A Little Tint Makes A World Of Difference

Dying the sand PMAG really improves the look of the M1956A2!

Medium Coyote Tan

Breadpan of boiling water.

1 Tablespoon Pearl Gray
1 teaspoon Camel
1/2 teaspoon Harvest
1/2 teaspoon Taupe

8 minute soak flipping every couple of minutes.

It's as near as no nevermind to medium coyote tan as to make no difference.  This will also blend well with the old flat dark earth too.

Plus, if you get the light just right, it blends with prototype brown too!

Numbered And Marked

Since I have embraced the evils of long chain polymers...

And Rit Dye...

I've numbered my PMAGs.  And many of them are quite colorful.

Got in my sand baseplates and dyed them a nice Zombie Green and marked in the numbers with a paint marker.

To fill no need at all, I bought a windowed sand PMAG.

And dyed it foliage green.

While I think the windowed magazines are kinda neat I'm sort of at a loss for what use they really are.  I've heard lots of explanations that kind of make sense, but I'm not convinced of the utility.

But neat is enough for any gun purchase!

This actually isn't my first dyed window PMAG.  I have two more, in purple.  Even Harvey has one in flat dark earth.

All of my PMAGs are the Gen 3 types, Harvey's are Gen 2 MOE.

Marv's been an enthusiastic user of the windowed types since they first came out.  He even went so far as to convert a metal AR magazine to have a window, it works fine!

For Chinese AK's

Terra cotta AK PMAG!

As Close As We're Going To Get

Flat Dark Earth is impossible to match with Ritt dye and sand PMAGs.

This is as close as we're going to get, I think, since we can't experiment with the now discontinued color anymore.

I think my formula for the gray that matches USGI magazines cut in half, the sand stone synthetic and a bit of Camel would nail it.  I lack magazines to test with.

Leave Well Enough Alone

You cannot fix a PMAG that has been dyed by trying to dye it again.

My attempt to add a little green-gray to make them more like FDE has resulted in dark gray.

Left to right...

The goal, the result, gray on purpose.

You Can't Get There From Here

Continuing the Rit Dye experiments, this time trying to get to flat dark earth.

I can't make FDE with Rit on a sand PMAG.

The magazine on the far right looks closer in person than on camera.

Formula #1
1-1/2 tsp Pearl Gray
1/2 tsp Harvest

Formula #2
2 tsp Pearl Gray
1/4 tsp Harvest
1/4 tsp Camel

Formula #3
1 Tbsp Pearl Gray
1 tsp Taupe
1/4 tsp Harvest

Formula #4
2 tsp Pearl Gray
1 tsp Taupe
1/2 tsp Harvest

Formula #5
2 tsp Pearl Gray
1 tsp Taupe
1/2 tsp Harvest
1/4 tsp Black

Formula #6 (left magazine)
1-1/2 tsp Pearl Gray
1/2 tsp Camel
1/4 tsp Harvest

Formula #7 (right magazine)
1-1/2 tsp Pearl Gray
1/2 tsp Camel
1/4 tsp Harvest

1/4 tsp Taupe

Polish 6H4

Got a Polish AKM bayonet.  The Polish 6H4 bayonet is a copy of the Russian 6X4 without the saw edge back and keeping the metal scabbard of their 6H3 instead of an all plastic one like the 6X4.

You have to admire the salesmanship.

I talked him down a little.

It's nice to see how close I got to Com-Bloc bakelite with my PMAG dying adventures.

Ripeness

When you first go to the store, they're green.

So you wait for them to ripen to that perfect shade of yellow.

But you wait too long...

Further Atrocity

You have to have zombie green magazines to survive the Zombie Apocalypse™®©.

Even The AK Is Not Sacred

Because sand AK PMAG-30's were a mere $8.22 apiece, I went with sand instead of black.

The question became, what color to dye them.

The answer, once I'd noticed that Russia had issued a non-metallic magazine for their AKM's since the late '60's, was obvious.

Match the color(s) of the "bakelite" magazine!

Nailed it on the first attempt!  The recipe for 2 qt. of water is 1 tbsp Harvest, 1/2 tsp Cherry Red and 1/4 tsp Black.

