That is what is left of a magazine safety. Like most of the safeties that haven't been removed completly, it has been deactivated by cutting off the little tab that blocks the trigger from being pulled when the magazine has been removed. This safety was intended to keep the trigger being pulled and the gun from being fired when the magazine was removed but there was still a live round in the chamber. It wasn't a well received modification, so most of them were completly removed or, as in the case of your gun, deactivated. It is kind of scarce and an intact original is quite rare.
Ron
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If it's made after 1918...it's a reproduction
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