Browning Medalist - opinions?

Gravelly

What is the opinion of anyone who has owned a Browning medalist?
Reliability etc. I'm not looking for the usual "it's not a real browning" or "I knew a lad who's cousins friends uncle heard they are ****e" kind of stuff, but more the experience of lads who have owned one for a while.
I'm a shooting newbie thinking of buying one for a mix of rough shooting and a few clays.

ligertigon

I have one, second hand, and fired about 2000 shots through it. Suits me fine, but it is very light and has a good recoil.
Also the "cocking hook" broke in it and I had an almost impossible time trying to source another, until finally someone made one for me.

They really are a budget gun, but light for walking around a field.
I do competitions every third week or so with mine and there is usually a few others there too.

For the money, worth it as a beginner gun

FYI I paid 300 for mine with chokes (some models don't have this)

Gravelly

ligertigon wrote: »

I have one, second hand, and fired about 2000 shots through it. Suits me fine, but it is very light and has a good recoil.
Also the "cocking hook" broke in it and I had an almost impossible time trying to source another, until finally someone made one for me.

They really are a budget gun, but light for walking around a field.
I do competitions every third week or so with mine and there is usually a few others there too.

For the money, worth it as a beginner gun

FYI I paid 300 for mine with chokes (some models don't have this)

The having to get a part made but worries me - I had thought parts would be easy to come by.
€300 sounds like a great price - a good bit less than the one I'm looking at!

ligertigon

I eventually found the part, but had it made at that stage.

I personally wouldn'y pay more than €300, and thats for a decent nick one with chokes.

Phone up the RFD's or put a wanted ad.. there must be loads of them about

J.R.

One of the lads in our club had one - faulty safety and trigger - couldn't get parts...suggested that he may have to have gun destroyed ...........in the end.....traded it in but got practically nothing for it.

If you are up to around €600 mark I'd go for second-hand Betinsolli or similar

Gravelly

J.R. wrote: »

One of the lads in our club had one - faulty safety and trigger - couldn't get parts...suggested that he may have to have gun destroyed ...........in the end.....traded it in but got practically nothing for it.

If you are up to around €600 mark I'd go for second-hand Betinsolli or similar

That doesn't inspire confidence. Was hoping to stay under €500

J.R.

Gravelly wrote: »

That doesn't inspire confidence. Was hoping to stay under €500

Under €500 you would get a Lanber or a Baikal.........much better made guns, in my opinion....go forever.

Are you set on getting on O/U or would you consider a Side by Side....plenty of them out there in that price range.

Gravelly

J.R. wrote: »

Gravelly wrote: »

That doesn't inspire confidence. Was hoping to stay under €500

Under €500 you would get a Lanber or a Baikal.........much better made guns, in my opinion....go forever.


Are you set on getting on O/U or would you consider a Side by Side....plenty of them out there in that price range.

Haven't tried a lanber or baikal just liked the medalist when I shot it. I did try a sxs but couldn't make head nor tail of it!

gunny123

I was told many years ago not to buy a medalist, the aluminium actions wear at the knuckle and they can't be tightened, or not easily. They were not brownings at all, but made by silma (as far as i can remember), they were very much built down to a price and i never heard anyone with a good word to say about them.

cavan shooter

here you are:

http://www.shootinguk.co.uk/reviews/shotgun/secondhand-browning-medallist-review

Gravelly

cavan shooter wrote: »

here you are:

http://www.shootinguk.co.uk/reviews/shotgun/secondhand-browning-medallist-review

That's a very positive review. Opinions seem to vary quite a bit.

cork shooter

I bought a new medalist 22 years ago and would highly recommend one. I have shot thousands of shells through it and it has yet to fail to fire. It has covered miles of rough shooting in all weather, pigeon shooting and a lot of clay shooting as well and it remains totally reliable to this day. No knuckle wear in mine as it's well maintained and still tight. The one prob I did encounter 2 years ago was a broken ejector. I got the "can't get parts" from a local dealer but after 5 minutes research found BWM arms in the UK .They were at the time browning importers and hold a stock of unfinished parts that need hand finishing to fit. Had this done by j Gearon in tipp and gun is now perfect. Lanber and betonsolli are not without their
faults. Lanber parts are getting hard to find according to
j Gearon and I know of 3 betinsoli guns that had a prob with firing the second barrels. If the medalist is well minded and in good shape I would say that it would be an ideal gun to start with.

