyguymon9857]

@@gunfaceUK That's the problem - stick a rifle in the hands of a recruit and you don;t know if he's Dead Eye Dick or Sad Sack. Not everyone is a Good Shooter', it's why they invented Spray and Pray and Snipers.

[@onpsxmember]

The MDR has a decent one and just talking about the trigger, the Kel-Tec RDB shows how good a bullpup trigger can be with brains. They should have the patents for it.

[@mrjockt]

Most militaries are just happy that their bull pup rifles can hit what they aim at when used by the average soldier, their not really considered as a marksman’s weapon so a “mushy” trigger pull tends to be acceptable.

[@garyguymon9857]

@@mrjockt That's a sad commentary but probably more true than not.

[@user-njyzcip]

To the guys asking for them to be imported: you better buy it now it's here, or other cool guns will never make it!

[@robertcook3004]

I didn't know they were even thinking about importing theses. At 2k though I lean towards just getting an AUG which I've seen as low as 1700

[@user-njyzcip]

@@robertcook3004 its cool factor is waaaay higher than the AUG tho 😉 worth the 300 extra bucks to me, but I'm not in the US

[@angrydragon4574]

@@user-njyzcip Dang buddy, which country are you in?

[@robertcook3004]

@@user-njyzcip the Aug is cooler for me because I grew up with Die Hard and Counter Strike.

[@ladyelect9274]

@@robertcook3004 i saw the hellion for presale on a site marked down to around 1.6k but i cannot find in my searches :( hopefully similar markdowns are in stow though

[@SitNSpinRecords]

I just bought one of these. I also have a xdm elite osp and xdm elite precision and xdm for the wife. Hard to not like a 22+1 9mm The 60 rd mag will fit, but it gets in my arms way just enough to notice.. the 60 rd sure fire is pretty nice tho. So far the biggest complaint i have is how difficult they are to find. Ive seen some for sale for around $2,700-$3,000. Kind of makes me want to consider flipping one or two.

[@ktgiffin8147]

There are a lot of good ideas in this design and you can tell that they've put a lot of thought into it. Still not available in Canada, though.

[@larsmurdochkalsta8808]

The second I saw someone posted a picture of this to Reddit yesterday I immediately checked inrange. Sadly nothing there yet, but I have gun Jesus to tide me over while I wait for the review!

[@olekzajac5948]

Speaking of modern military bullpups (although in this case, not quite fully a bullpup), any chances of talking about the Polish MSBS Grot family of rifles?

[@olekzajac5948]

@@Armored_Muskrat True. Although technically, a civilian version of the rifle with a sixteen inch barrel and in a standard configuration is being sold in Poland. And as far as I know, the only difference between the two is that civilian version is semi-auto only.

[@thegael1996]

​@@olekzajac5948 Radom hasn't got round to importing them yet for whatever reason. It's actually quite hard to export modern firearms to the US.

[@olekzajac5948]

@@dirckthedork-knight1201 The first troop trials batch, the Grot A1 had. Those included breaking stocks, rusting bolts, falling gas regulators and general reliability issues in rough conditions. FB Radom fixed majority of them in the second troop trials batch - Grot A2. However, about a year ago, Onet, one of the biggest internet news sites here in Poland published a "report" (I write it in quotation marks becaues calling it a report is like calling North Korea a democracy) about the supposed unreliability of the rifle and about how adopting it was forced politically and without proper procedures. This "report" was written by Paweł Moszner, who was portrayed by Onet as an ex-Grom (Polish special forces unit) operator. And while he indeed was a Grom operator, he isn't anymore because he was discharged disciplinary after a year of service. The whole "report" was mocked in the industry media for being very unprofessional. For example, they fired thirty magazines after which the barrel melted and reported that the rifle is "not suitable for sustained fire". Who in the hell expects an assault rifle to fire 900 rounds and not melt? Finally, FB Radom filed a lawsuit against the Onet for public defamation (I think) and demanded a public apology and one million zloty (around quarter million dollars). I don't know the outcome of that, but I remember that Onet tried to smear FB Radom writing more articles, for example how Radom factory supposedly bankrupted subcontractors for the rifle production by constantly changing contract conditions. And the funniest part about it is that Onet is owned by a German company. So this whole thing resulted in people calling them "der Onet" (although some did even before that). The whole thing is in my opinion very similar to the "melting G36" scandal that happened some time ago in Germany.

