What do Rit Dye, Magpul, a sand PMAG (actually several PMAGs), and a writer with an artistic muse have in common? Read on and you’ll see.
In June of 2016, we posted a review of the Magpul Sand PMAG. In that article, I briefly went over the steps to dyeing a SAND PMAG using Rit Dye. During that test, I noticed some colors did not turn out the same as what the bottle says it is supposed to be. So I decided to try every color and have a comprehensive color chart. I would not try mixing dyes or dipping a PMAG in different dyes to get different colors. I reached out to Rit Dye and they sent us 25 bottles of their most popular colors for testing. This meant I had to raid the Gunmag Warehouse (no pun intended) for 25 Sand PMAGs.
It’s very difficult to find PMAGs in that color these days, though not impossible. This article will apply mostly to those of you who still have some, are able to find some, or are interested in seeing what sort of results you get with a brown PMAG or one of our other mags available in FDE). Many of the latter are light enough that you might have some luck with it.
Note: this article was originally published on December 30, 2016. It remains a perennial favorite with the Mag Life reader community so we’ve updated and reposted it.
After a few stops, I found a bread pan that is just the right size for the PMAG. This way I won’t need as much water. In order to stay consistent, I only used three capfuls of dye for every color. I used the same bent wire coat hanger to lower and raise the PMAGs into the dye. I decided to dip the PMAGs one minute at a time up to three minutes. Only a couple of colors went on to five minutes.
Below are the results of the dyeing.
Black turned out a very dark blue compared to the factory black 40rd PMAG to the right.
BLACK
PEARL GREY
GOLDEN YELLOW
SUNSHINE ORANGE
The bottles look different but they are the same color. Not sure why the yellower bottle says “NEW”.
HARVEST
CAMEL
Yes, Camel. Much like those giant boxes of Crayons we had when were kids, the Rit Dye Color Chart has some interesting and very specific colors.
TAUPE
As you can see, taupe does not come out as you hope or expect. In my previous attempt, it turned green on me.
APPLE GREEN
Speaking of apples.
DARK GREEN
EMERALD
TEAL
KELLY GREEN
Unfortunately, Kelly Green is another color that does not turn out as you would expect.
AQUAMARINE
ENAMEL BLUE
NAVY BLUE
PURPLE
VIOLET
COCOA BROWN
WINE
CHERRY RED
SCARLET
FLAME
FUCHSIA
PINK
As you can see in the photos above Taupe, Kelly Green, Pearl Gray and Black do not turn out as expected.
I hope this has been helpful. A Tutorial Video will be coming soon showing every color seen here and how each mag was dyed.
I put some star stickers on first and then did a red and blue dye job. Took the stickers off after dry and they stayed white. I got a little leakage but they look pretty cool.
Excellent work. You just saved me (and others I bet) a butt load of money!
Great job but not quite finished. What about forulas to match Magpul furniture? I actually called Magpul asking for formulas and they had no suggestions. Magpul should have done this. I love Magpul, but they should have done some homework to offer customers videos and formulas themselves!!
That’s got to be right near the top of a list of things I’d never likely think of doing. I bet there’s gonna be a run on sand PMAG’s and pink Rit dye! Lots of color coordinated weapon assemblies showing up at ranges in the future. 🙂 ( question : does it hurt more to get beat by that little girl with the high score and a PINK AR ? 😉
WOW! That’s amazing! I know I’m probably gonna to get laughed at, but why do this? Also, can you dye mags from hand guns? I’m brand new to guns so all this is new to me. Btw, I have a S&W M&P Shield 9mm, so I’m hoping I can dye the mags Thanks Paul
Although taupe did not turn out correctly, I actually like the color the best.
How well does the color hold on the magazine? I mean after a day shooting g in the afternoon sun I won’t want to come home with purple, green or red hands.
My gosh, here I was struggling with markers and tapes when I received my newsletter with this great news! Whodah thunk it?! I know I never did… I put the RID Dye to work and now I have the color-coding system in place I’d been looking for AND it will not only last, but now they don’t look chinsry. Having my AR and AK magazines color-coded as to what type of ammunition they hold makes transition from one type to another quickly and as easy as taking a quick glance and making the switch. Thanks, Guys…ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!!
Can’t wait for the video, these look amazing!
Does it have to be the sand Pmag or can I dye my black ones as well?
How well would this work on black mags…. I’m thinking of doing reds, yellows, or orange.
I would be interested to know what kind of durability could be had with this dyeing technique. Is it fairly deep (would be odd to be able to penetrate a thermoplastic), or might it provide a durable surface coating? I know, I know – “…shut up and try it instead of asking too many questions!” Rick J.
To answer people’s questions & give other info: 1: You can NOT dye metal magazines. If your mags are metal, the dye will not adhere and possibly cause rust. 2: Dying black polymer is a waste of time – it will not show up. You can only dye the part a DARKER shade. 3: The dye does not penetrate very far into the material. If you’re a 3-gun competitor and are dropping mags in sand/gravel/rocks, doing 1000’s of dry-fire reloads or putting in hard use, you WILL see wear. But you can re-dye the things anytime. 4: Allow a few days to fully dry & there’ll be no bleeding. 5: You can dye Magpul FDE furniture, but it will not come the same as “sand”. If you’re color-coordinating a rifle’s furniture, use fde mags & experiment on small, unseen (or spare) parts to get the right shade. Those mag covers are good test subjects. 6: Magpul’s polymers dye great; dye other manufacturer’s product’s at your own risk! 7: Be sure to disassemble mags, stocks, etc before dying – boiling water will rust springs pins, screws, etc.! Hope this helps!
Nicholas, nice idea with the RIT dye but I have a much better idea which is cheaper & easier! Email me and I’ll share my proven ‘secret’ with you. I’ve used my method on both my friends, family & my own guns, saving us thousands of dollars wanting color changes! It could be your next article!
