Universal was Colt's subcontractor. Turn the UI logo sideways for CH, Colt Hartford.

So, is it really CH.  I think the pkacement of thise letters to make a UI. Actually a CH is pretty cool.

I'd guess that it's probably actually both.  I've never seen definitive documentation that it is one or the other, but sort of makes branding sense that the "logo" identifies the relationship between the two companies.
Since it's shown on mags from other contracts (like the Simmonds), the logo is definitely the UI of the manufacturer...it just seems too coincidental to be an accident that we can also see the CH.

I used to live the down the street from the old Universal Industries plant in Connecticut, which was actually owned by Landers, Frary and Clark.   They are best known for making things like toasters and other household products, but anyone who grew up during the 1950s and 60's probably is familiar with another Univeral Industries product, which was the kids metal lunch boxes.  A neighbor worked there from after WW2 until the company went bust and was sold off in pieces in the mid 1960's.  He had a bunch of UI 20 round mags and even the early red blank mags and even some one-off mags from Colt's that were done in the UI tool room.  I did not have an interest in gun stuff then, but I did luck out and get some cool metal lunch boxes and thermos.   All of the guns stuff was sold off through Ebay back a long time ago for very little.

I did get some interesting UI gun related items that had nothing to do with magazines related to the Ar15 (grenade launcher front sight), M60 LMG (top cover and feed tray) and Stoner 63 (steel magazine and S63 early LMG top cover) though.  UI did so much work for Colts that they were supposedly given two factory cut a way select fire AR15's mounted on wall plaques.  What ever happened to those pieces is anyone's guess since even back then, Connecticut required that machineguns to be registered with the State Police and they were shipped to UI on IRS/ATU form 5's as deactivated.   I heard that when the parent company bit the dust, a lot of stuff went home with employees - from line workers up to the Executive Offices.

As has been already said, Universal Industries was the primary subcontractor for Colt 20 round mags.  They had been in business since the teens, and the West Haven Division did metal pressings and had the tooling for the Colt/Armalite 20 rounds mags.  UI as a corporation had money problems, from a takeover bid I believe, and the different divisions were sold off after there was a plant fire in 1964 or 65.

UI's Wast Haven plant and operations for light metal pressing products was sold to Simmons Precision and they just kept the plant operating for a couple years until consolidating operations in the Midwest.  I was told by a former employee that they had several tons of Colt magazine pressings already formed, so it is not unusual to find Simmons Products base plates on UI marked mag bodies on Colt rifles issued and sold as late as 1969.  A dealer I used to shoot with up in Maine had a original Colt AR15 full auto that was a post 68 Dealer Sales Sample gun for police sales that was sent to Colt's exclusive LEO Distributor in Massachusetts - who handled all their sales for New England.  The rifle was never broken out of the Colt box and he still had it with all the sales info and transfers from Colt.  I never took the rifle out of the bag it was in, but it  did come with 2x 20 round mags and they were both Colt marked mags like Coldbllue's with the UI marks.   If I remember right, they came in spaces cut into the cardboard that held the full auto AR15 in the box.

Here is the "Official" Universal Industries History related to the AR15/M16 magaziine, courtesy of a Federal Tax case, so we can assume it is complete.  Note the prices Colt paid for the magazines!
Reference: 1968 legal case: SIMMONDS PRECISION PRODUCTS, INC. Successor in interest to Universal Industries, Inc. v. The UNITED STATES.

" Universal was founded in 1945 as a small family owned metal fabrication business. From this modest beginning, the company grew and prospered as a direct result of the efforts of its family owner-operators. It gradually acquired something of a reputation as a specialty fabrication firm, accepting difficult or unusual jobs that other companies were reluctant to bid on. By 1958 the company, though still small, was doing well.
In that year Colt Industries, Inc. (Colt), approached Universal with a subcontracting proposal. Colt had just acquired the manufacturing rights in the Fairchild AR-15 rifle. This rifle, later renamed the M-16, gained fame during the Vietnam conflict. Colt was interested in recruiting manufacturers to fabricate several of the component parts for the AR-15, the most important and difficult of these being an unprecedented aluminum magazine. Universal agreed to try.

Between 1959 and 1963, Universal designed methods for the manufacture of the magazine and of the other components. The technical problems encountered in fabricating an aluminum magazine (all previous magazines had been made of steel) were considerable, but by 1964 Universal solved most of the problems and had the theoretical know-how to begin manufacturing the aluminum magazine.

Meanwhile, the United States Armed Forces were beginning to show an interest in the new rifle. In 1963, Colt received a contract from the Air Force for the purchase of 8500 rifles. Late in 1965, the military services officially adopted the rifle as a standard weapon, renamed it the M-16, and ordered 104,000 rifles. As the exigencies of the Vietnam War increased, Government demand rose rapidly and over the next 3 years the number of components manufactured and sold by Universal to the Government soared. Several important improvements were made to the component manufacturing processes over this period. In addition, Universal expanded its manufacturing facilities during the 1963-65 period.

