| You cannot really compare these weapons.
The BAR was a squad level automatic weapon in the LMG class. However, it was an old design with a slow rate of fire and a small magazine capacity. It was the American equivalent of the Bren and in my opinion it was inferior to the equivalent weapon in many other armies. But as it was in service in 1941 with no obvious replacement in the pipeline, it remained in service. It was reasonably effective, but not outstanding.
The StG44 was, as you say, an early assault rifle and, as often happens, being the first in its class it suffered from a number of design faults. It was not used in the same role as the BAR, but was issued in place of the previously standard K98k to some units.
In appearance, the AK47 resembles the StG44, but they operate in totally different ways - difficult to see a direct lineage.
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Angie
"History is lived forward but it is written in retrospect. We know the end before we consider the beginning and we can never wholly recapture what it was like to know the beginning only." C V Wedgewood
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