High Power Safari Grade vs. Medallion Grade

I recently purchased a Belgian made Browning High Power rifle chambered in 30-06. It was sold as “Medallion Grade” but I’ve just been informed by Browning that the L70 at the end of the serial number indicates Safari Grade, not Medallion.

It’s a handsome rifle in excellent condition and I want to keep it. However, I am concerned that I may have over-paid for it because of the mislabeling. What were the differences between Safari and Medallion grades in 1970? Is there a significant difference in value between the two?

Edit to add: I followed up with Browning to get a torque spec for the action screws. 20 in/lbs.

The Owners Manual that Browning sent me applies to both Safari and Medallion grade rifles. This example has a different species of wood for the forearm and pistol grip caps; however, I cannot say for certain that it is rosewood. The checkering on the stock is skip-line with scalloped borders. There is scroll engraving on the receiver and back end of the barrel, plus the floor plate and trigger guard. There is a rams head on the floor plate.

There is no evidence of rust on the receiver or barrel under the wood and no sign of salt that I can see. The wood finish is perfect with no checkering or cracking.

I am not familiar with Sako actions. This rifle’s bolt is fairly similar to a Mauser 98 except for a few differences. Notably the 3-position safety is mounted on the receiver, not on the back end of the bolt. The bolt release is different also. The non-rotation claw extractor and bolt face look very much like my FN Mauser. There is a “Made in Belgium” roll mark on the right side of the barrel, and no other country of origin is indicated anywhere else on the receiver or bolt.

I hope that you can look at my photos. My apologies for not figuring out how to embed them in the post - I did try!

Just picked it up on Monday and haven’t got to the range yet, but I will follow up with a range report!

The rifle you illustrate is without question a Browning Medallion Grade High Power. The Safari Grade (one of which I own, in .30/06 Springfield), while handsome, is not nearly so elaborate. There are many cosmetic differences but the easiest to detect is the Medallion Grade's contrasting wood on pistol grip and forearm tip and much more extensive and elaborate checkering patterns. Whatever you may have been told to the contrary, you own a Medallion Grade High Power, not a Safari Grade. Google some images of "FN Browning High Power Safari Grade" and the differences will become immediately obvious. There was also an Olympian Grade, more elaborate still, but the barrel and action are much more heavily engraved and the action is finished in French gray, not blue.

High Powers chambered for short (e.g. 222 Remington) and medium (e.g. 308 WCF) length cartridges were made up on either of two Sako actions and the actions are clearly marked as made in Finland. High Powers chambered for standard and magnum length cartridges, including the 30/06, were always made up on FN's postwar civilian version of the '98 Mauser action, although, toward the end of production, a modified version of that action utilized a short extractor rather than the long, rotating '98 original extractor. I am almost certain that all Browning High Powers chambered in .30/06 were made up on long extractor version of the FN action, never the short extractor version. Yours has the long extractor.

The salt wood issue can be much more subtle because the degree of salt retention apparently varied tremendously, depending where the stock blank was situated in a stack. The lower blanks got the worst of it. Some blanks just got a little bit. I have held in my hands a Medallion Grade High Power in 7MM Remington Magnum that had been stocked in salt wood and terribly disfigured. The corrosion reached well above the forearm inletting along the barrel and was visible on the receiver at the tang and along the upper inletting. The barreled action had been re-blued but the damage was too deep to erase. Heart-rending. The salt wood process was adopted by Browning because fancy Walnut was getting very hard to find for the higher grades of their long guns in the late Sixties and early Seventies. In passing, we should remember that serial numbered parts were not pulled from the shelves to build guns in serial order. A serial number applied in 1965 might not have been made up for a year or two later, depending on how big the production runs were. The salt wood went into production - if memory serves - as early as 1966 and ceased to be used sometime in 1972 or so. From what I've seen, field grade Brownings were not commonly made up with salt wood but I couldn't prove it.

Having said all that, the quickest way to see if you've been shafted is to remove the barreled action from the stock and see if there is corrosion present. If you don't see any, given the age of the rifle it's unlikely the wood is salty. If you want to be really sure, you can buy a small bottle of a chemical compound you can apply to a small, unobtrusive spot of wood (scraped raw) inside the inletting. The liquid turns white in the presence of salt. I believe Brownell's carries it but, if not, let me know and I'll dig through my kit and find the brand and maker for you. Pulling a buttplate screw and looking for rust won't give you a definitive answer.

The damage on salt guns I've seen wasn't subtle: rust clearly visible around escutcheons, tangs, and other steel parts that penetrated the wood. If the gun looked sharp to you when you went over it before buying, I'd guess its going to be all right. But do pull the stock off that Medallion Grade and look.

There are all sorts of anomalies in the serial numbers of FN Browning High Power rifles. Whoever at Browning told you an "L70" serial suffix indicated a Safari Grade High Power had very obviously not bothered to ask you any questions about what it looked like or to furnish an image. According to reputable sources - this particular one located at proofhouse.com -- a 1959 or later (up until 1968) High Power with an "L" product code indicates a Safari Grade FN Mauser action rifle. However, a High Power with an "L" product code made in 1969 and later (until 1975) can also indicate an Olympic or Medallion Grade but in any case an FN Mauser action.

A knowledgeable blind man could ascertain yours is a Medallion Grade just by running his fingers over the engraving in the steel of the barreled action. He could also distinguish an Olympian from your Medallion by feel - the Olympian's engraving is far more extensive and elaborate.

The salt wood testing solution I mentioned is silver nitrate. The Custom Shop, Inc. in Hamilton, Montana stocks a small bottle of it, SKU CS1384. Their Website is customshopinc.com. It's a little pricey at around twenty-five bucks but will do the trick.

Gentlemen - thank you so much for your informative replies! I had studied the features expected on a Medallion grade High Power before bidding on this one and saw everything expected.

I did remove the action from the stock and there is absolutely no rust anywhere. Clearly I dodged the salt bullet.

Range report to follow…

I don't know what you paid for your Medallion Grade but, in the condition shown in your photos and chambered in .30/06, I think you bought a mighty nice rifle your grandchildren could enjoy when you and your children are done with it. Despite the seemingly obsessive concerns about accuracy prevalent today, a well-made High Power in 30/06 can retain excellent hunting accuracy well after several thousand rounds of standard pressure rounds have gone down its barrel.

However, I notice your Medallion Grade has its original buttplate - something collectors dote on. That in itself is a likely indication its original owner didn't spend hours and days at the range or hunt prairie dogs with it. I'd bet a donut the round count is pleasingly low.

My own '06 Safari Grade wears a Pachmayr White Line pad (and a floated barrel) from somebody up the chain of possession. It was made in '62 but still shoots within 1 1/4" at 100 yards with good ammunition and is comfortable enough at the bench for 15 to 20 rounds. It wouldn't be without the pad, for me at least, but I've seen 79 Winters.

Congratulations on your good buy.

Thanks! The rifle doesn't have iron sights, so the fact that the scope still wears a small inspection sticker on top in very good shape indicates to me that it hasn't been shot much at all. However, the barrel did come dirty which surprises me. (I was not able to inspect it in person before buying it.) You would think someone would at least run a lightly oiled patch through it.

From the rifle's overall condition, we can probably assume the owner would have cleaned it if he'd been allowed a little more time before (a) he shot an embolism and went in for his last driving layup; or (b) his soon to be former wife sold his entire collection to finance her lawyer's retainer. For his sake I hope it was (a), which would have been less painful.