Plastic Magazine Followers

[Tommy T]

These are a pet peeve of mine. My older semi auto pistols all have metal followers. Never had one fail. Recently bought an M and P Shield. I like the gun, but not the cheap looking orange plastic follower. I know accountants have a big say in the gun world, but how much more can a metal follower cost, maybe a dime?

So much for the editorial. I'm wondering if any of the members have ever had a follower failure, e.g. a stress crack, from leaving a fully loaded magazine for a protracted time?

Thanks guys

[Daycrawler]

Plastic is extremely tough. The old plastic of our youth was crap that would break very easy. That said I have never seen a plastic follower break. As for the dime to metal part, ten cents on the manufactures part, could be several dollars by the time it reaches your hands.

[TooBigToFit]

Never any issues. Your feed lips and the rest of the mag body are probably a bigger concern.

I have a magazine where I broke 2 welds on the magazine body, follower still is fine. Mag also still (mostly) feeds fine.

[Pag23]

I have never had a failure with a plastic follower... yes they wear over time but it is a cheap replacement

[Xringshooter]

OP, What you call "plastic" is not the plastic of the 50's and 60's it's now a polymer. Very tough, reliable and extremely easy to make and cost effective to use today. Your magazine spring will probably fail before the follower does.

That said, if you are more comfortable with a metal follower, find a company who makes them and replace them, it's your decision and your money.

[Ronin]

My S&W 1076 mags all have plastic followers. They're almost 30 yrs old and work just as well now as they did when new.

[Hodgie]

Between my wife and I we have put at least 2K rounds through her Gen 1 shield and the previous owner put about 300 rounds through it. We have 4 mags and have never had a single failure. I have at least 10k rounds through a gen4 Glock 17 And have mags for that from the early 90’s that were given to me from a cop I know who retired. They run 100% with their original followers. I don’t think there is a new production firearm left that doesn’t have a plastic/polymer follower regardless of the price point. I even think Wilson Combat 1911 mags considered to be the best there are at $30-$50 each have redesigned plastic followers. Today’s Injection molding is far superior Then it was back in the day.

[Gunsnwater]

I have had 1911s that preferred one over the other. Down to the style of followers as in round top vs flat foot vs step and plastic vs metal. Use what works. Aluminum frames can be damaged by the old style metal.

[Yoder]

All my glocks and AR mags have plastic followers. Even some of my 1911 mags. I think they are better than metal. Plastic on metal is slick and doesn't need lube. Never had any problems.

[raxar]

Given that the frame is made of plastic I'm not sure why the mag follower is a concern.