What is this strap?
 

I recently got this 1916 DWM and it has a leather strap on the lanyard loop. Any information will be appreciated.

Hi James,

This type of strap attached to the lanyard loop was typically installed to aid in lifting the pistol from its holster. I think the lifting strap in the standard P.08 holsters an ungainly setup, and consider this option actually quite elegant. Another member, Eric (cirelaw) commissioned Jerry Burney (lugerholsterrepair) to fashion one for him--search for it and you may find the thread--or maybe Eric, himself, or Jerry will shoot us a pic. As I recall,it turned out great!

Thanks for the reply. Was it an official accessory, and what era is it from? Post-WW I?

Sorry, you may have gone to the well once too often, in my case! I cannot give your questions definitive answers.

Recollection is that it was not anything official, but take that with a grain of salt. I have another fuzzy recall, like, it may be more often encountered on pistols associated with the Swiss? We both better hope that some who actually know something about the artifact and its historical use chime in here.

I'm just a dummy; Jerry Burney is the acknowledged expert in this area, and he posts pics occasionally of Luger "pulls" and/or lanyards...Here's a thread/pic he posted some time back -

http://forum.lugerforum.com/showthread.php?t=28419

http://forum.lugerforum.com/attachme...1&d=1338758573

Yours seems to be a home-made 'pull', much shorter than usually found, and could I suppose be called a 'field expedient solution' to the problem of getting a Luger out of its holster quickly... :p

James..The strap you show on your pistol looks to be a home made aid to pistol extraction as indicated by David and he is correct. The Swiss were quite fond of this handy device. You see a short lanyard sewn permanently onto Swiss pistols fairly frequently whereas you don't on German pistols.
The photo posted by Rich is my answer to keeping stress off of the pull-up strap of your holster when you take out the pistol cause if you break it..it's bad.
Mine is also removeable so you can transfer it one to the other. I also use one at the range as a steadying brace as it lays on my wrist.