and the first production version of the AK-47, we see the influence of German experience.
The receiver design changed significantly between these two, but look closer at some of the other details. The early gun had a separate gas piston, and a smooth gas tube, while the production design used a
piston integral to the carrier and a ribbed gas tube for a better strength:weigh ratio.
Both of these are features from the StG, and were definite improvements. I don’t have any knowledge of how the
trunnion or barrel extension of the 1946 gun was fitted to the receiver, but by the first production models it had changed, and
was very similar to the StG.
AKM and StG-44 trunnions – both use pressed-and-pinned barrels, and both are nested inside a stamped sheet receiver. The StG is held in place by the receiver being pressed into grooves, while the AK is riveted into the receiver (a better solution).