AK-47 invented earlier

The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the USSR by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova (Автомат Калашникова). It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.
Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year of World War II (1945). After the war in 1946, the AK-46 was presented for official military trials. In 1947 the fixed-stock version was introduced into service with select units of the Soviet Army. An early development of the design was the AKS (S—Skladnoy or "folding"), which was equipped with an underfolding metal shoulder stock. In 1949, the AK-47 was officially accepted by the Soviet Armed Forces and used by the majority of the member states of the Warsaw Pact.
But what if it had been invented early be for WW2? what if the soviets had the riffle from the begining?
 
I do not see it having significant influence. It is, after all just another weapon. It is not The Bomb or something. Soviets generally had better weapons than Germans (especially tanks and arty) but that did not prevent them from losing. Horribly at times.
 
The casualty rates in general might be increased a little, but I can't see it making any real difference. Unless there's a very large technological imbalance, a single weapon system - especially an infantry weapon like this - is unlikely to drastically change the results. Even in "The Guns of the South", the AK-47 wasn't a war-winner - it was other supplies and especially information that made the big difference.
 
...The AK-47 was the war winner in that book. Confederates would have never taken Washington without it.

The AK-47 will make a noticeable impact in urban battles like Stalingrad. This will probably also push up development of the German Stg44 assault rifle as a countermeasure.
 

MSZ

Banned
Well, IIRC the idea of a selective-fire assault rifle was a product of World War 2, since practice has shown that engagements between forces in an open field usuallt take place at a range of a few hundred meters - which was too much for submachineguns like the PPSh or MP40. Bolt-action rifles could do it, but increasing the rate of fire was necessary to place suppresive fire, as well as for close-quarters engagements (urban warfare). So if someone was to develop an actual assault rifle, that would be a not-insignificant advantage - not because they would super-deadly (the number of casualties from bullets was relatively low I think) but that they would provide a tactical advantage in keeping enemies from moving thus giving artillery time to finish them off (or allowing another unit to flank them) as well as giving an advantage in taking buildings.
 
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