On August 15, 1967, in the thick of wartime demand, the family owner-operators of Universal sold their entire business to Simmonds, a conglomerate with diversified interests. The Universal Division, as it became known, continued to prosper until, in 1970, the war demand began to diminish. By that time the Universal Division had become almost completely dependent on M-16 subcontracts, and when no new orders were forthcoming, the business was liquidated and sold at a loss."

Detailed price/cost for AR15 magazines as sold to Colts by Universal Industries:

A break down of per unit cost of goods sold (magazine only) was included in plaintiff's exhibit 67, the report of plaintiff's expert, Mr. Ahlberg.
                       1964      1965        1966         1967
                        ----      ----        ----         ----

Units, number   79,011    984,426    2,917,332    3,573,548
Material             .4537      .4184        .4211        .3803
Labor                .1287      .1287        .1299        .1105
Overhead          .1955      .1987        .1935        .1422
Cost of Sales     .7829      .7458        .7445        .6331

But this impressive showing of cost decrease as volume increased was not matched by unit price reductions. Prices to Colt per unit were (Finding 61):
                        1964        1965    1966    1967
                          ----        ----         ----       ----

                    $1.18-$1.01     .96     .93     .93

The 1966 and 1967 prices are adjusted from 97 cents by 4 cents, the cost of an added packaging requirement. For 1965, one order only was $1.01, 96 cents being the figure for all the others.
While defendant (through Colt) got some price concessions doubtless related to volume, plaintiff, at the end of its 1967 year, August 15, when it merged with Simmonds, was pocketing the major part of the benefits in the form of a rapidly rising margin of the unit price over the cost of sales, reaching almost 30 cents per unit.

Guess times never change (by 1967 UI was pocketing over a Million dollars in profit margin due to their experience in making the 20 round mags - good on them).

Specifications and later history on the Colt/Universal Industries 20 round mags:

The magazine was a precision component that had to be manufactured to exacting specifications. The magazine had to be able to feed cartridges into the M-16 firing chamber at the rate of 800 rounds per minute, and even the smallest irregularity in the feed lips of the magazine would cause a malfunction. Other linear dimensions were equally critical.

The most difficult part of the magazine to manufacture was the outer casing (also called the tube or box). Because light weight was always a goal, the tube was manufactured from aluminum instead of steel. Universal originally used T-O 6061 heat-treatable sheet aluminum, but found that the magazine tube distorted out of specification when this substance was heat treated. By trial and error, Universal found that aluminum with a magnesium content between 1.0% and 1.2% would hold its shape during heat treating, and found with difficulty an aluminum supplier able to deliver aluminum which consistently met this specification. Each shipment was inspected when it entered the Universal plant. The aluminum was then chemically analyzed to determine the magnesium content, and it was tested with a micrometer to insure a thickness of .04 in., ± .001.
The aluminum was then run through a series of 15 individual die-stamping operations. The dies used in these operations quickly wore to the point where they would no longer produce acceptable tubes. The dies thus required constant cleaning and sharpening. After the die-stamping operation, the tube was folded and formed.

The specifications for the magazine designated many dimensions as critical. The distance between the tube window and the magazine lips had to be held constant within .003 in.
The tube rib dimensions had to be held within .002 in. The width between the tube lips, where accuracy was essential to prevent malfunction, had to be held within .001 in.
However, even if each of the individual tolerances were successfully complied with, the finished magazine would often be unacceptable because of the error that resulted from the accumulated tolerances.
Thus, Universal was forced to tighten its operational tolerances beyond those called for by the specifications, and, as a result, some dies and equipment had to be changed.
After the tube was formed, it was vapor cleaned in preparation for welding. Each magazine required five spot welds, applied in an area 3/8 in. wide and 3 7/8 in. long.

Originally Universal subcontracted the welding, but because the subcontracting cost was so high (25¢ per weld) the company purchased its own welding machines and brought the welding in-house. Universal worked with its welding tip supplier to develop an electrode tip that could withstand the high temperatures necessary to weld aluminum. Universal also devised a staggered welding sequence to minimize shunting and began using steel mandrels to hold the tube in place.

Colt specified, during the early years of development, that one magazine in every five should be destruct-tested for weld defects.
The test required the seam of the magazine to be peeled back and the weld pried apart. A magazine so tested was destroyed and had to be sold as scrap; it was useless for any other purpose. By 1964, only about 1% of the welds so tested proved to be defective.

Heat treating the aluminum tube created several problems. The treatment was necessary to bring the metal to a proper state of hardness.

After an unsuccessful search for a subcontractor that could perform the treatment effectively, Universal built its own heat treating furnaces.
The heat treating had to be controlled within 25°. While temperatures too hot caused melting and distortion, temperatures too low failed to achieve the desired hardness.
The furnaces were constantly monitored to guard against these dangers.
Universal also developed special stainless steel mandrel racks that could, without themselves becoming distorted, brace the tube during heating. After some experimenting, Universal decided to form the tube slightly out of specification so that during the heat-treating process it would expand into specification. After treatment, the tube was artificially "aged" in an atmosphere created by Universal.

