7x57mm. 25" barrel. SN: 769. Blued metal finish with bright bolt in straight wrist stock with full length upper handguard, adjustable ladder rear notch and front blade sights. Gas piston driven rotating bolt semi-automatic rifle fed by an internal magazine charged with stripper clips. Rifle is sparsely marked from the factory, correct for Sig made Mondragon rifles, with {Hammer} inspection stamp on the bolt, {Cap} stamp on right receiver and follower, {Arrow} assembly mark on receiver cap, and C stamp to receiver cap. Serial number on rear sight does not match. Rifle is missing the extractor, sight slider, and upper barrel band retaining pin. Remaining serial numbers match. Stock has been sanded with buttplate fitting proud of wood. 

Designed by Manuel Mondragon of the Mexican Army, the Model 1908 Mondragon rifle was the very first self-loading rifle adopted for service by a military. A tinkerer and reformer in his own right, Mondragon designed a number of different armaments including bolt-action rifles and even a 75mm howitzer. His self-loading rifle was complicated, and required advanced machinery to manufacture that was not yet available in Mexico itself. Consequently, the first 4,000 rifles were to be manufactured in Switzerland by Sig. Of those, 400 were received by Mexico prior to the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution of 1910, which resulted in the order being canceled. While Mondragon would go on to serve dictator Victoriano Huerta through the revolution, his rifles remained in Switzerland awaiting a buyer until 1915, when they were purchased by Imperial Germany. Those rifles were used by aircraft observers during the first phase of the Air War in World War I, until aircooled machine guns could replace them in service. Very few Mondragon rifles remain today, with many having been lost or destroyed in both the Mexican Revolution and First World War. {C&R}

Fair to Good. Bore is Frosty with patina throughout and strong rifling. Metal finish fading to brown patina overall with some light pitting on receiver flanks. Gray to brown mottling on polished bolt. Stock has handling wear and dents. Stock has been sanded with buttplate fitting proud. Missing extractor, rear sight slider, and upper barrel band pin.