Description
02/12/26 - For sale is a very rare Mexican Model 1908 Mondragon Semi auto made by SIG of Switzerland. The Mondragon is a rifle designed by General Manuel Mondragon of Mexico. Mondragon had started his rifle designs while staying in Belgium as a straight pull bolt action rifle back in the early 1890s. He would finalize his design on a self loading rifle in 1904 and begin filing patents.
The Mexican Government would adopt the rifle and contracted SIG of Switzerland to build 4,000 rifles. The Mondragon is considered as the first self loading rifle to be adopted by a formal military. When the first few batches of the rifles arrived in Mexico (roughly 400), They had faired poorly due to poor quality ammunition and environment. Due to the drawbacks, and the cost of the rifle, the Mexican government would cancel the rest of the order.
Imperial Germany would pick up the remaining rifles (roughly 3600) and would begin their trials. The Germans would see the same issues with the rifles functioning in mud and dirt. Instead, the German Flying Corps would adopt the rifle and were issued to aircrew. These rifles would be issued with 30 round drum magazines and replaced the Gewehr98's and Lugers used in combat. With the widespread adoption of the MG.08 Machine gun, these rifles were quickly replaced.
This example is in excellent condition with the metal having a nice military bluing with light oxidation freckling. There is an old grind mark on the receiver of removing the crest/roll stamp above the serial number. The stock is bright with light surface scuffs. There is a about a 5" crack in front of the charging handle and another about 1" behind the trigger inside the stock. There is also another crack between the back of the handguard to the back of the rear sight cutout. Under the rear barrel band is an unrepaired duffle cut. The bore is very bright and the rifling is strong. The rifle has matching numbers on the Bolt, Op rod disconnect, charging handle, and trigger guard. The firing pin is stamped 122, the piston sleeve is stamped 19 and the op rod is stamped 408. There is an 817 stamped on the side of the stock that is thought to be a German stamp. There is a Boxed RFK stamped on the comb of the stock. The official meaning is unknown.
