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While it’s well known that the Germans were the first to field select-fire assault rifles in large numbers during World War II, the Soviets, thoroughly impressed by the idea of an intermediate-power infantry cartridge and intrigued by the idea of the assault rifle, were hot on the Germans’ heels with as many as nine different kinds of prototype assault rifles completed before the end of of the war. Each of these weapons were developed by talented and accomplished Soviet arms designers, and offer a glimpse into the genesis of the Russian assault rifle program that would eventually result in the world-famous Kalashnikov “AK-47” rifle, the most-produced weapon of its kind in history.