.223 Marked Colt 20's

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - .223 Marked Colt 20's

Posted: 9/8/2002 6:35:45 AM EDT

Does anyone know when the UI stamp began appearing on USGI 20 round magazines? I have 9 Colt magazines with .223 floorplates, of these 8 of them don't have the UI stamp on the front of the magazine. Is the one lone .223 marked magazine with UI stamped on it a transitional type thing? Or is it more likely that someone took a later magazine and put a .223 floorplate on it? Just looking for a history lesson more than anything.

P.S. I have checked the magfaq, and the answer is not there.

Posted: 9/8/2002 6:57:27 AM EDT

[#1]

They could be Adventureline bodies.

Posted: 9/8/2002 7:08:30 AM EDT

[#2]

Quoted:
They could be Adventureline bodies.

I thought about that.

I know that all Colt 20's were made by UI, but were they all marked UI?

Posted: 9/8/2002 7:10:03 AM EDT

[#3]

To add to my original post:

I have never paid more than $20 for any of these, so I am not really worried about whether or not I was ripped off, just wondering if they are authentic or not.

Posted: 9/8/2002 4:00:09 PM EDT

[#4]

All of the Vietnam-era Colt mags were manufactured by Universal, and should be stamped with the UI/CH stamp. But there were tons of Adventureline and Simmonds mags made during that period, and no effort was made to keep floorplates and mag bodies together when disassembling and cleaning. It would not be at all surprising if those were not the original floorplates for those mag bodies. However, from a functional viewpoint, it makes absolutely no difference whatsoever.

-Troy

Posted: 9/9/2002 3:19:48 AM EDT

[#5]

All but one of my colt 20's have a UI stamp. The one marked with a .223 floorplate has a "1" with a circle around it on the side of the mag body with no UI stamp at all. I bought this magazine new in the cardboard box a few years ago. Is this a case of switched base plates or did colt subcontract different companys to make their mag bodies? Thanks in advance.--Thomas

Posted: 9/9/2002 10:30:15 AM EDT

[#6]

No, it was the same company, but later mags (like your SP-1 mag) didn't have the UI stamp. I'm fairly certain that after the USGI contract for 20s were cancelled ('71), Universal no longer stamped the UI on the mags.

-Troy

Posted: 9/10/2002 1:00:54 PM EDT

[#7]

I have some NIB Colt 20s with no UI markings on them. I think the date is 69 or 70 on the box. I never paid much attention to it since I figured the bodies just got mixed up at the factory or something.
RW

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - .223 Marked Colt 20's

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