Madsen machine gun

The Madsen was a light machine gun developed by Julius A. Rasmussen and Theodor Schoubue and proposed for adoption by Captain Vilhelm Herman Oluf Madsen, the Danish Minister of War and adopted by the Danish Army in 1902. It was one of the first true light machine guns produced in quantity and sold to over 34 different countries worldwide in 12 different calibres, seeing extensive combat use in various conflicts around the globe for over 100 years. The Madsen was produced by Compagnie Madsen A/S (later operating as Dansk Rekyl Riffel Syndikat A/S and then Dansk Industri Syndikat A/S).

Design details[]

The Madsen has a rather sophisticated and uncommon operating cycle not used in any other crew-served weapon. The machine gun uses a mixed recoil-operated locking system with a hinged bolt that is patterned after the lever-action Peabody Martini breechblock. The recoil operation is part short and part long recoil. After firing a round, the initial recoil impulse drives the barrel, barrel extension, and bolt to the rear. A pin on the right side of the bolt moves backward in grooves in an operating cam plate mounted to the right side of the receiver. After 12.7 mm (0.5 in) of travel, the bolt is cammed upward, away from the breech (the "short" portion of the recoil system). The barrel and barrel extension continue to move rearward to a point slightly exceeding the combined overall length of the cartridge case and projectile (the long portion of the recoil system, responsible for the weapon's low rate of fire).

After the breech is exposed, an odd lever-type extractor/ejector, mounted under the barrel, is pivoted to the rear, extracting the empty case and ejecting it through the bottom of the receiver. The bolt's operating cam then forces the bolt face to pivot downward, aligning a cartridge feed groove in the left side of the bolt with the chamber. While the bolt and barrel are returning forward, a cartridge-rammer lever, mounted on the barrel extension, is pivoted forward, loading a fresh cartridge.

Operational use[]

Up to and including World War I[]

It was used extensively by the Imperial Russian Army, which bought 1,250 examples and deployed them during the Russo-Japanese war, and was deployed (arming infantry companies, mountain troops and later storm troopers) in 1914 by the German Army in 7.92 mm calibre. It saw service during World War I. It was considered expensive to produce, but was known for its reliability. It was sold to 34 nations in a dozen different calibres before and after World War I, seeing service in China during the Warlord era.

Among the fighting forces with the Madsen in their arsenals in the immediate aftermath of World War I was the Czechoslovak Legions in Russia, fighting the Bolsheviks in Siberia.

Inter-war era[]

The gun was bought by Paraguay in the 1920s and early 1930s as that country quietly girded for war with Bolivia over mutual claims to the Gran Chaco region, and it served in the Paraguayan army in the Chaco War (1932–1935). Almost 400 were on hand when the war began, and more were bought as the war progressed. Bolivia also fielded Madsens of the same calibre as Paraguay (7.65x53 Mauser) during the conflict. The Argentine Army detachment which protected neutrality along the border with Paraguay and Bolivia during the Chaco War used the Madsen in combat operations at least once, in the course of an engagement against members of the Maká tribe commanded by deserters who had looted a farm and killed some of its inhabitants in 1933. When Brazil acquired some 23 CV-35 tankettes from Italy in the late 1930s, a majority of the vehicles were armed with twin-mounted 7 mm Madsens. Ireland had a total of 24 Madsen machine guns all in .303 calibre. They were fitted to its Landsverk L60 light tanks, Leyland Armoured Cars, Landsverk L180 armoured cars and Dodge Armoured Cars. In the 1950s those left in Irish service were replaced with .30 Browning machine guns.

World War II[]

Madsen machine guns were still in use as late as April–June 1940 as the Norwegian Army's standard light machine gun in the Norwegian Campaign, 3,500 M/22s in 6.5x55 Krag being available for the defence of Norway. By 1940 each Norwegian infantry squad was allocated one Madsen machine gun, the weapon having previously been grouped in separate machine gun squads. Each Norwegian infantry battalion had a standard complement of 36 Madsens, in addition to nine M/29 heavy machine guns. The Madsen machine gun was however not well liked amongst Norwegian soldiers as it had a tendency to jam after only a few rounds, leading to it gaining the nickname Jomfru Madsen (English: Virgin Madsen). Captured Madsens were used by the Germans for second line units throughout the war, and the Danish Army did not retire the last Madsens until 1955. It was standard equipment (in 6.5 mm) with the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) during the inter-war period, some being captured and used by the Imperial Japanese Army after the fall of the East Indies.

Portuguese Colonial War[]

During the Portuguese Colonial War of the 1960s and 1970s the Portuguese Army used Madsen machine guns. One of the employments of the Madsen was as temporary armament for Auto-Metralhadora-Daimler 4 × 4 Mod.F/64 armoured cars; which were Daimler Dingos modified with the addition of a turret-like structure.

Continued use in Brazil[]

The Madsen continued to be used by the Military Police of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, in 7.62 NATO. Although some of the Brazilian guns were captured from drug traffickers and pressed into service (mostly old weapons originating from the Argentine Army as well as some stolen from museums), the majority of Madsens used by the Brazilian police were donated by the Brazilian Army. Those guns were .30 cal weapons converted to fit 7.62 mm NATO. Official sources state that the Brazilian army retired the Madsen machine gun in 1996. The Brazilian police guns are, as of 2008, being substituted by more modern guns with faster rates of fire. It was reported that the last Madsen guns were finally retired in April 2008. However, photos taken during clashes between Brazilian police and drug traffickers on October 19, 2009 clearly show the Madsen gun still in use by the Brazilian police.