Medalist grip mismatch

Discussion in 'Discontinued Browning Models' started by mudpup, Jul 11, 2013.

  1. mudpup

    mudpup Copper BB

    I have a 1964 standard model Medalist, but the grips look like they came off a Gold Line. The gun was my dad's and is as new. I don't remember him ever firing it. I believe it came that way from the factory. Does anyone have an idea what could have happened?

    Attached Files:

  2. Setters4life

    Setters4life .270 WIN

    That does look odd and out of character for a Browning, but that is still one FINE looking pistol.
  3. mudpup

    mudpup Copper BB

    I talked to Glenn at Browning today. Glenn is the Browning historian. He found the invoice for the gun but there was no mention of upgraded grips. He agreed this happened at the factory and his opinion is that when this gun came down the line, they were running low on standard left hand grips and grabbed these off the shelf to make the sale. He said this didn't happen often but was not unheard of, especially with left hand guns since they did not normally keep a lot of stock on hand. I don't know if this negatively affects the value, but makes the gun a little unique and of course makes for a good story.
  4. SHOOTER13

    SHOOTER13 Guest

    I think it looks great !
  5. BrowningCollector

    BrowningCollector Copper BB

    No doubt a GoldLine Medalist grip on a standard grade, but I wouldn't worry the least about it. I suspect there were very, very few left handed Goldline Medalists made and FN may have had extra left hand goldline grips left and a set made it onto your pistol.

    An interesting side note. I have three proto-type grips from 1960 with a letter of authenticity from Browning. Two Medalist grips and one Challenger grip. One Medalist grip is two piece with no finish. The second is like the typical Medalist grip except it wasn't checkered. The Challenger grip is identical to the early narrow Challenger grip except there is finish in the checkering. The August article on the website below will cover the Browning Nomad (first year actually 1961) and later this fall I am going to do an article on the Medalist with detailed pictures of a Standard, Goldline, Renaissance, Type II International, consecutive matched pair of Goldline Medalists, an original (1 of 7) 1963 Full Coverage Renaissance Medalists. The Medalist you have is very nice! Congratulations! http://www.browningcollector.com
  6. Old thread but, I have a question.

    What is the difference between a GoldLine Medalist grip and the standard Medalist grip?

    The reason I ask is that I just acquired a Medalist grip for my Medalist and, to me, it looks the same as the pic in this thread.

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