Mondragón rifle

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Mondragón rifle
Type Semi-automatic rifle
Place of origin  Mexico[1]
Service history
In service 1910-1923[2] (Mexico)
1915-1917 (Germany)
Used by See Users
Wars Mexican Revolution
World War I
Production history
Designer General Manuel Mondragón
Designed ca. 1904
Manufacturer Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft
Produced 1908 - 1911
Specifications
Weight 4.18 kg (9 lb 3oz)[3]
Length 1105 mm (43.5 in)[3]
Barrel length 577 mm (22.7 in)[3]
Action gas-operated, rotating bolt
Muzzle velocity 760 m/s (2300 ft/s)[3]
Effective firing range 800m (876 yds.)
Maximum firing range 2,000m (2,187 yds.)
Feed system 8 round en-bloc clip,
20 round box,
30 round drum,
Sights Rear: Ladder graduated 400-2000 m
Front: Blade

The Mondragón was an early Mexican semi-automatic rifle. It was designed by Mexican artillery officer general Manuel Mondragón and it was the one of the first semi-automatic rifles to see combat use.

In 1891 Mondragón began working on a semi-automatic rifle design, although, his first designs were two straight-pull bolt action rifles - M1893 and M1894, chambered in 6.5x48mm Mondragón and 5.2x68mm Rubin, respectively.[4][5] Mondragón continued his work and by 1904 he filed an application for a patent of a semi-automatic rifle. The design was adopted by the Mexican Army in 1908 as 'Fusil Porfirio Diaz Sistema Mondragón Modelo 1908'. It was a gas-operated rifle with a cylinder and piston arrangement, now very familiar but unusual at the time, and rotating bolt, locked by lugs in helical grooves in the receiver; it was also possible to operate the rifle as a simple straight-pull bolt action by pressing a switch located on the charging handle. The rifle was chambered in 7mm Mauser cartridge and had a non-detachable box magazine that was fed via 8 round en-bloc clips[6] (similar to the ones used in M1 Garand). Later, SIG introduced a bipod and a detachable 20 round box magazine,[3] although the rifle's magazine floorplate had to be removed in order to use the 20 round magazine. Two types of bayonets were provided for the rifle: blade bayonet (similar to the one used with Schmidt-Rubin M1899 rifle) and spade bayonet.[7][8]

Production

In 1908 the Mexican government made a contract with Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft (SIG) for production of 4,000 Mondragón rifles chambered in 7×57mm Mauser cartridge. Due to the political instability of Mexico at that time (Mexican Revolution), by 1910 only 400 of the 4,000 ordered rifles were delivered by SIG, the rifle's inability to cope with ammunition of poor quality led to cancellation of the order.

Use in World War I

With World War I, in 1914 German Empire bought the remainder of SIG's stock[3] that had not been sent to Mexico (which was about 3,000 rifles), the rifles were rechambered to 7.92×57mm Mauser,[2] which was the service cartridge of German military at the time. At first they were issued to the infantry, where they proved highly susceptible to mud and dirt in the trenches (a problem familiar even to less complex bolt action rifles such as the Ross rifle[9]). German high command realizing the potential of a portable semi-automatic rifle decided to withdraw the rifle from the army and reissue them to the Imperial German Flying Corps (Luftstreitkräfte) for aircraft use (where mud and dirt wouldn't be of an issue). The rifle was adopted as 'F.-S.-K. 15 - Flieger-Selbstlade-Karabiner, Modell 1915' (Aviator's Selfloading Carbine, Model 1915). The rifles used a 30-round drum magazine,[3] known as Trommelmagazin für F.-S.-K.. This drum magazine bears strong resemblance to the 32-round drum magazine (Trommelmagazin 08) that was patented by Friedrich Blum[10] for the long (or "artillery") model of Luger pistol (LP08) and later used with the MP 18. The air force used the Mondragón rifles until enough machine guns became available to them. Few of the German versions of the rifle had survived the war.[3] After the war some of the rifles were in use by Imperial German Navy.[11]

Additional notes

The Mondragón rifle might have been used by Mexican soldiers during an ambush on Pancho Villa.[2] Despite the fact that some of the sources claim that the Mexican Army used the rifle since 1911,[12][13] two pictures from Crónica Ilustrada Revolución Mexicana, Volume 1 on pages: 100[14] and 159,[15] plus an article from Guns magazine[16] suggest that the rifle was in service as early as 1910.

Rifle scheme and operating procedure

Mondragon patent from 1907:

  • 001 mondragon patent rifle.jpg
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  • 007 mondragon patent rifle.jpg
  • 008 mondragon patent rifle.jpg
  • 009 mondragon patent rifle.jpg
  • 010 mondragon patent rifle.jpg
  • 011 mondragon patent rifle.jpg
  • 012 mondragon patent rifle.jpg
  • 013 mondragon patent rifle.jpg
  • 014 mondragon patent rifle.jpg
  • 015 mondragon patent rifle.jpg
  • 016 mondragon patent rifle.jpg
  • 017 mondragon patent rifle.jpg

Users

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://world.guns.ru/rifle/autoloading-rifles/switch/mondragon-e.html
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "letter". Retrieved 27 January 2014. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Fitzsimons, Bernard (1978). Illustrated Encyclopedia of Weapons and Warfare, Volume 18. London: Phoebus Publishing Company. pp. 1933–1934. 
  4. ↑ Hughes, James B. (1968). Mexican Military Arms: The Cartridge Period 1866-1967. Houston: Deep River Armory. pp. 19, 22.
  5. ↑ Ford, Roger (1998). The World's Great Rifles. London: Brown Books. pp. 101-102.
  6. ↑ Hughes, James B. (1968). Mexican Military Arms: The Cartridge Period 1866-1967. Houston: Deep River Armory. pp. 36.
  7. ↑ http://www.google.com/patents/US1003119
  8. ↑ Hughes, James B. (1968). Mexican Military Arms: The Cartridge Period 1866-1967. Houston: Deep River Armory. pp. 52.
  9. ↑ Fitzsimons, Bernard (1978). Illustrated Encyclopedia of Weapons and Warfare, Volume 20. London: Phoebus Publishing Company. pp. 2223.
  10. ↑ Walter, John (2003). Military Rifles of Two World Wars. London: Greenhill Books. pp. 69.
  11. ↑ Walter, John (2006). The Rifle Story: An Illustrated History from 1756 to the Present Day. London: Greenhill Books. pp. 192.
  12. ↑ Hatcher, Julian S. (1957). Hatcher's Notebook, 2nd Edition. Harrisburg: Telegraph Press. pp. 157.
  13. ↑ Westwood, David. Rifles: An Illustrated History of Their Impact. ABC-CLIO. p. 117. 
  14. ↑ http://www.inehrm.gob.mx/imagenes/planvalla/02.jpg
  15. ↑ http://www.inehrm.gob.mx/imagenes/prilevanrevo/17.jpg
  16. ↑ Edwards, William B. (1958). "Guns for a Nation of Riflemen". Guns (7): 45, 47. 

External links

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