Don't be afraid of a vintage part. You have unfortunatly experienced a rare fluke. I would not venture any opinion as to the cause without seeing the evidence, but in general the vintage Luger in good condition should take all the in spec ammo you can stuff in it until your kids die of old age. By the time your grandkids have it, the bore will be worn out from too much cleaning.
Possible contributing factors:
1: The link had a flaw in it to start with. Not likely but possible.
2: Weak recoil spring. Fairly likely. I've opened a bunch of Lugers and found everything from A to Z for a recoil spring. Thor says the same. (Hey guys! Maybe this is how we spot the fakes!)
3: Overly hot ammo. I know of no current commercial load hot enough to cause this sort of problem with the standard recoil spring. It would have to be a handload or who knows what. The history of the pistol is an unknown.
As an incidental note, the Luger is designed so that in a properly fitted example, the rear link transmits the back thrust from the knuckle to the receiver ramps. (Not the frame ramps that unlock the toggle linkage.) If the break is to the rear of the receiver ramps it is almost certainly related to the impulse and not the pressure. Pressure alone will rarely break the linkage.
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