Mondragon Rifle (Fusil Mondragon)

History of the Moon Dragon Rifle (Fusil Mondragon)

The Mondragon rifle became one of the first semi-automatic service rifles to be widely adopted by major armies, and one of the first worldwide to be used for combat duty - at the time it was a standard service rifle that was manually operated bolt action rifle. This rifle takes its name from its designer, Manual Mondragon (1859-1952), a general who served in the Mexican Army from 1880-1914. Mondragon began work on a new automatic rifle concept in 1882 and patented it in 1887.

The weapon was used in the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920), World War I (1914-1918), Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), World War II (1939-1945), Ecuador-Peru War (1941), used during the Chinese Civil War (1927-1950), the Korean War (1950-1953) and the Vietnam War (1955-1975).

The driving principle behind the revolutionary Mondragon rifle is the use of an air cylinder (which is expelled from the barrel) to drive the piston and is equipped with a swivel bolt with locking lugs and grooved receivers. In a world that still relies on the tried-and-true but cumbersome manual bolting operation, such a design was ahead of its time. Another unique aspect of the rifle - which is factored into its design by government agencies that don't trust this automatic mechanical feature in firearms - is that the automatic system can be separated from the breech, allowing the rifle to go "straight forward" by default. was fired. Pull" bolt action rifle.

The chamber of the Mondragon rifle fires the 7x57mm Spanish Mauser cartridge, and its base rifle is made from an eight-round magazine.

The production of Mondragon rifles began in 1887, with approximately 1,175,400 rifles eventually produced. However, with local Mexican factories unable to produce such a complex weapon and with little interest from the neighboring United States, early versions were made abroad.

As a result, the Swiss company Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft Schweiz (known today by the initials "SIG") was awarded an initial contract for the production of about 4,000 rifles. Deliveries began shortly thereafter, and the first rifles arrived in Mexico in 1901 under the designation "Fusil Mondragon Modelo 1900" for the Mexican army.

In practice, the Mondragon rifle demonstrates the quality standards common to Swiss-made firearms and demonstrates the engineering prowess of the Mondragon. This weapon proved to be a very capable and powerful man-killer, and the automatic bolt action was a very advanced concept for rifles at the time.

However, due to the inherently violent recoil (common in many early bolt-action rifles), the entire system proved rather unwieldy during fully automatic fire, so range accuracy in this mode was rather poor.

The Mondragon rifle range was expanded with the development of a light machine gun model. This version introduces a bipod for forward support, as well as a larger number of magazines (30- and 100-round drums available). As a light machine gun, this type can be used to suppress enemy movements or as a portable infantry squad support light machine gun, similar to today's FN Minimi models.

The Mondragon Light Machine Gun (LMG) held this role in the Mexican Army until it was replaced by the Mendoza M1943 General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG) in 1943.

It was not until 1908 that the Mexican factory was remodeled to prepare the rifle as a local product. These rifles, made entirely in Mexico, are now known as the "Fusil Porfirio Diaz Sistema Mondragon Modelo 1908". The main difference between these models is their standard 20-round firing capability.

After that, other production facilities came online, and the manufacture of local weapons continued until the middle of World War II in 1943.

The Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) changed several factors in home fronts across the country. By 1911, the movement was keen to oust then-President Diaz, and by that time only 400 Mondragon rifles had been delivered to the initial production order. The ensuing government turmoil canceled the Mexican SIG contract for the Mondragon rifle.

That leaves SIG with no buyers for the remainder of the 4,000-person Mondragon order book. The SIG successfully sold hundreds of these rifles to potential customers around the world, and the German Reich authorities eventually procured the remaining 3,000 rifles in 1914, the beginning of World War I.

These German-owned Mondragon rifles were issued to infantry and pilots, and some to Austria-Hungary. In the former role, the rifle proved too easy to collect environmental debris, resulting in frequent failures. As a result, these rifles were eventually removed from front-line service.

In the latter role, these guns were armed with 30-round screw magazines and were named "Fliegerself-Loading Karabine Model 1915" (literally "Pilot's Self-Loading Carbine Model 1915") and sent to scout fighters to offset Limited delivery of German air machine guns. However, as the production of machine guns kept pace with relative demand, the Mondragon was completely phased out as a flying machine.

Some Mondragon rifles continued to be issued to parts of the German Navy and remained in service until the end of the war in 1918.

After the war, the supply of Mondragon decided that the Mexican authorities would try to sell their unique rifle on the open world market. Customers ultimately come from all over the world, including local allies and friendly countries, and those willing to pay for locally licensed production rights. Post-war and interwar Germany, Imperial Japan, and Austria all opted to produce rifles domestically.

Production was so great that by the start of World War II, rifles were in very small numbers, and some were even equipped with optical sights for specialized sniper missions. Mexico supplied Mondragon rifles directly to the guerrillas in the Philippines to repel the invading Japanese.

The French Vichy forces also used this rifle at one time, as did the armed forces of China and the Soviet Union.

The Mondragon saw future action in several other limited and wide-ranging conflicts, including the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

Until 1949, Mexico used the Mondragon family of firearms in some form or another. Some foreign operators are still using this type today.

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