Madsen LMG
Dansk Rekyl Riffel Syndikat / Dansk Industri Syndikat · Machine Gun · Out Of Production · 1902
Also known as: Madsen machine gun, Rekylgevær M/1903, Let Maskingevær Madsen, Ruchnoy Pulemyot Madsena, Metralhadora Ligeira Madsen
Overview
The Madsen LMG is a Danish recoil-operated light machine gun designed in the late 1890s by Julius A. Rasmussen and Theodor Schouboe and adopted by the Royal Danish Army in 1902 as the Rekylgevær M/1903. Widely regarded as the world's first practical light machine gun, it predated the Lewis Gun by more than a decade and pioneered the squad-automatic-weapon concept. It works on an unusual long-recoil principle derived from the Martini-Henry falling-block action: the barrel and a pivoting breechblock recoil together, after which the block swings on a transverse axis to eject the spent case while a separate rammer feeds a fresh round from the distinctive top-mounted curved box magazine. The gun weighs roughly 9.07 kg empty, measures 1,143 mm overall with a 584 mm finned air-cooled barrel, and cycles at about 450 rounds per minute from 25, 30, or 40-round magazines. Dansk Industri Syndikat famously offered the Madsen in virtually any military cartridge a customer requested, and it was sold to over 34 nations across every inhabited continent.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 9070 g (319.9 oz) |
| Overall Length | 1143 mm (45.00") |
| Barrel Length | 584 mm (22.99") |
| Action Type | Long Recoil |
| Firing Mechanism | Hammer Fired |
| Trigger Type | Full Auto Only |
| Magazine Capacity | 30 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Detachable Box |
| Muzzle Velocity | 870 m/s (2854 fps) |
| Muzzle Energy | 4334 J (3197 ft·lbf) |
| Effective Range | 800 m (875 yd) |
| Maximum Range | 2000 m (2187 yd) |
| Rate of Fire | 450 rpm |
| Barrel Rifling | Right Hand |
| Rifling Twist | 240 mm (9.45") |
| Number of Grooves | 4 |
| Frame Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| Stock Material | Wood |
| Finish | Blued |
Calibers
- 8x58mmR Danish Krag · primary — also known as 8mm Danish Krag, 8x58R Krag-Jorgensen, Patron M/89
- .303 British — also known as 7.7x56mmR, .303 Enfield
- 7.92x57mm Mauser — also known as 8mm Mauser, 7.92x57 JS, 8x57 IS
- .30-06 Springfield — also known as 7.62x63mm, .30 Cal, .30 Gov't '06
- 6.5x55mm Swedish — also known as 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser, 6.5x55 SE, 6.5x55 Skan
Features
- Firing modes: Full Automatic
- Feed systems: Detachable Box Magazine 25 Round, Detachable Box Magazine 30 Round, Detachable Box Magazine 40 Round
- Safety mechanisms: Manual Safety, Closed Bolt System
- Features: Top Mounted Curved Box Magazine, Quick Change Barrel, Integral Bipod, Wood Shoulder Stock, Pistol Grip, Iron Sights Tangent Leaf, Air Cooled Finned Barrel, Recoiling Barrel Long Recoil, Swinging Breech Block, Carrying Handle
Variants
- Madsen Model 1902 — Original Infantry Pattern
- Madsen M1924 — Improved Interwar Pattern
- Madsen M1935 — Modernised Export Pattern
Service history
Operators
- Royal Danish Army · adopted 1902 · as Rekylgevær M/1903
- Imperial Russian Army · adopted 1904 · as Ruchnoy Pulemyot Madsena
- Brazilian Army · adopted 1908 · as Madsen M/1908
- Portuguese Army · adopted 1908 · as Metralhadora Ligeira Madsen
- Finnish Defence Forces · adopted 1918 · as Pikakivääri Madsen
- Rio de Janeiro Military Police · as Madsen
- Nazi Germany (captured) · adopted 1940 · as MG 158(d) / MG 258(n)
Conflicts
- Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905)
- World War I (1914-1918)
- Chaco War (1932-1935)
- Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)
- World War II (1939-1945)
Production
Estimated total produced: 430,000 · Production years: 1902-1955
Manufactured primarily by Dansk Rekyl Riffel Syndikat / Dansk Industri Syndikat in Copenhagen, with limited licensed production abroad. 400,000-450,000 is the commonly cited total across all variants and calibers over the long production run.
Origin
Country of origin: Denmark
Designer: Julius A. Rasmussen and Theodor Schouboe
Discontinued: 1955
Notes
This entry covers the Madsen LMG as a family. The Madsen's mechanism is uniquely complex - it has no conventional reciprocating bolt, instead relying on a sequence of cam-and-lever operations descended from the Martini-Henry, making it effectively a self-loading Martini firing from a magazine. Despite the complexity it proved extremely durable, with some examples serving for over fifty years; Rio de Janeiro's military police carried 8mm Madsens on patrol into the late 1990s and 2000s. The low top-mounted curved magazine was later echoed by the Bren gun.
Background
The Madsen is arguably the longest-serving automatic firearm design ever fielded - Brazilian military police in Rio de Janeiro were still carrying 8mm Madsens on daily patrol nearly a century after the weapon's 1902 adoption. Its mechanism is so improbably intricate that historian Ian Hogg described it as 'a mechanism that ought not to work at all, and yet does, and keeps on working.' Dansk Industri Syndikat salesmen reputedly promised they would build a Madsen for any cartridge a customer brought them.