The M47 was first available for purchase in 1951, primarily marketed to countries which could not afford semi-automatic rifles for their militaries.
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 in 1958, which included up to 6,000 standard-length rifles chambered in .30-06 Springfield 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 for consumer sale in the 1960s.
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.