"Madsen" - machine gun long-liver
kugelblitz
And it was so that in the comments to my material there was also this appeal made in the epigraph. However, in the materials about “Bran” not a word was said about this machine gun, first of all because the article “Devil's balalaika by General Madsen” was already published on TOPWAR (https://topwar.ru/60984-chertova-balalayka-generala- madsena.html), however, for quite some time. However, referring to this material, I saw that, firstly, it was a reprint from the pages of the Russian Seven, that is, it was originally intended for a site of a different thematic focus, and secondly, apparently because of this, the author, focusing on stories machine gun Madsen in Russia, only casually touched the features of its design. On the one hand, why not, but on the other hand, it turned out that the author had a good material on a historical theme, but the most interesting technical “moments” of this machine gun remained in the shadows. Therefore, I thought and considered it possible to “shoot at the pursuit”, and most importantly, to accompany the article with original diagrams that give an exhaustive idea of this really unique construction.
This is how this unusual machine gun looked like. Externally, it is easy to identify it by a sector store, a very short gear case and a long barrel with a perforated case.
Those who are interested in the fate of General Madsen and all the vicissitudes that resulted in his machine gun came to us in Russia, as noted above, it makes sense to read about the “damn balalaika”, but here we start with the fact that we really note weapons. After all, its creator began to develop more ... in the middle of the 1880-ies of the XIX century. And at first it was supposed to be an automatic rifle, which in 1886 was developed by the personnel of the Royal Armory in Copenhagen, whose director was Julius Alexander Rasmussen. So this rifle even had a double name: Rasmussen-Madsen.
Rasmussen-Madsen automatic rifle model 1896 of the year.
And then it was already then that all the specific features of the design of the future unique-machine gun were applied - the sector magazine inserted from above, the cocking handle more resembling the handle of a coffee grinder, and all of its internal "mechanics". In 1896, the rifle was adopted by the Danish marines. But ... it turned out that the rifle has many flaws. For example, the trunk quickly overheated. And when they made the fins on the barrel, and even weighed down, and supplied them with bipods, this is how the machine gun came out. Well, if we consider that in 1901, Madsen became the Minister of War, it is not surprising that his machine gun was soon adopted for use. According to some data, it began to be produced at the Danish factory “Dansk Industry Syndicate” in 1900 year (in any case, Wikipedia reports), according to others - in 1902 year, or in 1904. Chris Shant has a brand of the first model: Rekytgevaer M1903.
Rekytgevaer M1903. Note that the flame arrester on the machine gun was still missing.
In any case, the design itself appeared very early, so that today it is almost the “most ancient model” of automatic handguns. Reliable and accurate manual machine gun Madsen enjoyed great popularity, despite the high cost of production and the fact that he needed high-quality ammunition for firing. Well, the mass serial release continued until the 1950 year!
"Madsen" M1924. The machine gun is equipped with a handle for carrying and replacing an overheated barrel.
Machine guns Madsen produced different calibers: 6.5x55, 7x57, 7.62x51, 7.62x63, 7.92x57. Therefore, their weight and a number of details were different. Visually, they differed most of all in the form of stores, as it used stores of different capacities. For example, a 7,7-mm British machine gun weighed 9,1 kg. The length was 1,14 m, barrel length 580 mm. Box magazines were manufactured on 20, 25, 30 or 40 cartridges. Pace 450 shots per minute. The initial speed of the bullet - 715 m / s.
"Madsen" M1940.
But the data of the machine gun under the Russian rifle cartridge: 7,62 × 54R. Barrel length - 590 mm. The initial speed of the 9,6-gram bullet - 797 m / s. Weight with bipod - 9,2 kg. Length - 1120 mm. Magazine capacity - cartridge 25 or 33. The rate of fire - 420 shots per minute. Aim range - 1707 m.
"Madsen", on which ... wrong, that is, the store is not fully inserted. Please note that the store, although inserted into the machine gun on the left, but not along the axis, but on the left. Therefore, the sights were placed in the traditional way: the sight block on the barrel cooling jacket, and the front sight at the base of the flame arrester.
As you can see, the TTX is quite comparable, although the machine gun “treated” differently to different cartridges, and the worst were “digested” by English and especially Russian welted cartridges, which had very large production tolerances.
After the German occupation of Denmark in 1941 — 1942. Danish machine guns arrived in Wehrmacht units, and at the DRS plant they were modified with tape feed.
Machine gun criticized a lot. They said that with such an abundance of complex parts, in principle, it could not work. Critics' doubts were based on the fact that a very unusual combination of basic details was used in it: recoil of the barrel and the swinging gate Peabody-Martini. Thus, the machine gun Madsen became the only weapon of its type, which used a non-slip shutter. In addition to originality, another important advantage of this model was the relatively small weight for air-cooled weapons. And although in many countries it was removed from mass weapons in the 70-80-s of the last century, it is still found and used as a military weapon!
