Mendoza C-1934

The Mendoza C-1934 was a Mexican light machine gun designed by Rafael Mendoza and his firm Productos Mendoza, with development starting in 1928 or 1929 and formal acceptance by the Mexican Army in 1934. It was intended as the army squad-level automatic weapon, much as the Browning Automatic Rifle served in the United States. Although it owed much to the British Lewis and French Hotchkiss guns, it was lighter and cheaper than its contemporaries. A wooden-stocked, gas-operated weapon with a quick-change barrel, muzzle brake and folding bipod, it fed 7x57mm Mauser cartridges from a twenty-round box on top of the receiver and fired about 450 rounds per minute with selective fire. Military Factory says it stayed in front-line service until 1945, while Forgotten Weapons says production only began in 1939 and continued into the 1950s with about 5,000 built. Later refinements included the Model 45 and RM-2.