Re: What the heck is this?
The Russian experience was independent from ours (U.S.). Before the M1 Garand's blueprints were even born, the Russians had a select-fire design, although problematic, by Fedorov in 1916! The Mother of all future "assault" rifles was born in Russia in 1906 when the first prototype was developed. Then there was a Simonov gun of 1936 and finally Tokarev's SVT38 and 40, followed by SKS and AK...
And yes, the Germans admired Soviet weaponry, both openly and secretly, for their simplicity, durability, reliability, and ease of maintanence and operation.