Josef Laumann was an Austrian designer of early ring-trigger manually repeating pistols, and was one of the first to develop that type of handgun into a semiautomatic. He took an 1891 pattern ring trigger gun and adapted it with an 1892 patent into a simple blowback self-loader - coming very close to being the first self-loading pistol actually built in the process (although he was just beaten out by the Salvator-Dormus).

He continued to refine the design with the financial aid of the Schonberger brothers, who were his financiers in the endeavor. With their assistance, he produced two patterns of 1894 semiauto pistol, although neither would prove successful enough to see substantial production.

I have the great opportunity today to bring you both an 1891 ring-trigger Laumann as well as examples of both the first and second pattern 1894 Schonberger-Laumann semiautos!