I’ve dyed sand mags blue. One way to make the mags “colorfast” is to finish the job with a vinegar dip. While sand is probably the best color to use, I’ve also used FDE colored parts as well. I have 3 custom colored AR’s.
This is great info, but … What are really needed, and what I’ve not seen in any of the on-line forums, etc, are Rit “recipes” (colors, amounts or proportions, time, temperature) for matching the sand-colored PMAGs to the other standard Magpul furniture colors — OD, foliage green, stealth gray, FDE, etc. THAT would be oh, so useful (and why Magpul hasn’t developed and published those recipes is a mystery to me).
I wonder if you could tint clear mags using this method?
I agree wth W.Brummett! I have some 7.62/308 Magpul sand pmags I want to color match Magpul Olive Drab and. Flat Dark Earth. If Magpul is not going to manufacture these in the matching furnture colors RELEASE the RIT formulas for doing so!!! Come on guys I love Magpul products but REALLY???
Rit dye has a formula chart that can be downloaded free. It has 500 colors….
These actually work. You can use the ratios listed. Different polymers may yield different results.
I wouldn’t follow the Rit chart for colors. The colors don’t come out like they would on fabrics
No, wrong the chart gives the color, the color is the color regardless of the material, plastic or fabric. That said, testing and adjusting is recommended to get the color the way you want because as I said different materials may yield slightly different results.
Did you actually try these colors on pmags? They don’t turn out like the rit color chart. Sorry to burst your bubble, but there is quite a lot of issues that people have with the colors.
I have done many and have been able to get what I was looking for. All kinds of poly parts and pistol frames, charcoal, plum, maroon, gray…Let me know if I can help you, it takes a little trial and error or adjustments and second tries. One color over the other, mixes of different colors…
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/dc66632b5e4b6b1b7b53c5c633cadd7a98c9355c6a513bcb7f41390199d9a013.jpg
To clarify I have never had to do MP FDE or OD but will try that also. One trick is to not go too dark at first, grey can go black as an example. One problem is consistent coverage or light spots, not usually with the pmags though.
Is there a formula for dyeing FDE pmags to make them Grey ? I only here people mention sand color mags being died? Thank you
No vinegar needed just rinse with cold water. Use the pearl gray dye but do not leave in too long or you have black. The original color does not really matter as long as its not black. The formulas for gray are a bit different and will yield colors like shark skin and have a slight blue green tint?
PS. Also I read that everything needs to soak in vinegar or something afterwards is this true? Thnx
You have to be careful with the pearl gray as it will go dark as in you example. I was able to get a match to magpul stealth gray but you can’t leave it in too long and need to check constantly and pull it out earlier than indicated. Your wine example is much too light, this is a color you can leave in longer to get a better match to burgundy, if you want it more maroon you can follow up with a quick dip in the gray, too long in the followup gray and it will start to look purpleish.
Can you die a complete magpul sand color furniture set?
Yes, I did a my AK zukav furniture
So, is dieing the magazine worth the extra trouble over taping off areas you don’t want colored and using epoxy paint of a fairly close match? Just don’t like sand as I don’t play in the sandbox.
Epoxy will change the tolerances, so real tight fitting mag wells will be even tighter. Plus epoxy ends up chipping.
Diying is better than any paint. The die acts more like a stain. If you die multi color camo patterns you will not add those extra paint layers to the mag.
i want the same camel color as in picture but i tried the dust cap and it went green so i checked bottle exactly the same as in your picture can you shed any light on this.
How is the scratch resistance does it scratch like spray paint
No. It does not scratch like spray paint. It acts more like a stain. If a scratch is deep enough it will show the original sand color in the scratch
Figures an article about bright dye-colored magazines would come from some butthead from The People’s Republic of California.
IDK what you did differently but I tried dying some sand mags with the Chocolate Brown and they turned green. I don’t mean they were brown with a greenish tint. They were an almost perfect match to my Magpul forest green, shade of green.
Yes. Same thing happened to me on my second attempt with the dark brown. Not sure what caused this.
Anyone know why magpul discontinued the sand color? Did are they just shifting their efforts to the military approved Medium Coyote Tan color?
Rit has another product called DyeMore that is specifically formulated for synthetics. I’ve had good results (with the black especially) on 3d printed nylon parts. May be worth a try for total saturation on black.
I have had mixed results with the brown/s and black. They have been coming out with different levels of green tints to them. I even used distilled water Any one know what is going on or how to fix it?
I have bathroom rugs I dyed they came out too orange rust and I want golden brow
Why have you not shared how to match things like Magpul FDE or Magpul OD Green? They make lots of furniture for ARs in these colors, but no corresponding magazines. What’s the secret formula to match Magpul FDE? Why in the hell doesn’t Magpul provide a formula and way to go about it if they have no plans of releasing magazines in these colors (which I’ve emailed and asked them)? Has anyone had any success, with a repeatable process, in dying the sand mags to match Magpul FDE?
I’m trying to turn robin’s egg blue, to tan/flat dark earth/ coyote brown (whatever just not robin’s egg blue). Any suggestions? Thanks.
Did you buy blue for training, or just for the color?
How permanent is the color change?
Nicholas Chen,
Thank you for taking the time and making the effort to do this test.
I appreciate it.
Tom
Thanks for doing this project. I was looking at dyeing a set of my MOE furniture to get a version of foliage green since Magpul has discontinued this color. Now I know I’ll have to experiment mixing the dyes to get the shade of green I want.
and then Magpul discontinued the Sand colored mags.
Any idea what would come out as the best match for red anodize? Can’t really find an actual anodized red mag in 6.8 SPC/.224 Valkyrie.