Puneet Varma (Editor)

TERA rifle

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The TERA Rifles (挺進落下傘小銃／挺身落下傘小銃 "Teishin Rakkasan Shyoujyu") were special Japanese takedown rifles developed for paratroopers of the Imperial Japanese Army. All designs were capable of either being broken down or folded into two parts and easily assembled or disassembled. There was one production model and two prototypes:

  • Type 100 based on the Karabiner 98k Fallschirmjäger Detachable-Barrel ("Abnehmbarer Lauf") Variant. Complete copy prototype; never mass-produced.
  • Type 1 based on the Type 38 Cavalry Rifle. Replicating the mechanism of the Karabiner 98k "Klappschaft" Variant, it was not separated but folded. The Type 1 was not introduced because its folding mechanism was not reliable enough.
  • Type 2 based on the Type 99 Rifle. Common production variant. Separated into two parts: stock and action, and barrel and sights.

    • The Type 2 variant gained notoriety when in 1974 it was used as a sniper rifle by the Scorpio killer in the Clint Eastwood film Dirty Harry .

    References

    TERA rifle Wikipedia
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