In use with the Austrian Army concurrently with the 7.63mm Broomhandle, the Red Nine name comes from the field practice of deeply branding a "9" into the grips; even in low-visibility situations, a soldier could know what ammunition to load just by taking hold of the pistol. Blade front and tangent rear sights graduated to 500 meters with the three-line Oberndorf address on top of the chamber, "crown/crown/U" commercial and "crown/gothic letter" military proofs on either side, two-line address on the right side of the frame, a New Safety hammer and niter blue small parts. The grips are in the 24-groove configuration with the branded and red-filled "9" on each side. Included with the pistol is a holster stock rig consisting of a brown leather carrier marked "C.HOLSTE&Co/MUNCHEN/1916", a hardwood stock numbered "639" on the mounting iron, and a wood handled bright steel cleaning rod.

Fine as completely refinished, with 95% plus blue finish, showing some mild handling marks, a small amount of edge wear, and some shallow pitting beneath the blue. The replacement grips and stock have been crudely renumbered to match, with some mild dings and dents, and the harness is fair as repaired, with re-stitched belt loops and strap as well as some mild scuffs and loose stitching. Mechanically fine.