Russian Plum
The Soviet Union and countries using their leftover Cold War era gear have a reputation for strangely colored furniture and magazines. Orange Bakelite magazines are relatively common and well known, but a more interesting and debated example is the mystifying purple hue of Russian Plum.
What is it?
Russian Plum, or more simply just “plum,” is a term used for Russian plastic parts used on AK-74 rifles from around the early 80’s to the early 90’s and beyond. Russia was the only Soviet country to manufacture plum trimmings for the AK-74, at least that is known in any significant numbers. Bulgaria, East Germany, and other “good boy” countries that got all the best technical data packages continued to use bakelite magazines until the fall of the Soviet Union (in East Germany’s case) or until true black plastic was introduced (for Bulgaria and other Eastern European Post-Soviet states). Plum furniture and magazines are made from reinforced ABS plastic, with metal reinforcement on the feed lips and locking lugs, making them plenty sturdy for hard use and abuse. With one exceedingly rare exception, plum mags and furniture were only made for the 5.45x39mm AKs (74, 74N, AKS-74U, etc.). A run of about five thousand plum colored “waffle” magazines were made for the 7.62x39 AKM as prototypes, but the pattern never saw adoption. Production of the new plastics began when production of the 7.62mm AKM slowed down, when the AK-74 became the primary infantry weapon of Russian troops in the Soviet Union.
Where did it come from?
So, where did plums come from? Where did they go? Where did they come from, Cotton Eyed Joe? There are a few schools of thought on the origin of plum magazines and furniture ranging from deliberate formulation to manufacturing defects. It’s very unlikely that the color was intentional, but there are a few theories that each have their own justification.
First, there is the camouflage theory. The camouflage theory states that the Russians made the plastics adjacent to “true” black because there are no true blacks in nature. Often, this thinking is accompanied or referenced by the idea that the plum color was meant to fool image intensification devices. While the latter is more probable, there are a couple facts that quickly sink the camouflage theory. The most obvious is that the rest of the rifle is already black, so changing the color of the furniture will not do much good to aid in concealment. There is also the fact that in the early 90’s, the Russians started issuing magazines that are actually black (aptly called “true black” mags) in conjunction with the AK-74M and AK100 program.
Second is the trial and error theory. When the Russians (and the Soviet Union as a whole) started issuing synthetic plastic magazines, they noticed that they became much more fragile in the sub-zero temperatures of Northern Siberia and in the Arctic Circle while they were otherwise busy keeping the Norweigians from sleeping well. The theory goes that the “original recipe” black mags and furniture were very brittle, more so than the bakelite magazines that were already in use. They tracked this problem to the black dye and toned it down a bit, resulting in new extra crispy mags that held up better in the cold but ended up with a slightly purple tint. This explanation passes the smell test, but upon further inspection, if this was the case and there was a production run of magazines that were more black, there would be some evidence of it. From museums to the collector market, there is no known record of true black magazines and furniture being produced before plum saw wide use.
The most likely reason for the striking color is a simple mix up in manufacturing. In the early 80s when Russian armories Tula and Izhevsk started looking for a replacement for bakelite, the technology existed to make black plastic, but it was not yet an exact science. Either the plum color was as close as they could get with the materials and manufacturing abilities available at the time, or magazines and furniture started coming out a bit more purple than they had hoped for, but the materials had already been allocated so they went with it. Either way, the color was deemed close enough and manufacturing continued. Manufacturing for military contracts often works on massive scales, even more so in the Soviet Union. Even if the outcome was not completely satisfactory, it is quite possible that continuing on with the mystifying purple countenance was much cheaper and faster than retooling or reworking the mixture to get the color just right.
What Happened to it?
So where did plum go? Why decrease your overall cool factor by at least thirty percent? Simply put: black goes with everything. Black is more uniform, more easily blendable, and was arguably the intended outcome of the plum run in the first place. In 1991, Russia began full production of a modernized 74 (AK-74M) complete with black furniture and magazines at the Izhevsk arsenal. True black magazines are made from PA-6 nylon, which is more easily colored and more durable, and means the deep black color is more easily attainable. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, work began on a series of Kalashnikov rifles based on 74M, called “AK-100.” The purpose of the 100 series is to offer different calibers with as many interchangeable parts as possible. The black plastic was part of this modernization, and allows the rifles to be adapted to a variety of deployments anywhere in the world. So while plum plastics may have been beautiful in their own right, and a symbol of 1980’s Soviet technology and influence, it was not meant to last. True black was the original goal, and in time modernization brought change. The flame that burns twice as purple burns half as long.
