The Madsen Lightweight Military Rifle (or the Madsen Lightweight Military Rifle Model 1947; commonly abbreviated as M47) is a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

bolt-action Bolt-action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the bolt via a bolt handle, which is most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the weapon (as most users are right-handed). Most bolt-action ...

rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...

designed to be chambered for a wide range of contemporary military cartridges. The M47 was the last bolt-action rifle designed with the intention of being general issue to infantry troops. The M47 was first available for purchase in 1951, primarily marketed to countries which could not afford

semi-automatic rifle A semi-automatic rifle is an autoloading rifle that fires a single cartridge with each pull of the trigger, and uses part of the fired cartridge's energy to eject the case and load another cartridge into the chamber. For comparison, a bolt-act ...

s for their

militaries A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

. However, with the unprecedented availability of low-cost surplus

small arms A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes c ...

and the rapid proliferation of self-loading rifles after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, global demand for such a rifle was very low and the M47 received very little commercial interest.

History

Designed by Madsen in 1947, the M47 rifle was billed as a lightweight, robust, easy-to-use individual infantry weapon. Madsen is only known to have received one production contract from

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

in 1958, which included up to 6,000 standard-length rifles chambered in

.30-06 Springfield The .30-06 Springfield cartridge (pronounced "thirty- aught-six" ), 7.62×63mm in metric notation, and called the .30 Gov't '06 by Winchester, was introduced to the United States Army in 1906 and later standardized; it remained in military use ...

and featuring a 5-round internal magazine, along with knife bayonets. These rifles are not known to have been issued outside of ceremonial use, and were instead stored as surplus until their purchase and export to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

for consumer sale in the 1960s.

Features

When first marketed in 1951, Madsen offered several options with the rifle including a lightweight carbine version; telescopic sights; 5- and 10-round magazine capacities; and a variety of chamberings in contemporary military service cartridges, which would eventually include

7.62×51mm NATO The 7.62×51mm NATO (official NATO nomenclature 7.62 NATO) is a rimless, bottlenecked rifle cartridge. It is a standard for small arms among NATO countries. First developed in the 1950s, the cartridge had first been introduced in U.S. service fo ...

. Standard features included a muzzle brake integrated into the barrel, a thick rubber buttpad, and a windage-adjustable sliding tangent rear sight assembly with a ghost ring aperture forward of the action.

References

{{Reflist Bolt-action rifles .30-06 Springfield rifles Rifles of Denmark