It kinda looks like bbq sauce, don't it?

Video confirmation that we'd matched the color.

For "authenticity's" sake we varied the soak time and temperature to vary the color slightly.

I need to remember to ask Willard if he has another of those East German magazine bags.

Well Poop

It was fun while it lasted.

The 2017 Magpul catalog does not list any magazines or furniture in the eminently dyeable sand color.

Now you can get any color magazine you want, as long as it's black.  Or "medium coyote tan" in the 30-round Gen M3 PMAG (because USMC).

There's Days When I Have Too Much Fun

If You Wanna Be The Top Banana

You have to dye PMAGs in a bunch...

Long Magazine

The PMAG-40 is one long magazine.

Round per round, the 40 is lighter than the 30, but it has the same problems as the MP.44 had with regards to the magazine hitting the ground before the rifle is down far enough to use prone.

Knock Knock

Who's there?

Orange you glad this isn't the whole knock-knock joke?

Proving my yellow is repeatable with a 40 round AR mag.

Obligatory

If you're going to dye sand PMAGs, you are obligated to do an AK one in yellow with a banana sticker on it.

4 Tbsp Lemon Yellow.  About 2 qt. of water.

Obligation fulfilled; I don't even own an AK.

For the record, a loaded PMAG 30 AK MOE weighs 1 lb. 8.0 oz.

Brown Like When The Fit Hits The Shan

Marv, having a bit of OCD has been playing with formulas to better match Damage Ind. SHTF Brown.

His first effort is here.

Formula #3 was very close.  Tonight we added an extra 1-1/2 tsp of Graphite to it.

So: 3 Tbsp of Chocolate Brown, 1-1/2 tsp Graphite, 1 tsp of Purple and 1 tsp of Aquamarine gets you:

Compared to the furniture he's trying to match:

While it's not quite a perfect match, I think we're at the limits of what we can do with Rit dye with this material.

I Am Gray

1 tbsp Pearl Gray, 1 tsp Taupe.  4 minute soak for the gray on the PMAG-20 Gen M3.

This is the same color you get from half as much dye for twice as long, and was the point of the experiment because the matching dust cover was made using the more dilute solution.

It's an attractive color.  No idea if it matches anything, but it doesn't really clash with anything either.

Dyeing A Little Each Time

I've found the formula that gets as close to Magpul's discontinued Foliage Green as you're going to get with Rit.  It's just a bit too green, but reducing the green makes it too gray.

4 cups of water for 3-4 minutes.
1 Tbsp Pearl Gray, 1-1/2 tsp Taupe, 1/4 tsp Camel.

The inconsistency in color is because I didn't manage the clock and water temperature as anally as I could have.  The far right magazine is the one I did last night in Foliage Dark Earth (see below) re-dyed with the above mixture.

With the black of the receiver between the parts, the color variance isn't very noticeable.

In the process of figuring out foliage, I think I stumbled over a decent Magpul Stealth Gray combination.

L-R

8-minute soak.  4 cups water.

1-1/2 tsp Pearl Gray, 1/2 tsp Taupe.
1-1/2 tsp Pearl Gray, 3/4 tsp Taupe.
1-1/2 tsp Pearl Gray, 3/4 tsp Taupe, 1/4 tsp Camel.
1-1/2 tsp Pearl Gray, 1/2 tsp Camel.  I call this one Foliage Dark Earth because it's got aspects of both colors.

Foliage Dark Earth (L) compared with Foliage Green (R).

We also discovered a couple of other colors last night.

1/2 tsp Tangerine, 1/4 tsp Pearl Gray, 1/4 tsp Dark Green.  This is Rit's official formula for Flat Dark Earth.  It's too orange.

1 tsp Camel, 1/2 tsp Emerald, 1/2 tsp Aquamarine.  This color looks closest to Foliage Green in Rit's color guide.

4 tsp Dark Green, 2 tsp Lemon Yellow.  The next closest to Foliage Green in Rit's guide...

1/2 tsp Pearl Gray, 1/2 tsp Dark Green.

1-1/2 tsp Pearl Gray, 1/2 tsp Dark Green.

2-1/2 tsp Pearl Gray, 1/2 tsp Dark Green.