Finally purchased a Bakelite to just have one in a collectable sense. I know they are way over priced. I know surplus steel is the way to go. Yet I had to have at least one. Is there a ranking system to surplus items? It came in today and it looks to be in excellent condition. I paid $55 for it shipped to my mailbox. I may want to get one more. No this is not from AIM.

Thanks  

There technically is a ranking system for surplus items (several, probably), but any form of categorizing is really only reliable as applied to goods from the same supplier. Objective systems, like the NRA's, are so broad as to be meaningless for anything other than the highest and lowest tiers.

I'd agree that categorizing your Bakelite as "Excellent" condition is apt.

Thanks for the response. I did a lot of research since my original post and have came to the conclusion I shouldn't have posted it in the first place! You nailed it when you stated that the categorizing is only reliable to goods from the same supplier. This is true. Some suppliers will use Museum Grade or Collector Grade. Others will use Very Good, Excellent, and Like New. Then there are the simple rankings as A, B, C, etc. Every surplus supplier has a different grade scale.

As far as Bakelite mags go I have found out in the last day that there isn't a set standard to price them. They are out of production and go anywhere from $40-$100 or more regardless of the condition. Its nuts.  

Safe queen mag for photo shoots.

In general, the quality of the body, lug(s) and base plate are what determines condition (which really boils down to issued or unissued).

Condition does matter in price, but the bigger variance (assuming equal quality) comes from rarity (be it long top,etc. or Tula vs. Izmash).

Thanks for the info. It would be cool if there was a site that goes into detail about all the different runs and types of bakelite mags that were manufactured.

That type of info was en vogue during the heyday of the surplus years (early/mid 2000's) but seems to have fallen out of favor over the last 5 years (which is a shame).

The below pic is an oldie that shows the 4 variants.

Protip-

Rub a clean cotton cloth with CLP on the bakelite and let it sit for awhile.

Buff off with clean cloth,rating goes up several notches



Also the versions with the steel reinforced feed lips are more sought after

If you put any kind of oil on it, make sure to only use Ballistol. That is a beautiful mag you have there. If you're only going to have one Bakelite for show purposes I doubt you could do much better.

Fike, That picture is exactly what I'm looking for. Wish they had one for the Tula mags. Is it safe to say that Izzy's are the crème de la crème of bakelite mags? I'd like to pinpoint how old my particular magazine is. Like you stated earlier it used to be all over the internet. A lot number database would be nice to have, plug in your mag number to see manufacture date.

FlyLeaf/1saxman, Not going to oil it, it might remove the factory "OTK" ink stamp. Im a gun nerd, it has to stay.  

Bakelite magazines, like most collectable things, do have a sort of ranking system for determining overall value. Unissued / New Old Stock will tend to be the most sought after generally for collection purposes, especially with crisp stamps (OTK, among others). NOS will generally be in better condition than most, but AG-S4 (what we incorrectly call bakelite) is susceptible to wear marks so even unissued magazines can show some wear on the bodies where they'd rub against each other in storage. Once you start seeing paint removed from the rear locking lug and scrapes alongside the top section of the magazine, you move from Unissued / NOS to used in its varying conditions. Tula (identified by the star) is considered a little rarer and as such a little more collectible than Izhmash (triangle with the arrow inside), unless the Izhmash is "Cyrillic" (identified by what looks like a "UT" followed by a number); the Cyrillic Izzy's are something like a 5th gen bakelite magazine and fewest in number overall compared to previous generations.

Your pictured mag, for example, looks like it has no paint removed from the rear lug but it does have a scrape along the left side of the top section; it was likely inserted once or twice and then never again. 4th gen, "Cyrillic Tula" (number then what looks like a "B"), should have metal reinforced feed lips and a smooth back (no ridge along the spine). Not a bad way to get a bakelite collector mag without going full retard like some of us are guilty of.  Sharp lookin' magazine.

Nice Tula!

 

The mold number, 38B, indicates that it's a 4th generation Tula Cyrillic magazine.  


It should have the goal post floor plate and even though I can't tell from the picture, it's a flat-back magazine.


For a beat up bakelite, you paid way too much.  Considering what you got, you did alright.


Now you have to order another one, though.  You wouldn't want to add a bunch of insertion marks, would you?

Thanks to the last two posts. Im glad there is people out there with knowledge on these magazines. I'm learning and appreciate the input.



All over it. This is becoming a problem. One more to make 3 and I'm done, I swear.

#2 came in today. Lighter color and its a humpback.    







Your correct. Both have goalpost floor plates. #1 Flat-back #2 Humpback

Thanks for the response  and knowledge. I knew there was more to the whole bakelite mag scene. They are legitimate collector pieces. Both of mine have reinforced lips. #2 looks to be from an older run.

Purty!

I'm a big fan of Bakelite, so much so that I bought a WASR so I could make a Bakelite AK.

I recommend using Wax paper and polishing once a day for a week with CLP.

This is how i roll with the bakelite  

Tula instead of Norinco bakelite? FALE!

Norinco mags are garbage

Nice looking rifles gentlemen

I am also a bakelite fan,



Wpns Man

I like them as well..






I have more...need to get them out and do a good cleaning on them as I think there may still be some biohazmat on them from Iraq...

 

Nice PSO you have there. Does the faceplate have a date on it?




Z

OP you have to make sure you have both an Izzy and a Tula in 30rd.  Once you do that you then need to find a Norinco 30 rd.  Then jump up to one of the Russian RPK 40 rd bakes.  Once you have done this go back to them and tell yourself how they need brothers and sisters and buy them some siblings.

Then take a look at Russian Waffle and Slabside mags and add some of those so there can be some rare "black sheep" in the family.




I think I am gonna pull the trigger on a couple more RPK 40 rds just cause.  I need to find some nice slabsides also to add to the stack of rarer AK mags.

Bakelite? Bakelite.

Edit: Dammit, I just saw Yugo's post and realized none of my 40-rounders are in there. Now I've gotta do-over...

I purchased two at $40 each a couple years back, and realized that it was a rabbit hole I didn't want to start down.

LOL.  I just reread my own post and pulled the trigger on a couple more 40 rounders and 30 rounders that are NOS.  Some good prices right now from board members over on AKFiles.

No not dated...

 

I've since put an Iraqi tabuk scope on it since its cammed for x39.

Yes and yes. Just so damn expensive. The ones I have in my collection are in great condition I'm afraid to put them in my WASR. Don't want to scrape them up.

bumping to prevent archive. Also, its good info.

I used to think Bakelite mags were hideous before I saw one in person (thanks to video games that made them look reddish orange and warping my young teenage mind growing up lol) I found a local shop that sells them even cheaper than what AIM charges. Best of all I could pick out exactly what I want, they have mostly Izhmash, some Tulas (no steel reinforcement though), many sexy looking ones a few with rusted springs and floorplates. I currently have 6 steel reinforced sexy looking (I would put them in excellent condition) Izhmash Bakelites, I would get 4 more if I had the money for it. Unsurprisingly they work great in my SLR-107FR, locks in smoothly and functioned 100%.

Where do East German Bakelites rank on the list ?