I've purchased a few mags over the years for my 3 AK-74's and i have a nice collection. I have several different shades of plum, shiny and matte but thyey are all almost black. Does anyone have any info. on the mag pictured below. I'm sure it's Russian but I've never seen one besides a few pictures on the internet.
Thanks,
Dave
btw: if someone has 1 for sale, let me know.
http://www.geocities.com/fordwoody37/1983_Tula_AKSU_MarshallArms_021.jpg

The pictured mag is a sanitized Tula plum. Plum mags are somewhat of a chameleon; they can appear quite dark under certain lighting conditions, but the plum coloration really comes out under bright sunlight (as in the pic) or when a white light is held on them at an angle. Also, a lot of the plum mags will have a black overspray at the top and bottom (allegedly done to protect the metal components from corrosion); some people scrub this off to bring out the mag's natural color.

There's a guy on AKF that's selling a couple; they also pop up in the EE from time to time.
www.theakforum.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=63428

HTH!

I don't understand this.  I guess that the lower price is due to the fact that the mags in the AKF add above are sanitized.  In the same forum there is a guy selling the Izhmesh plumb 74 mags for $55 in used condition.  What is with the difference in price?

Quoted: I guess that the lower price is due to the fact that the mags in the AKF add above are sanitized.

You guess correctly. A "sanitized" mag has little to no collector value, and thus will command a much lower price.

In the same forum there is a guy selling the Izhmesh plumb 74 mags for $55 in used condition.  What is with the difference in price?

That seller is located overseas; he may not be aware that like-new Izhmash plum mags can be had for around $20 here in the States. His ad didn't differentiate between Tula or Izhmash, nor between plum or bakelite mags. $55 is market rate or below for Izhmash bakelites and either variety of Tula; those were the first to go. I'm sure he's still sitting on a bunch of Izhmash plum mags at $55 a pop, wondering why nobody is buying 'em...

Sanatized mags have a place in a xollection or in a Bulgarian 74 that has soviet plum or any Bulgarian rifle for that matter.