Gravelly

cork shooter wrote: »

I bought a new medalist 22 years ago and would highly recommend one. I have shot thousands of shells through it and it has yet to fail to fire. It has covered miles of rough shooting in all weather, pigeon shooting and a lot of clay shooting as well and it remains totally reliable to this day. No knuckle wear in mine as it's well maintained and still tight. The one prob I did encounter 2 years ago was a broken ejector. I got the "can't get parts" from a local dealer but after 5 minutes research found BWM arms in the UK .They were at the time browning importers and hold a stock of unfinished parts that need hand finishing to fit. Had this done by j Gearon in tipp and gun is now perfect. Lanber and betonsolli are not without their
faults. Lanber parts are getting hard to find according to
j Gearon and I know of 3 betinsoli guns that had a prob with firing the second barrels. If the medalist is well minded and in good shape I would say that it would be an ideal gun to start with.

That sounds great corkshooter - thanks.

richiedel123

Had all 3 guns mentioned. Lanber bettinsoli and medallist. The medallist was my favourite by far. The lanber and bettinsoli were nice to look at and done the job. Were light guns to carry around but had a lot of kick shooting clays. Medallist wasn't as light but i found it most comfortable shooting clays.

Half-cocked

Avoid older Medallists. The newer ones are fine but the older ones had a lot of faulty parts. I had to repair a sear and make a new cocking hook on mine. Saw the same problems with 2 others in our club. The steel was too brittle. One thing to be aware of is the relatively high comb, it might not fit you.

Gravelly

Half-cocked wrote: »

Avoid older Medallists. The newer ones are fine but the older ones had a lot of faulty parts. I had to repair a sear and make a new cocking hook on mine. Saw the same problems with 2 others in our club. The steel was too brittle. One thing to be aware of is the relatively high comb, it might not fit you.

Thanks for that - I've tried one, and it fitted me really well - that's the main reason I want one over the other guns I've tried. When you say the older ones, roughly what year would you mean so I can take it into account when looking at guns for sale?

Half-cocked

Gravelly wrote: »

Thanks for that - I've tried one, and it fitted me really well - that's the main reason I want one over the other guns I've tried. When you say the older ones, roughly what year would you mean so I can take it into account when looking at guns for sale?

Can't give you an exact year but anything made more recently than 20 years ago should be OK.

Czhornet

I got a new medallist in 1996, it was my second gun ever and i couldnt fault it in any way. I shot everything with it and I mean everything. Won loads of clay competitions, game and vermin, fired 8's all the way down to BB's. It had no wear of knuckles or any problems with triggers/hammers/springs etc. Nice light gun and the chokes made it very adaptable. Got E600 for it when I traded it against a my Browning Ultra XS.

natdog

I have mine over 10 years doing everything and never had a problem and I bought it second hand so I'm not even sure how old it is but it's spotless and we'll looked after.
I also know two other lads that have their ones somewhere around 30 years and also never had problems mind you they don't see much work the last couple of years.
As long as it fits you and in good condition I'd say your spot on with one.

nigelm485

Got my misses into shooting and she got 1 a her first gun. The gun was in great condition to look at it. Clean tight good looking gun we thought how bad gave 530 for it. Within 200 cartridges 7.5s like 2 weeks after buying it like above the cocking hinge broke off the barrel in the middle of a dtl novice shoot. Her confidence wasn't great anyway and she blamed herself for the issue. Did not help at all with the confidence so we sent it to dealer to get soildered and they warped the barrels in doing so. There excuse was very poor quality steel in the barrel but I'm pretty sure he had it too hot. So herself got a brand new ata in exchange for this cock up. I'd stay away.

gunny123

There is a Beretta 680 for sale here for 600 euros, i'd take a second hand Beretta, no matter how old, over a medallist any day of the week.