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Madsen machine gun
The Madsen is a Danish magazine-fed, recoil-operated light machine gun. Designed in the period from 1883-1901 by Julius A. Rasmussen and Theodor Schoubue and named after the Danish Minister for War at the time, Colonel Vilhelm Herman Oluf Madsen, it is the first light machine gun adopted in any meaningful quantity, being adopted by the Danish Army in 1902. It was used by Russian cavalry during the Russo-Japanese war and later as an aircraft gun by the Imperial Russian Air Service, by Germany during the WW1, and by the Norwegian Army and Nazi Germany during WW2. It was ultimately sold in 12 different calibers to 34 countries.
The principles of the gun date back to a series of black-powder and smokeless powder self-loading rifle prototypes produced starting in 1883. The final design was patented by Lieutenant Jens Schouboe on behalf of the Dansk Riffel Syndikat in 1901 (sometimes leading to him being credited as the inventor in older sources), and after a brief hiccup of trying to run a machine gun with black powder cartridges, entered production.
The operating cycle of the Madsen is one of the most complicated machine gun actions ever devised, using a mixed short and long recoil operating system built around a copy of the lever-action Peabody Martini breechblock. The block in this design, however, performs none of the actions of extracting or loading. Instead, extraction and cartridge ramming are performed by two separate mechanisms: the block tilts up on the rearward stroke to provide access for the extractor mechanism, which ejects the spend casing downwards, and tilts down on the forward stroke so the rammer can push a new cartridge into the breech from the top-mounted magazine. In spite of all this insanity going on inside it, the Madsen had an enviable reputation for reliability. Charging is accomplished with a crank-like charging handle on the right side of the receiver, though this is only pulled back rather than rotated.
Amazingly, the Madsen appears to still be in service today, with 7.62mm NATO guns retired by the Brazilian Army in 1996 used by military police units in Rio de Janeiro State. While it was supposed to have been retired in 2008, police Madsens were seen in video footage taken in 2015.
Specifications
(1902-present)
Type: Light machine gun
Caliber: 12 different calibers, including 8x58mmR Danish Krag, 7x57mm Spanish Mauser, 6.5x55mm Swedish Mauser, 7.92x57mm Mauser, 7.65x53mm Argentine, 7.62x54mmR, .30-06 Springfield, 7.62x51mm NATO, .303 British
Weight: 20lbs (9.07kg)
Length: 45 inches (1,143mm)
Barrel length: 23 inches (584mm)
Capacity: 25, 30, 40-round box magazine (usually 30)
Fire Modes: Semi-auto / auto (350–450 rpm)
The Madsen Machine Gun and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:
Film
| Title | Actor | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Young Eagles (Noored kotkad) | Estonian soldiers | Russain M1902 in 7.62x54R caliber | 1927 | |
| Reptilicus | Danish soldiers | Danish M/48 in 7.92x57 caliber, on bipod and tripod | 1961 | |
| The Thin Red Line | Japanese forces | Stand for Type 99 | 1964 | |
| The Eighth (Osmiyat) | Bulgarian soldiers and resistance fighters | Supposedly in 7.92x57 caliber | 1969 | |
| The Stolen Train (Otkradnatiyat vlak) | Dimitar Buynozov | Damyan | 1971 | |
| Les Morfalous | French soldier | 1983 | ||
| Tango & Cash | Seen in hangar | 1989 | ||
| April Captains (Capitães de Abril) | Seen in DGS headquarters; Portuguese version in 7.92x57 caliber | 2000 | ||
| April 9th | Danish soldiers | 2015 | ||
| Batalion | Yanina Malinchik | Dusya Grynyova | 2015 | |
| The Lost City of Z | German soldiers | 2017 |
TV
| Title | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bors | 1968 |
Anime
| Title | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Porco Rosso |
Video Game
| Game Title | Appears as | Note | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Karma Online | 2011 | ||
| Battlefield: 1918 | 2004 | ||
| Battle of Empires : 1914-1918 | "Madsen" | 2014 | |
| Verdun | "Madsen" | M1902 | 2015 |
| Battlefield 1 | "Madsen MG" | 2016 |