Scheme of the machine gun Madsen.
Well, now let's consider the work of all the details of the automation of this unusual machine gun. He received his unusual swinging shutter Peabody-Martini, no doubt, as a tribute to that era. After all, when it was created, the swinging valves were, one might say, at the zenith of their glory. Well, this machine gun works with this bolt really very unusual.
Here is the trunk with the barrel box screwed on it. On the right is a slot for a cartridge. Below is visible "fork" of the lever that controls the shutter.
We begin, however, not from work, but with the dismantling of the machine gun. If in the rear part of the butt plate a pin is removed, then the upper part of the machine gun box leans up on the hinge, and ... then you can remove the barrel together with the slide frame. That is, the barrel is one with the bolt carrier, inside which the bolt swings up and down. He moves neither forward nor back. Only up and down, and the trunk is locked, resting its flat part on the bottom of the sleeve. And that's it! The functions of it end there!
Scheme of the device box gun. Pink highlighted box cover. Khaki - box. Gray khaki - the lower part of the box. A three-position shooting interpreter and two “bolts” are clearly visible - one fastening the top of the bolt box from the bottom and the other, their common axis of rotation.
This diagram shows the position of the cartridge in the chamber, which is supported by the shutter. Above it is a spring limiter. You can also see the device extractor. And this is a separate part, not connected with the shutter!
How does all this work? And it works very simple. When fired, the barrel together with the barrel frame moves back inside the box only 10 mm back. In this special lever from the bolt carrier interacts with the protrusion on the box and raises the bolt up. In this case, the extractor ejects the sleeve from the barrel, it slides along the semicircular guide of the bolt and falls into the hole at the bottom of the bottom of the box. The lid of it folds forward. The shells hit her and bounce forward too. There is no danger that any will fall into your sleeve. A flat and curved spring does not allow the shutter to rise higher than necessary.
Circuit extraction sleeve.
This diagram clearly shows the fastening of the magazine on the box to the left and the feed of the cartridge through the side opening of the slide frame.
This diagram shows the various details of the machine gun: FIG. 11 - the gate and the location in it of a drummer with a spring. The 32 is a lever that resembles a fishing hook, and it is on it that the 33 triggers, and it in turn drives the drummer. Fig.12 - detail 41 - this is the cocking handle of the shutter mechanism. Fig.14 - combat spring.
As the bolt in the bolt carrier moves only up and down, the cartridge fed from the magazine pushes a complex-shaped lever into the barrel, resembling a field hockey stick, interacting with a protrusion on the box of the machine gun. At the same time, it enters the trunk not in a straight path, but first moves from top to bottom, then from left to right, and at the same time at an angle to the axis of the trunk, enters it with the head part and only at the end moves straightforwardly. When the cartridge is in the chamber, the shutter is lowered and simply rests against the bottom of the sleeve. Shooting is thus carried out with the shutter completely locked, which is important for the safety of the shooter.
What else is important to emphasize? Thanks to such a device, the box in which all the mechanisms of the machine gun are placed turned out to be very compact, and it’s not too overall, so you could shoot it out of your shoulder like a rifle! The barrel has fins, so it does not overheat too much. Perforated casing protects hands arrow. Comfortable handle reloading, conveniently located hole for the ejection of the sleeves, a box of machine gun on top is well hidden from dirt. The store does not interfere with the usual aim. At the same time, the mechanism of the machine gun with all its levers and protrusions is very complex. That is, you can make it only on milling machines, while doing a lot of operations. The presence of many details of complex shape, making such complex movements in such a tight space, causes an increased sensitivity to pollution. To serve a machine gun to a person who did not hold anything more difficult than a shovel in his hands, well, it's just very difficult.
The first machine guns did not have a flame arrester, but then it appeared, as well as a special muzzle reinforcing the recoil of the barrel.
The machine gun, as you know, was actively used during the First World War and even stood on airplanes. By the beginning of the Second World War, he was no longer so popular, but again he fought both in Europe and in Asia.
Macedonian Partisans in Skopje in 1944.
Japanese soldier with a captured machine gun "Madsen" on a tripod machine.
After the war, the machine gun was actively exported to the countries of South America. In Brazil, they were converted to a standard NATO cartridge and are still used by the police.
Machine gun "Madsen" in the Museum of the National Army in Buenos Aires in Argentina.
Brazilian cop with a machine gun "Madsen".
So this is not a “damn balalaika”, but a very high-quality, albeit complex weapon, whose history has not even ended yet!
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