Page 376 - 4090-BOOK1

Manuel Mondragon
LOT 493
Scarce Swiss Model 1908 Mondragon Semi-Automatic Rifle
- Serial no. 1751, 7 mm Mondragon cal., 25 inch round bbl., blue
finish, walnut stock. This is a very fine example of a Swiss Model 1908 Mondragon semi-automatic rifle chambered in the 7 mm Mondragon cartridge. Col. Manuel Mondragon was an officer and later general in the Mexican army who designed several weapons that were some of the most technically advanced in the world in the early 1900s. These Model 1908 Mondragon rifles were all made in Switzerland due to
the fact that only the SIG factory had the capability of manufacturing weapons of this type with such close tolerances as required by Mondragon. It is estimated that only 400 of this model were ever delivered to Mexico before the Mexican Revolution broke out, with the remaining rifles all being sold to Germany prior to WWI. Any example is considered very rare, with very few ever being seen in the U.S. The Mondragon employs an early gas-impingement system that drives
an operating rod on the right side of the receiver to cycle the bolt.
The rifle has a rotating bolt with four front locking lugs, which is very similar to the Swiss 1891 Schmidt-Rubin and K31 rifles.
It is fitted with a military
style tangent rear sight marked from “4-2000” (400-2000 meters) with an inverted “V” front sight and a bayonet lug on the underside of the barrel. The rifle action is unmarked except for the serial number which is stamped on the left side of the action, top of the bolt and cocking handle. The back side of the magazine box is unnumbered and so
is the buttstock. The stock and hand guard are both correctly made from a light colored European straight grained walnut, lightly marked “81.55” on the left side near the magazine. with a flat steel buttplate. CONDITION: Very fine with 90% plus of the original blue finish still remaining overall with some minor edge and high spot wear. The recoiled stock and handguard are both also very good showing
some minor handling marks and gouges on the sides of the sock. Mechanically excellent. A very nice example of a scarce later production Mondragon model 1908 semi-automatic rifle.
Estimate: 22,500 - 35,000
374