The next step in the manufacturing process, hardcoating, was subcontracted out. However,
Universal worked with the subcontractor to develop an effective hardcoating technique.
Universal also manufactured the base plate and the retainer spring of the magazine; the follower and the follower spring were subcontracted. Universal worked with both subcontractors to improve these components, supplying tooling and drawings.

Universal's quality control system for the entire magazine manufacturing operation was extensive.
Over 100 individual inspections occurred at various stages of the procedure. Every magazine produced was inspected, although not all received a complete inspection.
There can be little doubt of the complexity of the manufacturing process just described.
Colt's specifications were exacting, the tolerances tight.
The material was difficult to work with, but after both heat treatment and hardcoating, it emerged from the process significantly improved.
Sheets of raw aluminum, fresh from the mill, were transformed into stamped and folded tubes which were within .001 in. of each other.
The quality control necessary to insure regularity was extensive and demanding.

Universal achieved substantial reduction in costs during the review period by making numerous improvements in its manufacturing processes, particularly those for its major product, the aluminum magazine.
The two improvements in what particularly seemed to have increased its production dramatically were the introduction of a progressive die and a new method of testing welds.

Between 1964 and 1966 Universal designed and tested a progressive die which would consolidate a number of the tube-forming operations.
As finally put into effect, the die combined eight individual operations into a single, unitary process. Originally, the die was fed by hand, and about 20 magazine tubes a minute could be produced.
Later, an automatic feed was added, and between 60 and 70 tubes a minute were possible.
Fewer employees were required to operate the progressive die than had been required to operate the eight individual steps it replaced. It is not clear from the record exactly when the die went into operation.
It is fair to assume that, in accordance with the general sequence of events for production improvements, the progressive die did not replace the individual operations all at once, but underwent lengthy experimental use and adjustment. It is clear that sometime in 1966 the progressive die became fully operational.

The other big improvement to the production process was the introduction of a compression weld tester.
Previous to this improvement, the Colt specifications required the destruct-testing of 20% of all the magazines produced, a very costly and wasteful procedure.

In 1966 Universal replaced the destruct test with a compression test, in which a specially designed machine subjected each weld to 100 lbs. of lateral pressure.
As a result, all magazines produced by Universal could be tested without waste and only those tubes which would in any case have been rejected, i. e., the faulty ones, would then be destroyed.

Although to a lesser extent, other production improvements during the review years also increased efficiency by reducing costs. In 1966 Universal adapted a milk refrigeration unit for use with its welding machines. By improving the cooling of the welding tip, the unit reduced spitting, eliminated a cleaning step, and speeded up the tip cooling time. Also in 1966, Universal installed stainless steel mandrel racks to reduce wear of the mandrels used in the heat-treating process. Universal and its lubricating subcontractor jointly developed a special lubricating material which decreased the number of magazines rejected for poor lubrication. Air gauges, to measure several magazine dimensions simultaneously and thus speeded up the inspection process, were added to the production line in 1966 and 1967. A Barcol tester was installed to test the hardness of each magazine. Special aging tunnels were built to reduce the time each magazine had to be aged. Other processes for manufacturing various components were also improved, specifically, Colt and Universal jointly re-engineered the gas tube assembly while Universal, on its own, eliminated the brazing step previously required on the ejection port cover.

Adventure Line, Inc., a Kansas corporation which began in 1970 to manufacture the M-16 magazine under the US Government obtained TDP.

In that year, after the Government had acquired the proprietary rights to the M-16 and its components, Adventure Line received a contract for 2.4 million magazines, to be shipped to Colt as GFP.

Using a data package provided by the United States Army Weapons Command and presumably based heavily upon Universal's manufacturing experience, Adventure Line instituted a production line that resembled Universal's in most respects.

Colt tested the Adventure Line magazines it received and found several problems with them, problems which continued almost until the end of the Adventure Line manufacturing history.

Several entire shipments of the magazines had to be reworked to correct dimensional aberrations, poor lubrication, and improper heat treatment.

As a result of the problems encountered by Adventure Line, Colt refused further magazines and shifted to Okay Industries, Inc., as their supplier for the components.

Okay Industries is owned and operated by Mr. Edward Okay, who had served as the production manager for Universal during the review periods.  Okay is still one of Colt's current subcontractors.

Fascinating.

Yep, great read.

I may cut and paste this into my little stash of saved info, with citation. Great stuff. Thanks, Frank

Excellent!  Thanks for the great info.

ugh.......

There was a local couple that opened up a "thrift store" in a pretty big building and had quite a few of the 20 round Adventure Line mags. Most from what I remember were serviceable, but I did pick up a dozen that were in great shape. At 5 bucks a pop...I knew I should have bought more......

Now there are no more....

Tag

To say that covers it is an understatement That is a lot of info. Thanks for putting that together!!!

Frank - I've never heard a better explanation. Thanks!