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Post by Legion Etrangere on Jun 17, 2009 10:46:53 GMT -5
Question: Did the French use the Madsen 8mm LMG during the war?
/martini/
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Post by lt13demi on Jun 17, 2009 11:38:17 GMT -5
I've seen a lot of pics of commando units and such with the Madsen 9mm SMG. But I've never seen any of them with the LMG. That would be a good point of research....
Renault
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Post by Legion Etrangere on Jun 17, 2009 12:20:34 GMT -5
Renault,
I am going to do some research on that, probably the GCMA groups and see what a standard TO/E for them would have been; I am sure the more austere and odd weapons would have been issued since this group was probably at the bottom of the food chain.
/martini/
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Post by lt13demi on Jun 17, 2009 12:30:46 GMT -5
Not necessarily the bottom of the food chain so to speak. But definitely more in line to get such weapons. I know there were a wide variety and assortment of weapons given to such groups and especially their native confederates, being enlisted to the French cause out there in the jungle. Maybe for an abundance of reasons. The two things that really jump out at me are;
If you supply them with these types of firearms there exists the chance that they will be able to re-supply themselves from captured enemy stores. There may be an ammo compatibility thing.
and
If these guys turn on you, while you have supplied them with more than adequate weapons systems, you haven't issued them your "first line" stuff.
Naturally this is all mere speculation on my part.....
Renault
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Post by oggy on Jun 18, 2009 2:15:15 GMT -5
MADSENs have a nasty habit of turning up everywhere! Whilst they were never officially adopted by any nation, they were trialled by most!
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Post by lt13demi on Jun 18, 2009 9:15:30 GMT -5
I've been fortunate enough to fire the 9mm, M1950 Madsen SMG, and it was not a bad weapon. Simple and easy to maintain. However, I never got to use it in a combat environment.
Renault
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Post by Legion Etrangere on Jul 9, 2009 20:21:35 GMT -5
This video could be named, "MADSEN: A Love Story". LOL www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaLnmAgc6nwInteresting pics ... you'll notice the MADSEN in service in .... Algeria? There is a pic with an LMG crew in the Bigeard cap with what looks to be French camou... /martini/ |
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Post by lew on Jun 3, 2014 9:29:52 GMT -5
This video could be named, "MADSEN: A Love Story". LOL www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaLnmAgc6nwInteresting pics ... you'll notice the MADSEN in service in .... Algeria? There is a pic with an LMG crew in the Bigeard cap with what looks to be French camou... /martini/ Those are Portuguese paracadistas. Note the vertical pattern of the lizard print. Other than that, their uniform was basically a copy of the French TAP Mle. 47/56 and the Mle. 59 casquette Bigeard. I would not be surprised if they captured that gun from rebels in Angola or Moçcambique (the picture doesn't "feel" like Guinea Bissau). Plus, those guys just look like they are Portuguese.  |
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Post by Kenneth on May 15, 2015 9:17:32 GMT -5
My guess is that the French probably did not use them. However, given the enormous quantity of surplus weapons in the 1950s, it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility that some may have turned up in Indochina. One country captures a lot of something, sells it, then the purchaser sells it again and so on. That happened with Ruby pistols. When there's actual fighting, everything seems to be in short supply. And in spite of what was undoubtedly a lot of WWII surplus being bought and sold, new Lee-Enfields and M1 Garand rifles were still being manufactured in the mid-1950s.
Madsen produced a bolt action military rifle (any caliber you want) in the 1950s but it didn't sell.
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Post by lew on May 15, 2015 10:52:43 GMT -5
I have no record of the French using them- the FM-24/29 was plentiful, chambered for their cartridge, and arguably even better than the already legendary Madsen-, but I could certainly seeing the Viet Minh using examples filtered down from China, which would almost certainly be in 8mm Mauser.
The only buyer for the Madsen M1950 was Colombia, and I think it was the Navy. Either way, they were barely issued and sat in storage for years. An interesting rifle, but spare parts are non-existent.
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Post by Kenneth on May 15, 2015 11:17:56 GMT -5
I had a chance to examine one once several years ago. It was for sale but it was deactivated. It's quite interesting but what machine gun isn't? I spotted one in use in a Danish-produced science fiction movie from around 1960.
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Post by lew on May 15, 2015 11:42:23 GMT -5
Ian at Forgotten Weapons blog did a video recently of the Madsen, including take down, parts explanation, and range time. A very ingenious system. The Norwegians had issues with theirs in 6.5x55mm Norwegian, but other offerings proved highly reliable. I would love to have a transferable example. I have a thing for top-fed light machineguns- Madsen, Bren, FM-24/29, vz 26/30. The US could have had a reliable LMG ten years before the misguided M1918 and 1918A2 BAR and the abortion of the Benet-Mercie M1909. The Madsen was not perfect, but it was a huge leap ahead of anything else for the first thirty years of the last century.
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