Opinions: Best metal detector for around $400?

[Inokuma]

I'm sorry for making another thread like this after seeing the others, but the price ranges were different and I couldn't find all the information I needed. I already have two metal detectors in mind, but this would be my first one so I'd like to get professional opinions before I go out and buy it since I'm putting so much money into it.

Right now, I have $400 to put into it. I probably won't be able to buy a new one for a few years, so it has to be really good and it has to last. I live in Saginaw, MI USA if that helps out with the dirt or whatever. The two metal detectors that I'm thinking about getting are: Minelab X-Terra 305 and Garret Ace 350. I don't really know much about them, but if I had to choose right now, I think it would be the X-Terra 305. I haven't seen the other metal detectors around the $400 price range, so I'm not sure how they would compare to these two. I would be extremely grateful for any information you can give me that will help me decide on which one to buy.

I plan on metal detecting at least 4 hours a day every single day.

 

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[smokeythecat]

I bought two Tesoro Cibolas Since August. One for me and one for a guest. In 10 trips they have both paid for themselves. They weigh just over 2 pounds, use 9 volt batteries and are excellent relic machines. A simple dial of one knob eliminates iron mid swing. They are under $400 with shipping. I just love mine. They eat up pewter, brass, silver and gold. Found a gold coin yesterday with one. It also depends on what type digging you're doing. I've used it for coin shooting and relic and beach hunting. For gold nugget shooting it will work, but another machine might be better. I have owned Garretts and Whites also, but like the Tesoro products the best. And they are tough. I dropped mine in an ocean swell the other day and it didn't damage it. (I got lucky the water did not get inside.)

 

[Inokuma]

I've upped my budget a bit, right now I'm thinking about either the Fisher F5, the Minelab X-Terra 505 or the Garrett Ace 350. All 3 of them are apparently really good, it's just so hard to decide between them.

 

[woof!]

Inokuma, I stayed away from your first post because $400 is sort of a "dead zone" in metal detectors. There's a value sweet spot in the $200-300 range and another in the $500-750 range. Since you decided to move a bit upscale, we've got more to talk about.

Of the stuff that's made in El Paso and which is generally "street price" in the $500-$750 range, I suggest looking into the following: F70, F5, Omega, and GB Pro. We have other models, but in my "well informed" opinion those are the ones which offer the most bang for the buck for the kind of metal detecting that is most prevalent in your region. Here's how they stack up.

Ease of use for a beginner: first Omega, then GB Pro and F5, then F70.

Just plain hots: F70, then the others.

Ability to work in iron trash and heavy mineralization: GB Pro, then the others.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

The F5 user interface is basically analog, even though "behind the curtain" it's done mostly in computer software. For some users, the F5 interface just plain "clicks" with them (everything is always in plain view and under user control), and for other users the front panel seems cluttered with too many knobs. The people who tend to like the F5 are older folks who grew up with radios and TV's that had knobs, and people who hate auto trannys and love stick shift. You'll either love it or at best will decide to live with it. Personal preference.

The Omega comes in a very different package, but its actual performance and target responses are fairly similar to those of the F5. Between the two, my personal preference is the Omega but that's just a personal preference. From a purely technical perspective the F5 is arguably superior because of its independent control over gain and threshold.

The GB Pro is Arguably (with a capital A) inferior to the Omega and F5 for deep coinshooting, but when it comes to searching iron-infested sites, the GB Pro and its Tek G2 brother are king, with many experienced users saying that on such sites nothing can beat it no matter what the price tag was.

In this price range, if your criterion is "deep", the F70 is it. Its "slow mode" is roughly comparable to the "boost mode" on the F75SE. And battery life on 4 AA's is typically about 40 hours. ......When we introduce a new product we never know for sure what the market will do with it. The F70 is the most advanced electronic platform of the related T2-F75-F70 series. Feature-wise however, it was a step down from the F75 and T2 product series. The high end machines got the attention and the F70 became the "sleeper". The high end machines do offer a hair more in most areas than the F70 does, but if the question is bang for the buck the F70 kicks it.

I'm not on commission, I'm in engineering and I've worked for several different metal detector companies. I don't badmouth other companies' products unless those products have earned it. I don't care what you buy, other than that I hope the time I've spent on this post steers you to a machine that will work well for you and turn you into a dedicated and competent "beeperist".

In your region, there's a lot more than coinshooting in schoolyards, there's everything from modern clad back to 18-19th Anglo midwest expansion to French trappers to Copper Culture. Everything you dig is history, and if you are concerned only about what its value is as metal, you are throwing away the big picture. In your region, you aren't likely to earn minimum wage by digging metal and selling it. Your most valuable potential contribution is as historian. I highly recommend joining a local metal detecting club (if you haven't already) and finding out who among the archeological and historical community is friendly. And then collaborate with them. For metal detecting to have a future, that's what it will require. England has metal detecting laws that protect both the hobby and archeological resources more or less (such things are always compromises), but the USA has hardly begun on that path and we'll never get there without sensible people leading the way.

Wishing you the best,

--Dave J.

 

[Metal Detecting Stuff]

Great post , Dave! And a good recap on the future of the hobby.


Wayne

Www.metaldetectingstuff.com

 

[Longhair]

I've upped my budget a bit, right now I'm thinking about either the Fisher F5, the Minelab X-Terra 505 or the Garrett Ace 350. All 3 of them are apparently really good, it's just so hard to decide between them.

Woof's break-down of the First Texas machines is good, but I personally like the stability and control that the Minelab Xterra's offer. A 505 is an excellent machine in your price range, and you won't be disappointed with it if that's the way you decide to go.

 

[Inokuma]

Thank you all for the information. I just have one more question. If I get the 505 or 705, will I need to get a better coil, or will the default coil work fine?

 

[Longhair]

Each additional coil that you get is like getting another detector.
Whether the stock standard 9" concentric 7.5kHz coil will be satisfactory right off will depend on what you're hunting and where. You also have an option to get an eliptical 5x10" DD 18.75kHz coil on the "Gold Pack" version for the same money on a new purchase.

For general purpose use on relatively mild ground, the stock concentric coil will do well, and will give you good depth, coverage, and the most honest TID's. But if your ground is on the hot side, or if you're targeting gold, lead, and other low conductors, or if you're hunting trashy sites where separation is important, then the eliptical DD would be a better coil to start with.

After you've used it for a while, you'll know more about what you want/need in an additional coil (or two...or three...or...)

 

[Inokuma]

Thanks man, I've decided to get the 705. I'm sorry for all of the questions, but this will be my last one. Should I get the regular 705, or the gold pack? As I said before, this would be my first one and probably last one for a very long time. I probably won't buy another coil for years, so it has to be great for all-around metal detecting. I don't really know where I'd find gold nuggets, but I plan on metal detecting at parks, lakes and fields. If there's coins or jewelry in the ground, I want to find them. I don't want to miss out just for the sake of getting gold nuggets which might not even be in my area. I need the absolute best for that price range.

Also, does the regular 705 have depth indication? On this one site, it says that the regular 705 doesn't have it, while the gold pack does have it. It seems like both of them would have it.

 

[Longhair]

The only difference between the two packages is the coil. So yes it has depth indication, regardless of which one you buy.

If the parks and such that you will hunt have trashy ground, or if you live where there is high mineral content, then the Gold Pack would be the best choice. Only other thing is that the eliptical coil isn't waterproof, so creek and other shallow water hunting is out.

If you hunt milder coil conditions, places that aren't congested with trash objects in the ground, or places where you want to hunt shallow water, then the standard pack is for you.

HH!

 

[Jeramy_Pal12]

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