I bought a very nice 4566 last year that came with three mags with black followers. Replaced mag springs as I always do. My local shop got some used 2nd and 3rd gen mags in yesterday and I saw 2 marked 4506 with orange followers. I know the 4506 takes same mags as 4566 so I grabbed them. $30 each.

I know the older 9MM mags the black was for 14 round mags and the orange changed them to 15. What’s the difference between the black and orange 4506 followers?

The black followers were the last iteration of the 4500 series. IIRC, the red followers were the first, after the metal followers in the 645 mags.

All of the followers work, in my experience. But for serious purpose, I only use the black follower mags. The mags with red or yellow followers I use as range mags. Regards 18DAI

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

In the history of the 45 magazines and along the way, some magazines got a vertical indentation (depending upon the pistol model) to keep the top round in the magazine during recoil. The red followers would bind with that indentation so yellow followers were the next variety for certain magazines. The black followers are the latest and work in magazines that had red and/or yellow followers.
The pic shows the yellow and black followers that have material removed at the left back edge to go all the way up and not interfere with that vertical indentation.

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Thanks. Still happy to find them at a decent price. I’m sure they’ll be fine for range use.

Yep, if the 45XX magazine followers aren't 'tactical black,' but some other color, you've got junk-n-the-trunk ***** fer shure, so toss it in the nearest ditch.

I actually have a yellow follower 4506 magazine marked 'this magazine has a yellow follower' and it seems to have problems keeping the top round in. I'll often see see the round start slipping out and I'm pretty sure it's the cause of the one FTF I've had in my 4566TSW so far. Was this a known problem and part of why they went to black followers or is this just a bad magazine?

Hammy you can still get black followers, and swap one in there and see how that works.
I place black followers in every mag I get, regardless of the color that came in it.
The problem you are describing happened to me once in a while with steel followers in early mags.

Yep got all black followers years ago to replace the yellow ones that came with my 4513TSW. Never a FTF.

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Marty 4513TSW 13-1 642 60-10

The 3rd gen .45 mag bodies received some ongoing revisions over the years, including after they switched over from the metal followers and buttplates to plastic ones.

One of the revisions to the mag body was adopting an indentation covering the lips, called the P-lips (by someone at the company). Basically, each side of the lips got a large rectangular pressed indentation covering much of the lips. It replaced the previous short stamped, angled indentation to below the rear of the lips (like on the 4516-1 mags w/yellow follower).

We were told (armorer classes) that the black plastic 3rd gen .45 follower (which became the last revision of the 3rd gen .45 mag followers) was able to be used in all earlier versions of the 3rd gen .45 mags that had originally came with plastic followers and buttplates. In other words, we were told not to try to use them in the 645 mags that originally had metal followers and buttplates.

Another variation was the addition of a secondary different set of indentations stamped to the rear/bottom of the standard pressed lip indentations, which were considered necessary for the CS45 (and the shortest 945). The littlest .45 models experienced a bit more recoil, and the secondary indentations were felt necessary to compensate for the added recoil, to help keep the top rounds from jumping forward under recoil. (It was basically a variation of their earlier feature on .45 mags, and on the then-current .40 mags.)

Old pic I made for another thread. This shows the last "current" 3rd gen .45 mag body on the left, with the large rectangular pressed lips (used in 6, 7, & 8rd mags), and a CS45 mag on the right, with the arrow pointing to the secondary indentation. (The 945-1 short-barreled model's 6rd mags used the same secondary indentations as the CS45.)

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Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer

So if I wanted to by black followers, where would I find them?

Smith & Wesson Mag Follower S&W 4513TSW 4553TSW 4563TSW 4566TSW

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Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer

Interesting.
I have three 4506 mags with these exact indentations. Would they perhaps have been unusual? I cannot think of a short barreled pistol that came with these 8-round mags.

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The 4506 is a 5" barrel, there are many shorter than 5" that came with 8 rd mags.

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I understand and have several of many models. What I am asking is why these mags exist.
The CS45 has the detents by the feed lips to retain the top round when that short slide slams back and forward fast.
BUT no pistol was ever made using the same slide and EIGHT ROUND MAGS, which makes these seeming superfluous. They are the only three I have ever seen like this. I have dozens of 45xx mags.
The closest would be the 4596, with its 3.75” barrel, but neither my 4513 nor my Recon 45 came with mags with this type of dimple in them.

Thanks. Should have checked there. Ordered 3 to replace my three red followers.

Don't know why they exist squidsix, but I have three of those 8-round mags with the dimples in them too.

All three came with my LE salesmans sample Melonite 4566. And none of them worked. Two were impossible to load. All three have black followers. I think they need to have yellow followers. Maybe they would function with those. Dunno..... Regards 18DAI

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

Yep.

For serious EDC on the street, your 45XX 'Pros-in-the-Know' run the black followers.

If it's just a range toy, it doesn't matter ... Red or yellow, wutever.

There seems to be some confusion among some of you. The main changes to these magazines lay in the feed lip design, excluding the base plate changes. Simply swapping a black follower with an orange or yellow one won't necessarily fix the round retention issues.

Yep. While the black follower can be used in earlier 3rd gen mag designs with plastic bases, that won't do anything to address the earlier feed lip designs, if that's the result (cause) of any early round displacement (under recoil) or feeding issues.

As far as the 8rd 4566/4506 mags with the extra dimples like the CS45 6rd mags use? Dunno. They've never been mentioned in any of the armorer classes, or by anyone with whom I discussed mags at the factory. Maybe they were a mistake in manufacturing for a production run, or maybe some end-user requested them thus modified? Interesting, though.

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Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer