Rafael Mendoza Blanco (Chihuahua, October 24, 1885 – Mexico City, 1966) was a Mexican engineer and inventor.
It is said that Pancho Villa had asked Mendoza to make cannons in order to burn grenades he obtained in one of his conquests.
He continued manufacturing until he placed the Mendoza machine gun as a regulation rifle in the Mexican Army during the presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas.
At the time, when guns began selling in Mexico, Mendoza rifles came to occupy a prominent place in the preference of firearms enthusiasts.
For a brief time, its manufacture was prohibited, although as of now, the product is practically unknown in the country, despite the fact that in the field of competition air rifles used in the Olympic pentathlon, it has come to be considered as the most accurate and powerful in the entire world.