The Soviet weapon on the pic you posted is not AK-47 - if we are to use designations properly. It is AK-46 No 2, which was just AK-46 No 1 with stamped receiver cover attached permanently to machined barrel trunnion/ bolt carrier rails. It actually looks like team behind AK developement took the idea from Dementiev weapon, which had StG 44 receiver layout since the beginning. AK-46 did not have StG-44-like receiver before Kalashnikov et consortes saw Dementiev entry in the competition.Armeiro wrote: The ak47 prototypes are the ones that lock like copies of the sgt44,what we can say is thath they used the german rifle and made a knew one,but without the malfunctions.
It goes like this: Kalashnikov's 1944 carbine, AK-46 No 1 and AK-46 No 2 - are very closely related.
Then there was the AK-47, which was COMPLETELY redesigned weapon. The only specific desing feature left from previous line of Kalashnikov's weapons was the way bolt carrier co-worked with bolt and that was, lets say "inspired" by M1 Garand. And no, AK-47 doesnt share with StG 44 more than piston attached to bolt carrier. The weapon that AK-47 heavily took from was... Bulykin rifle, the third of the final avtomat competition entries.
