Most stock lugs that have been mutilated or completely removed were done so in the mistaken belief that the 1934 National Firearms Act required the lugs removal. It did not. The law forbid the owning of a pistol AND stock combination that could be assembled and used as a carbine or short rifle.
Thus, you could legally own the pistol with the stock lug intact OR the stock intact...... but not both unless you had applied for - and received - permission and paid the $200 tax. Some who owned both chose to remove the iron from the stock (and, one would assume, "lose" the iron) while others ground the stock lug from the pistol, making it impossible to attach the stock. A large number of mis-informed people needlessly mutilated their pistols by gringing the lug, thinking they were complying with the law. They weren't. I once had a commercial .30 Luger that had been ground just enough to ruin it.
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