The frames are identical.
There are two Internationals. The early ones had the shorter round barrel with 4 ribs instead of 5, as I recall. They don’t have the forearm. I think the regular Medalist with the forearm looks so much better than any International model. The later ones have a dull finish with a slab side barrel and a slide type weight underneath.

 

If I remember correctly the International 150 has a shorter barrel and the thumb shelf on the rosewood grip is less pronounced than on the Medalist.

 

Standard Medalist with 6 3/4" barrel supporting a wide thumb swell grip. Note: this rear sight style is found on the 1962 and early 1963 models. Mid-1963> will have the same sight shown on the International "T" below.


International Medalist by Browning Arms Company (BAC) with "T" serial and 5 7/8" barrel. The FN model called Match 150, same barrel, but called 150mm and has oil finished grips instead of glossy as on the BAC model. The International grips have a more narrow thumb swell than the standard Medalist


An early BAC 1970 rarer model of the International Medalist "T", factory tapped for the forearm.


The International Medalist with "I" serial having a 5 15/16" barrel, matte finish, slab side barrel with a palm rest grip.

Hope this visual helps with the identification, Mark

 

Great pictures.

 

I think I may have just purchased the one you said was rare, 150mm barrel with front hand stock that appears to be factory.

 

I think the standard Medalist is much better looking too.

 

Medalist qudstion

OK, I've been looking for a medalist, have seen a couple that had a round pin sticking up on right side of slide, looked like it went into top edge of grip, pin about 1\8 diameter, about half inch tall? What is it for?

 

OK, I've been looking for a medalist, have seen a couple that had a round pin sticking up on right side of slide, looked like it went into top edge of grip, pin about 1\8 diameter, about half inch tall? What is it for?

Shell deflector.
SO

 

SO is correct, although to expand just a little the pin (using two different measurements) is best I can tell 2.5 mm in width and just shy of an inch long about .997". The shell deflector is to keep the shell from hitting the target shooter on the right during a match as for that shooter to not lose concentration. Mark

 

It's funny how people's preferences differ. Myself, I always preferred the International model over the regular Medalist. In fact, perfection to me is the International model I have seen where the owner, who I am sure is a RFC forum member, replaced the grips with Challenger grips.:bthumb:

 

I agree. I like the balance, both in hand and to my eye, of the original style International Medalist (not the slab-side) a bit better than the longer-barreled Medalist. It is clearly just a matter of personal preference, though, and some people might need to handle them back to back to feel the difference. I don't have a forearm on my Medalist, mainly because it seems strange to me to have a forearm on a pistol. Again, just personal preference on the forearm part.

I usually keep Challenger grips on one or more of mine because I have a left-handed shooter in the house (also have a set of LH Medalist grips for him) and also my wife's hands fit the Challenger grips better. The Medalist style grips need to fit your hand somewhat properly, size wise, else they aren't ideal at all. If they fit, they are the best grips I've ever shot for accuracy. I consistently shoot noticeably better groups with whichever of my three guns that I have Medalist grips on. At first they feel strange, but once you understand WHY they are built that way, and especially if you are like me and see the difference in your groups, they start looking very good (if you like handguns that out shoot all your other handguns like the middle gun below does mine).

Top: 1974 Medalist with Challenger grip, without weight or forearm
Middle: 1971 International Medalist with its original IM grip
Bottom: 1969 International Medalist with Challenger grip

 

For shooting I prefer my modified Challenger. The frame is the same anyway.

For aesthetics, I like the regular Medalist with the forearm. To me, it is the best looking regular production pistol ever made.

 

I only had one Medalist for a fairly short time and prefer the balance of the FN 15o International. I gave my oldest son a Challenger for his birthday and yesterday my youngest had an FN 150 under the Christmas tree. Those Herstal pistols are like the Energizer Bunny, they keep on going and going - at least as long as there is ammo. I hope that the ammo crisis will be over in 2021!!!

Merry Christmas everyone

 

If you have a Belgium Browning, and have a set of Medalist or International Medalist grips, and also a set of Challenger grips, I "challenge" you to shoot some groups with both grips back to back. See how they compare. The purpose, IMO, of the Medalist grips is NOT to feel good. It's to shoot good. As I mentioned above, whichever of my guns have the IM grips is the one I shoot the best groups with.

You can get a feel for the concept by just holding your hand out with an "imaginary"gun in it. First, shape your hand if you're gripping a pistol with your fingers curved back towards the heel of your hand. Feel the tension in your hand and forearm?

Then relax your hand half-way to the flat position, kind of like you are starting to extend it to shake someone else's hand. Your fingers are about half-way between closed and opened straight out, and are in a relaxed position. That's approximately how your hand will be when you grip the Medalist grips. Notice how relaxed your hand and forearm are compared to when you're "gripping" the gun with closed fingers. That's the difference I feel when holding the actual guns. I love the IM grips.

Your first impression will likely be that the Medalist grips are huge and that you barely have the gun securely in hand. But there's a reason for that, and it's because your hand is much more relaxed that way. I have some targets around here someplace where I did the shooting tests and the improvement in accuracy is clear for me. Perhaps it'd be different for others, but I think it'd be the same for a lot of people.

Here's a photo of the IM grips in hand. Notice how open my hand is.

Here's a 1911 in the same hand. Perhaps it's just my imagination since I also know how the two guns feel in my hand, but I can "see" the difference in muscle tension. (Of course you are going to have to grip a .45 ACP tighter than a .22 LR of similar weight.)

I also have a set of Medalist or IM grips that have been modified and contoured to fit someone's hand (I think they came from Germany). They also fit my hand pretty well, but I think they negate some of the purpose of the original grip design because they've been trimmed down to allow a more closed hand on the grip. Here they are on the gun on the right (I refinished the grips after I got them).

 

The real early "slim" Challenger grip is basically the same size as the 1974ish Novadur grip that was used on the Challenger except made from wood. I have only found that grip on the 4 1/2" barrel Challenger and as a matter of fact I have only seen it on the grooved barrel 4 1/2" . Not to say it might be elsewhere, but my slim grip Challengers all have the 4 1/2" grooved barrel, to include all I have seen of others and on the Internet. The black Novadur grip found on the Nomad will work also and being the same size. They have a marking inside as to where to cut out the space for the "stop open" on the International. To my knowledge, Commemorative Arms does not have any of the slim grips and I don't think he has any Challenger Novadur, although you might find he has a Nomad grip.

 

Unfortunately, I have small hands and the grips that you love so much barely let me reach the trigger! So each to his own! I just purchased a NOS Challenger grip for $124 and hope this allows me to shoot much better. A lot cheaper no doubt then having a skilled craftsman modify my medallist target grip.