[@theenjoyer1445]

Yes! As soon as I saw the military version I instantly knew I needed this. I WANT THIS GUN!

[@MagnoGetMoney]

Me too, damn too bad I blew all my gun money on an MP5 last month.

[@theenjoyer1445]

@@MagnoGetMoney judging by your profile pciture im guessing you blew your money on something else

[@MagnoGetMoney]

@@theenjoyer1445 yeah, but that came out of my ammo money lol.

[@theenjoyer1445]

@@MagnoGetMoney gross

[@MagnoGetMoney]

@@theenjoyer1445 JK, why would I commission something when the search bar already shows everything you want?

[@moxie_ST]

Hello from Croatia, thanks for review ❤️

[@JRockySchmidt]

Finally a new standard of movie distribution. Been using VHS way too long glad it got an update.

[@lucacrippa5237]

It would be nice to see the APS 95, another croatian assault rifle from the 90s

[@nijoe70]

You could literally live your whole life in Croatia, serve as a conscript in Croatian army, and never see one.

[@lucacrippa5237]

@@nijoe70 I know, such a shame :'(

[@magoid]

I was thinking about a switchable bullpup, and it came to my mind that someone could use the Beretta ARX100 bolt on a bullpup. Put the charging handle on another place, make a port cover that do the side ejection switch and voilà: a bullpup with on-the-fly side ejection switch.

[@TheGreatAlannnnnn]

Hey how dare you that’s is my idea Btw I was just joking

[@Veldtian1]

Yeah with all the ambi on the VHS including the adjustable stock someone finally got their shit together.

[@rhaynesify]

Every time I play with my ARX I think of this concept.

[@dbmail545]

I just hope these sell enough to make it worthwhile for Geissele and Shooting Sight to develop aftermarket triggers for them. The Super Sabra and the Tav-D really make the Tavor.

[@tbone9803]

I have the tav D pack and the lightning bow trigger on my SAR and it's god tier

[@pogchamp1038]

Some great design work here for quality of life. Line the multiple qd mounts, ambidextrous everything, the irons look solid. Trigger seems unfortunate but I'd love one of these. I'd have to train bullpup mag drills lol. Never done those. Cool video man

[@TotalRookie_LV]

The crazyest thing is, one of the first pictures of VHS rifles I've ever seen outside some show settings, was not on this or some other channel or from a range, but photos form Syrian civil war.

[@garythescouttrooper4908]

The Hellion reminds me of the BR55 Service Rifle from Halo. I wonder if Ian will test fire this rifle at the range soon.

[@Treblaine]

Hollywood armourers should buy these in bulk, they look like the perfect futuristic weapon. Though these days it seems its really popular to show some AR15 variant still being used 50+ years into the future which, I suppose, isn't that implausible.

[@bachtomin213]

Just don't give one to Alec Baldwin.

[@Treblaine]

@@bachtomin213 I'd trust Alec Baldwin more than I'd trust Dick Cheney. No one tricked Cheney into thinking he had a safe prop gun and there's no way any actor is falling for that trick again.

[@davidhoran7116]

@@Treblaine imagine shooting your friend in the face and then getting your friend to apologize on national television for “any stress I may have caused the Cheney family”

[@Treblaine]

@@davidhoran7116 I still can't hear the Aerosmith's "Janie's got a gun" without hearing "Cheney's got a gun".

[@Treblaine]

@@kitosjek9541 The buck stops with the director. Any hiring or firing is at their behest, they have the ultimate authority on set. It was the director who checked the prop gun that the armourer brought to him. It's not like when that helicopter crashed and killed 3 people (2 of them kids) the director, John Landis, didn't mislead the helicopter pilot or explosives specialist into the danger of the situation. If he had then only John Landis would have been on trial for manslaughter.

[@colinm2056]

Love to see a side by side comparison between this & the Keltec RDB.

[@geodkyt]

I suspect this one will actually run in the mud.

[@marcomlott9099]

Thanks for showing the field strip process.

[@Rancor12]

This is extremely exciting. My jaw dropped seeing this pop up in my feed. I can't wait til I can get around to picking one of these up.