I searched the 6 pages of history available, saw no postings relevant to this question.


So, I have an opportunity to pick up some ASC mags w/ grey plastic  followers stamped "5.45"

I know, I could take the mag, rifle, and 30 rounds of 5.56 to the range and test this, but I'm hoping somebody already knows the answers.



2 questions:

Will they  feed 5.56 as is?  

If not,  can I swap out grey followers for the inexpensive old light-green USGI followers and have reliable mags?

I laid the ASC mag on top of a USGI Okay mag, and the curvature seems identical, not sure about the feed lips though, nor the inside of the mag body.



Anybody got experience w/ this?

Thanks,

kmk

Protip:  Use google to search the site with the "site:ar15.com" tag along with your search words.

In my experience, the feedlips are the difference, not the follower, since the taper is different and the neck starts at a different location on the x39 rounds, and it's the feedlips that determine presentation angle and feeding reliability.

I got rid of my SAR-3 5.56 AK many years ago because the only mags available at the time were modified 5.45x39 AK74 mags, and they still did not feed very reliably.

So, an umodified 5.45x39 magazine will indeed feed 5.56x45 as-is, but I don't expect it to do so dependably, and even modifying the feedlips will not render it reliable, in my experience.  The follower will make no difference at all.

Put them up for trade with somebody for USGI 5.56 mags rather than play the game if they do or do not work.