“Many rifles prior to the AK-47 used gas piston operation. The M1 Garand of the US, adopted in 1936, is but one example”
Yep, you got me there, I meant siphoning the gases from explosion used to fire off the bullet. If this was developed earlier, why was the idea subsequently ditched? On the point of the double hull in submarines, I remember now, this was invented by the Germans at the end of WW2 i.e. Type XXI had one, but vastly refined by the Russians. Besides the military inventions, the Russians made many scientific discoveries as well in the last 70 years, i.e. the Cerenkov radiation etc., so you cannot simply dismiss them outright as plagiarists, although they did copy a lot without bothering to obtain the permit from the original inventors.
What makes you think it was ever ditched? Gas operation is the most common semi-automatic and automatic high powered rifle action type. The M-16/AR-15 uses gas operation, in a novel direct impingement system rather than a piston, but it is still gas operated. Most semi-automatic shotguns are gas operated.
It's far from being 'ditched.'