WW II was an Industrial War. When the Americans were able to produce massive amounts of high-fire rate small arms, the German infantry found themselves at a distinct disadvantage and the bolt action rifle became a liability that contributed to their defeat. Even outnumbered, if armed with rapid fire long range small arms, one could easily imagine a more robust defense of France if German troops had been outfitted with the equivalents of Garands - and in the one theatre of war were the Germans had assault rifles, in the East, the M-44 was so effective the Russians copied the design for it's AK-47. Imitation is the sincerist form of flattery. The K98 was a wonderful weapon for WWI, where trench bound soldiers had the luxury of time to take out a man running across open terrain, but for the high-mobilty WWII, it's ratio of weight to firepower was awful, especially in the East where Russian tactics pretty much consisted of human-wave attacks.