If you look at the many Kalashnikovs, especially the Soviet era, you will notice one very remarkable detail - their shops are painted orange. To some, such a design decision may seem frankly strange, but is everything really as simple as it seems at first glance?
In fact, everything is not simple, but very simple. When the Kalashnikov assault rifle passed the tests and was put into service, it became clear that they would have to arm the entire, and rather rather large, Soviet army. This means that the machine should be immediately put into mass production. As soon as this happens with any thing, the question of price-rationality-reliability arises in terms of the selection of materials. Often the design of things in such a situation has to be made cheaper relative to what was originally invented by the designers.
This was approximately the case with the Kalashnikov assault rifle. The pens and magazines are orange due to the fact that they were made from a very specific material - Bakelite or "polyoxybenzylmethylene glycol anhydride". This is a kind of fairly cheap, but extremely durable plastic. Ideal for mass production of weapons. Bakelite itself is brown to orange in color.
In addition to being relatively cheap, Bakelite is also good because it is a very bad conductor. heat, which is very useful when working with weapons that get hot enough at intense shooting. Finally, it is resistant to mechanical damage: pressure, scratches, friction, shock, etc. Another highlight on the cake is the poor electrical conductivity. At high temperatures (more than 300 Celsius) Bakelite does not burn, but only charred. In general, all materials are material.
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By the way, not only plastic elements for the AK-74 were made from bakelite in the USSR, but also many civilian and household items. In Russia, this material has been produced since 1915. A significant increase in bakelite production took place during the years of industrialization.
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Continuing the topic, read about 5 worst replicas of the Kalashnikov assault rifle, from which a Soviet soldier's hair would stand on end.
A source: https://novate.ru/blogs/280320/53938/