Madsen Machinegun Variants
The Danish Light Machinegun in Service Around the World
The Danish Madsen Light Machinegun was used in a dizzying 40+ variants by no less than 36 countries on five continents over the past three centuries.
The Madsen Light Machinegun was developed in 1896 in Denmark by Captain Jens Schouboe of the Danish Marnies and later perfected by Captain Wilhelm Oluf Madsen of the Danish artillery (who later would become Minister of War). The Madsen was produced to an unusual design. Considered a reliable weapon it was recoil operated and offered a theoretical cyclic rate of 450 rounds per minute, loaded via a 25 to 40 round overhead magazine. The guns mechanism is a mechanized version of the classic Martini breech-block, and the cartridges travel in a curve during loading, which is theoretically impossible, but in practice it was very reliable. The weapons generally have a protected post front sight and a tangent rear sight (graduated in elevation from 200-1900 meters.) They are typically seen with the attached bipod connected just rear of front sight on the barrel jacket. Several tripod versions, some very complicated were also produced. The barrels are typically short for a weapon designed in the 1890s and run from 19-25 inches depending on model. Some later models have a carry handle directly in front of rear sight as well as a spider web style anti-aircraft sight. Older weapons are seen to be heavily blued with deep manufacturer stamps while postwar specimens are often seen with thick black enamel paint on metal parts instead. These weapons were typically provided with very extensive spare parts sets that have enabled them to remain functional for decades with little or no support.
No less than 36 countries used the Madsen machine gun. The guns were originally chambered in 8x58R Krag, the official Danish military round for nearly fifty years. In Denmark it was referred to in army circles as "Jomfru Madsen"- (Lady Madsen). Used by Denmark's neighbors to the north, Norway and Sweden (as the Kulsprutegevär m/1914 - Kg m/14) in 6.5mm, the gun quickly was adopted outside of Scandinavia in even more diverse calibers. German Madsens, acquired by the Kaiser were in 7.92mm, and Russian weapons were in 7.62x54r, the same calibers respectively as the German Mauser and Russian Mosin infantry rifles. The 1500 Russian weapons were bought outright from 1903-1914 from Denmark as well as manufactured in Russia at the licensed Kovrovsk Machine Gun Factory at Kawrow, near Moscow. Bulgaria ordered over 600 of the weapons but they were seized in crossing over Germany and subsequently used by the Kaisers forces. Sold orginally abroad by the Rexer machinegun company it was often called the 'Rexer' in some third world countries. Weapons made for Latin customers are seen in the same sort of cornucopia for calibers including those mentioned above, 30.06, 7mm Spanish, and just about every modern military rifle caliber. The KNIL (Dutch East Indies Army) adopted the weapon in the same 6.5mm round as fired by the Hemburg rifle. Many of these were captured in Indonesia by Japan in 1942 and promptly served that country. Great Britain even ordered a batch in 303 Enfield. China got into the act in the 1930s and ordered several variants in 7.92mm (german Mauser), some of which later showed up in Malaysia and Vietnam. Thailand used the weapon against France back when it was still called Siam. No matter who the user, the guns all used a top-mounted curved magazine and was the first to do so on the battlefield. Madsen magazines feed through a combination of gravity and spring-loading. They were designed in 25, 30 and 40 round sizes across the staggering caliber variants mentioned above. These magazines are often mistaken for Bren Light Machine gun magazines on steroids.
It was an expensive weapon to produce, and tolerances had to be held close. This produced a remarkably light and functional weapon. When evaluated against its contemporaries at the time of its adoption, the fifty pound Hotchkiss 1897 machinegun, forty pound Colt ‘potato-digger’ and the thirty five pound German Bergman m10 machinegun, the Madsen was seen as superior in operation and much lighter. Although more than forty slightly different versions exist, due to changes made for each contracting customer, the typical weapon is only 45-48 inches long overall, and weighed on the order of 20-22 pounds (10kg). This is even comparable to today’s modern light machineguns. For example the modern Belgian FN Minimi weighs only five pounds less than the Madsen and only earns than weight by using a smaller barrel, plastic furniture and firing a much smaller caliber round.
These weapons are seen available on the collectors market for relatively low prices in both dewatted and active conditions.
Sources
Thompson, Jim Machine Guns- A Pictorial, Tactical and Practical History 2007
Ford, Roger The World's Great Machine Guns from 1860 to the Present Day 1999 Barnes & Noble Books
Hogg, Ian V Machine Guns: 14th Century to Present 2002 Krause Publications
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