Lanyard with Magazine?

[Jack Leslie]

I just got a repro M1911 magazine with a lanyard loop and cannot figure out how it was used.

I thought that the clip on the lanyard went on the pistol and the lanyard loop would then go through the loop on the magazine. The rope of the lanyard is too thick to fit doubled through the magazine ring. Did each magazine use its own lanyard as well as one for the pistol?

Inquiring minds want to know (my wife - as usual - thinks I'm crazy trying to figure out how calvary men arranged their pistols & magazines 100 years ago).

Thanks,
Jack

Information

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[Jim K]

The original lanyard had three snaps, one for the pistol and one each for two magazines. The reason for the lanyard was primarily for cavalry (1911, remember?). A cavalry trooper in the middle of a charge couldn't just say "oops" and go back to pick up his pistol or a magazine he dropped. So the trooper must have looked a bit like a maypole, but he kept his pistol and magazines.

Jim

[Jack Leslie]

Ah, thanks. The lanyard that I have just has one snap. I was hearing about the cavalry lanyard, but looking at this other lanyard and getting confused. How rare are the calvary lanyards?

Jack

[Johnny Peppers]

Jim, can you reference a description or picture of the lanyard with three snaps? The Model 1902 lanyard was made for the revolver, and did not fit the Model 1911 properly. In correspondence from Lt.Col. John Thompson dated August of 1913 he described filing the snap down to fit the 1911. It was not until 1917 that a lanyard was approved for the Model 1911 pistol.

[Jack Leslie]

Looking at the "What Price Glory" web site (What Price Glory - US M1917 Pistol Lanyard), it looks as if I have the M1917 lanyard (original, I guess, since I have had it for several years), but it just has one clip.

Jack

[smokey]

Jim K, Can you site a reference for the "three snap lanyard"? I'm always interested in Horse Cav stuff but I've never heard of a lanyard as you describe. Thanks, Nick

[Jim K]

I can't at the moment, though I once saw a picture of one. So by not having absolute incontrovertible proof of my statement, I guess I left myself open for another "gotcha."

If there was never any such lanyard, though, just what did those magazine loops attach to? If the only lanyard ever made had only a single snap, why bother to put loops on the magazines and the gun as well?

Jim

[RayP.]

Don't know the 1st.(or 2nd.)thing about them but in the late 40's] we had a neighbor who was a WW1 vet and he had pictures of himself on horseback and I remember 2 lanyards hanging over his shoulder,couldn't make out how attached(maybe one for a whistle?),or maybe a make shift use of a 2nd. lanyard use on his part?.

RayP.

[Jim K]

Well, I have been digging. I don't have as much documentation on the 1911 as many others, but I can't find the picture I thought I remembered. In fact, I can't find any reference to a three snap lanyard. There are a number of web site references to a two snap arrangement, but no pictures on those either, and nothing in the standard books about any lanyards with other than a single snap.

Another oddity is that I can find references to the pistol loop; a revolver type loop was added to the 1902 test pistols at the request of the Army. It went through several changes before becoming the type we know on the 1911. But I can't find any reason or requirement for a magazine loop, except in the "go and do likewise" in magazine contracts. It doesn't seem logical that the Army would request something yet have no idea how to use it, so possibly it was a Colt or Browning idea. It does make sense, as the magazine is really part of the pistol and its loss would seriously limit the capability of the gun. Yet, there was no issue of a double snap lanyard and, as far as I can tell, no order to use a second lanyard for the magazine.

There is also no indication of a magazine pouch with provision for attachment of a lanyard to a magazine.

That there was apparently no serious magazine loss is indicated by elimination of the magazine loop in 1916, even before the U.S. entered WWI.

If anyone has any info on the why and wherefore of the magazine loop, I am sure others would like to read it.

I will add that I know of no foreign pistol magazines with loops (except for copies of the 1911). If there ever had been a problem with magazine loss, it did not seem to occur in other armies.

Jim

[The Wizard]

First, you must realize that first and foremost the U.S. Pistol, calibet .45 Model of 1911 was a cavalry weapon. When executing a horse back pistol charge the left hand is controling the horse by holding the reains and the right hand is firing the pistol. If you release an empty magazine it fall to the ground never to be seen again! The lanyard loop on the magazine was so they wouldn't being losing magazines. Anyone who has been in the military knows how anal it can be when it comes to equipment, especially in times of limited funds, as in the 1911 to 1917 period.