Impact of the Federov assault rifle in WWII

WI the Japanese army took an interest in the Avtomat Fedorova and built enough of them by the end of 1941 that every squad in the Pacific was issued a couple of these rifles, how would it impact attitudes to such weapons?
 
As issued--not much

I did some casual reading on the gun for a role playing game, and found it interesting.

The Fedorov Avtomat was, essentially the first assault rifle, but it had a relatively low tollerance for dirt and grime, from what (questionable) materials I've seen. It also wasn't "soldier proof." A finicky weapon is NOT what you want for jungle fighting.

So, if it's generally issued as is, it jams, people loose parts, and get disgusted with it. If it's issued to assault troops that make short missions, it might well impress people.
 
Early automatics were never terribly reliable, but it's still preferable to equip a squad with a couple than purely bolt action weapons (other than the squad LMG of course). Even if one goes down, the other automatic rifle will more than compensate for the loss of two Arisakas.

Since the Fedorov already use the 6.5 Arisaka, it's remarkable the Japanese never showed interest in it.
 
The quality of Japanese small arms in WWII, on the other hand, was not something to write home about by any stretch of the imagination. IIRC all Japanese small arms suffered from poor craftsmanship of some sort and were notoriously unreliable.

Also keep in mind supply issues, one of the great hindrances barring the adoption of automatic rifles was the perceived unnecessary expenditure of ammunition. Japan given it's limited sea lift capability might be wary of equipping their men with a "bullet waster" such as the Avtomat.

There are also doctrinal issues as Japanese infantry doctrine stressed not so much firepower but elan and mobility. The Avtomat with it's increased complexity and ammunition requirements doesn't contribute to the existing infantry doctrine.

Now that's not to say things couldn't turn out differently...If you have a POD with say Fedorov pissing off the wrong people in the new Soviet Regime and fleeing to Japan in the early 1920's, his design can be tinkered with, , marketed, and refined for years, even decades preceding the Pacific war.
 
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