Josef Schulhof (1824 - 1890) was originally a farmer but moved to Vienna in 1870 to work as a gunmaker. He patented a repeating rifle in 1882 and a manually operated repeating pistol in 1884. Only a small number of Schulhof's rifles and pistols were manufactured and sold on the commercial market. The highest known serial number on the pistols is 36. See Ian Hogg's "Illustrated Encyclopedia of Firearms" on page 277. Schulhof's repeating pistols vary, sometimes significantly, from piece to piece. Note how different the pistol shown on page 139 of "Handguns of the World" by Edward C. Ezell is for example. This pistol has a magazine tube under the grips that loads from the front via a door on the bottom of the frame, but others are known that load via a hinged grip. The firing mechanisms also vary from piece to piece. On this piece, pulling the ring trigger back pushes the bolt forward and, as it reaches the rear, it hits a second trigger mechanism which drops the firing pin. The firing pin automatically recocks when the trigger moves forward. The matching serial number "33" is marked throughout including on both grips. There are no Schulhof markings.

Fine with bright metal overall, some minor marks and scratches throughout, faint signs of pitting, and a few slight flakes where brass is showing around the trigger. The revarnished grips are good with mostly crisp checkering and glossy varnish and some minor handling and storage type marks. Mechanically fine.