Mendoza M1945
- Category
- Machine Gun
- Barrel
- Not recorded
- Weight, empty
- Not recorded
- Introduced
- 1945
About
What it is, and why it matters
The Mendoza M1945 (Model 45) is a Mexican gas-operated, air-cooled light machine gun designed by Rafael Mendoza as a refined development of his earlier C-1934. Rechambered from 7x57mm Mauser to the American .30-06 Springfield cartridge, it introduced a redesigned receiver, a shorter barrel, and a perforated muzzle brake while retaining the family's hallmarks: a long-stroke gas piston firing from an open bolt, an offset top-mounted 20-round box magazine, a quick-change barrel, and a folding bipod. It served as a transitional Mexican Army light machine gun before the closely related RM-2.
Rafael Mendoza kept refining his indigenous Mexican machine gun through the 1930s and 1940s; the Model 45 traded the original 7mm Mauser chambering for the .30-06 to match ammunition Mexico was already fielding, a stepping stone toward his final RM-2 design.
Introduced in 1945 as an improved version of the C-1934, standardized on the .30-06 cartridge already in Mexican service. The offset top-mounted magazine allowed the sights to be positioned to the side of the bore. Model-45-specific dimensional figures are sparsely documented; the design bridges the 7x57mm C-1934 and the later .30-06 RM-2.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- Productos Mendoza S.A.
- Category
- Machine Gun
- Country
- Mexico
- Status
- Discontinued
- Produced
- 1945
- Variant of
- Rechambered
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Gas operated long stroke
- Firing mechanism
- Open bolt
- Capacity
- 20
- Magazine
- Detachable box
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Frame
- Steel
- Barrel
- Steel
- Stock
- Wood
- Finish
- Blued
BallisticsFrom the service cartridge, not a handload.
- Effective range
- 600 m
- Rate of fire
- 450 rpm
Trajectory
What the round does downrange
Solved from the muzzle figures and the bullet. The dashed rule is the effective range on the record, and the crosses are the steps the solver returned.
No load solved for this record yetThe flight path is computed from a cartridge and a bullet. This record has no ammunition filed against its chambering, so there is nothing to solve.
Features
What it has
What the record lists as fitted, drawn from the catalogue.
Quick change barrel
Perforated muzzle brake
Folding bipod
Top mounted magazine
Offset sights
Selective fire
Redesigned receiver
Standing
How it compares
This record has too few measurements to compare with others yet.
Answers
Questions about the Mendoza M1945
What caliber is the Mendoza M1945?
The Mendoza M1945 is chambered in .30-06 Springfield.
How many rounds does the Mendoza M1945 hold?
The Mendoza M1945 holds 20 rounds, fed from a detachable box magazine.
Who makes the Mendoza M1945?
The Mendoza M1945 is made by Productos Mendoza S.A. (Mexico). It was designed by Rafael Mendoza.
When was the Mendoza M1945 introduced?
The Mendoza M1945 was introduced in 1945.
How does the Mendoza M1945 operate?
The Mendoza M1945 uses a gas operated long stroke action, and its firing mechanism is open bolt.
Compatibility
Which parts fit this firearm
Studio
Every part that mounts on this, resolved
Not a list the maker typed out: the answer comes from the mounts this firearm exposes and the interface each part needs, so it stays right when either one changes.
- Every part that mounts on any firearm in the catalogue
- Interface standards, platforms and fit overrides
- The same answers through the API and the MCP server
Requires a signed-in GunSpec account on the Studio plan. The answer is computed per part, so it is not part of the public record.
Provenance
What the record holds
Every figure above was taken from one of these pages. The confidence reflects how much of the record came from a page a claim can be checked against.
In service
- Mexican Army
- 1945
Provenance
Confidence in this record
62%
Stockists
Where to buy
Offers link straight to the shop. GunSpec never takes the order.
No shop has listed this firearm yet
Stock and prices come from the shops themselves. If you sell this firearm, you can list it and it appears here.
List a firearmMCP
Ask an assistant about it
The same record, reached the way a person asks for it rather than the way a program does.
Ask GunSpec
Works with
Point an MCP client at GunSpec and it answers from the catalogue rather than from memory. A free key covers the read tools.
API
The call that returns this record
The same fields, in the same units, from the same endpoint the page reads.
curl --request GET \ --url 'https://api.gunspec.io/v1/firearms/mendoza-m1945' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "mendoza-m1945", "name": "Mendoza M1945", "manufacturer": { "id": "productos-mendoza", "name": "Productos Mendoza S.A.", "countryCode": "MX", "foundedYear": 1911, "website": "https://www.mendozafa.com", "logoUrl": null, "description": "Mexican firearms and air gun manufacturer founded in 1911 by Rafael Mendoza Blanco. Based in Xochimilco, Mexico City. Produces firearms including the HM-3 submachine gun used by Mexican police, semi-automatic rifles, and air guns.", "status": "active", "defunctYear": null, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": true, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-06-21 23:00:46", "updatedAt": "2026-06-21 23:00:46", "version": "3a4138b1edd3f2a806f09e6c45c431d7eb2a2b130a11412e2abd4902db13cf90" }, "category": { "id": "machine-gun", "name": "Machine Gun", "description": "Fully automatic firearms for sustained fire" }, "country_of_origin": "MX", "year_introduced": 1945, "barrel_length_mm": null, "weight_empty_g": null, "action_type": "gas_operated_long_stroke"}