I have a few used 20 round magazines with the original alloy followers.  All show finish wear, but one is starting to develop a relatively small divot where the edge of the last round is stripped off of it.  Since this follower is down to the bare alloy I was wondering if I should refinish it.  Anodizing would be nice, but since I'd rather not have it wear away the inside of the mag I was thinking of getting it plated and just doing the rest of them at the same time.  I am considering nickel or chrome, and possibly having them bead blasted on the top to produce a matte finish on the area that would show with the bolt locked back on an empty mag.  There is a place that does chrome plating near my parents' home and I am going to see if they would do it cheap.  Do alloys need to be nickeled before chroming?  I know there are different grades or types of aluminum so does anyone know which one I am dealing with?  Also, is the original finish on the Colt alloy followers anodizing or something else?

John Masen has repro followers, I am going through the same situation as you.  I haven't decided yet.

www.johnmasen.com/ar15/ar15magazines.html

Most of mine have this little divot but I am not aware of it being any type of problem.  I don't think there is any finish on alloy followers from the factory so I'm not quite sure what you are talking about.  I don't think these followers can wear out.  I think you have a non-problem but who really knows??  Let us know what you do and how it works.  If you want to get rid of any of these followers I will gladly take them off your hands.

Thanks for the responses.  I am aware that it is really not a big deal and plan to hang onto this follower rather than replace it.  I bought it locally so I can probably swap it out for a better one if need be.  Being in a ban state I thought plating might make the followers last a lot longer in case their availability becomes limited in the future.  I will probably just order a few extras when I stock up on springs to be safe.