Favor,  Can you tell me where I can get one or 2 545 Russian Bakelites and Plums in stock?  I don't need a bunch, but cant seem to find anything.  thanks!

Good luck!

You'd have better luck over on the The AK Files' marketplace than the EE here, and be prepared to pay, especially for the bakelight.

Akfiles, I see them pop up somewhat regularly over there

Good luck. I haven't seen Russian bakes in a LONG time.


EG bakes have been good to me. They are a little cheaper but not much. All are stupidly priced.

*Bakelite*

Invented by Leo Baekeland in 1907, patented in 1909. Interesting that in 1910, George Westinghouse invented micarta using Leo's new resin and it was one of the very first products made with it.

I have a dealer buddy I see now and then at shows. He had some orange 5.45 mags - I think $75 each. May see him next weekend at a show.

Just get some east German bakes. They're insanely nice. Some vendors have them around $100, probably less if you dig around.



Russian surplus . net has some plum mags in stock. $90/per!!

russian ''AG4S thermoplastic setting'' is an ultra durable version of american bakelite said to be cooked at the temperate of glass for extended periods of time until purified then mixed with fibers and poured into molds. at least thats what we knew in the early days of ak collecting before the internet took hold.

the book ''from a strangers door steps to the kremlim gates'' by michail t. kalashnikov, the designer of the ak and another book more geared towards pictures from russia with russian to english translations is where i got this info early on. both books i purchased at the nations NRA museum in washington dc back in 2000.

with the modern internet this info has likely been added to and updated many times over lately. for instance AG4S thermoplastic setting is now know to be just one type of mil-spec mix. several were prototype and several were main production with different code designations.

for instance the early bakelite mags vs. the main production pieces vary greatly as do the mix from mags to grips being obvious and totally different. same goes for chinese bakelite with or without micro fiber mesh mixed in and in various densities, colors, sheen, etc mixes over different eras.

if you look at romanian akm bakelite grips and compare to polish akm bakelite grips the romanian is quite cheap and more wood fiber fill where the polish is built like a tank. not that either are a fragile design. american and german true bakelite can be very fragile when compared to soviet bloc bakelite mixes.

the plum polymide replaced it and was lighter weight and more durable in some but not all cases. for instance plum polymide and later black glass fill mags are not able to withstand severe heat from hot gun barrels that melt them where AG4S style bakelite is indestructable in the heat catagory.

bakelite mags tend to die when afghans use them for 40 years in afghanstan desert clicking them in and out of sheet metal mag wells and shaving off a portion of dust each time. the polymide mags do also to a lesser extent but have flex and get worn out equally in the same way being run too hard for too long. if i had to pick a go to mag it would be an ak74m black russian mag or matte dull plum izhevsk 74 mag. they cant be beat. the circle 10 bulgarian 74 mags are same as russian black just cheaper to buy in usa.

i collect and crave bakelite but for combat once youve tried both the bakelite mags start to look like hunter orange in the woods and slightly more heavy. both are great.

edit, almost forgot to mention soviet bloc bakelite is extremely toxic if you grind, mill or cut into it. do not, repeat, do not breathe the vapors. it causes severe long term health problems that you cant shake is what ive been told. i believe it because ive ground on it before with grinder and it smells like urine. thats the reason given why its no longer made even though there is a very strong market for it and reproductions. its ingredient list is said to be way, way too dicey to try to remake in factories today.

^^^this man knows.

There are parts of the internet out there where you will get severely scolded for calling AG4S "bakelite".

Was never into plastic mags in any platform, collecting or using.

It's amazing how much stuff when I was a kid, was made of bakelite.

We found numerous russian bakelite military field phones in Iraq when we were clearing foxholes outside Baghdad in 2003. Almost every foxhole we searched had one. They were the orange color, just like the magazines and looked like mini brief cases
I should of grabbed a couple.

Oh for sure, vintage stuff, there's a fair amount of stuff like that on ebay, ammo boxes and dosimeter boxes and such, i'm resisting the urge but I really kinda want one.

Just keep your eye out and you will find them pretty easily on boards.

There are a shit ton of them in the country.

Paid $3 each for my EG bakelites (yeah I know not technically Bakelite).  Glad I didn’t sell them all.  They are some good mags…