There are a couple of other people on the 'Dope interested in firearms, so…
I just watched Forgotten Weapon’s episode on the Johnson light machine gun. The similarity to the German FG-42 is mentioned several times. There were US/Canadian units using the JLMG, as well as the US Marines. Could the Germans have gotten their hands on one before the FG-42 was designed?
Not impossible but unlikely. From what I can see it mostly was deployed in 1942, while the FG42 entered design late 1941. So captured Johnsons - maybe not. Espionage, who’s to say.
You are probably right, thanks.
The similarity is surprising.