[mrerick]

I have had a couple of Lugers that arrived with this defect.

As Don says, the problem is relatively easy to repair. I have even done one of these repairs myself. This allows you to retain the original numbered grips on an otherwise matching pistol.

The repair work usually involves cutting the broken grip surface back along one of the lines of the surface cuts that form the diamond grip pattern. A replacement piece is fitted and permanently attached, then re-contoured and re-surface cut to match the rest of the grip. With proper stain and finish it can be very difficult to see where the repair was done.