This weapon was designed by Capos Industries, to replace the foreign produced weapons then in use by the Mercenary Army employed by Desert Star in 108PA. During the course of it's development, it evolved rather quickly, and went into production no more than six months after the first prototype was produced. In total 2,278 HLP-4s were produced by Capos Industries, before the CS Invasion in May of 110PA. Three hundred and twelve of these were issued to members of the mercenary battalion employed by Desert Star, which was prior to the existence of the elite N.O.M.A.D. military arm of the Kingdom. A further hundred more were procured by New Hope, a city state on the coast of old California, for their police/militia. The single largest recipient of Capos Industries HLP-4s is oddly enough the Coalition States! When the CS invaded they captured three hundred HLP-4s, still in their factory shipping crates, in addition to those captured as side arms of Mercenaries that were captured or killed by the CS. Those taken by the CS forces were either sent home for analysis or were retained by Special Forces soldiers as trophy acquisitions. The remaining 1,566 HLP-4s were sold to various independant customers or small mercenary companies between 108PA and 110PA.

      After the liberation of Desert Star, Capos Industries restarted production of the HLP-4, to supply the fledgling military arm of Desert Star that would later become the N.O.M.A.D. Military. In 112PA national industry was reorganized and restructured, cutting Capos Industries out of the arms industry nearly entirely. This change left all arms production to the new industry of Desert Star - S-Mart. In August of 112PA, the jigs, molds, and equipment to produce the HLP-4 were handed over to S-Mart. Minor changes were made to the HLP-4, making it the HLP-4A, before S-Mart began scale production of the weapon in October.

      Prior to the introduction of the Iron Horse, that revolutionized transportation between Desert Star and it's Eastern Allies, it was difficult for Eastern mercenaries to attain the highly acclaimed HLP-4 without traveling west. This left a nich in the market for a cottage industry of knock-offs to emerge. While the occasional weapon smith will produce something that resembles the HLP-4, and sell it under this label, they are seldom equivalent to the real thing. One weapon smith stands out among them, however, as being capable of producing a nearly identical copy with all the same features as the HLP-4. This is a 56 year old former mercenary/weapons engineer named Jess Wyancampf, in Lazlo. He started knocking off the HLP-4 back in 111PA, when a friend approached him and lamented about his incapability to attain one of the highly acclaimed weapons. Jess asked another friend of his to loan theirs to him, and so he began studying it, taking notes, and eventually produced his first knock off of the weapon - which he nicknamed "The Bulldog". Ever since that first occasion mercenaries have continually hired him to produce for them one of his Bulldogs. Since that first knock-off Jess has produced around sixty of these weapons.

      Since it's debut in 108PA the HLP-4 in all of it's guises has gained fans far and wide. It has become the standard side arm of the N.O.M.A.D. Military Arms, the New Hope Police/Militia Forces, and more recently the Silvereno Sheriff's department. It has also seen use by thousands of independent mercenaries, and a handful of gun slingers even choose the HLP-4 as their side arm of choice. It's light weight and damaging capabilities has prompted several CS Special Forces troops, who took part in the invasion of Desert Star, to continue wearing their trophy weapons as their side arm.