Need help deciding between a 300 and 400 for my father, I know very little

[Sixburgh79]

Hey all just passing by here for hopefully a few opinions, my father wants a detector and I started to do a little research but find it hard to pinpoint a model.

I am lookin to spend around 300ish just to get something decent but since it's a starter one I figured it's a good place to start.

Been reading about the garrett models and it seems the 300 and 400 models are the way to go for this price range. How are they in detecting things like gold? I mean I been reading and it seems of course more powerful detectors have an easier time but do these do well enough for the most part?

Also Is it a major deal that they aren't weather proof like the fisher f22?

Just lookin for a few quick opinions to help me make a choice, it'd be very much appreciated, thanks

 

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[Ammoman]

My youngest son has the Ace 400 and its a killer on Indians. I don't like the bell tones but still...for the price its hard to beat.

 

[Sixburgh79]

Is it definitely one of the better entry models? Any bias for the F22 over garrett?

 

[Xraywolf]

Go with the 400, has an iron audio feature that is really handy avoiding trash.
Not sure what other features it has, went straight to the 400 from the 250.
Have found plenty of silver and gold, they are very sensitive and pinpointing is simple. They are not depth monsters, as you would expect for the price.
Max depth for a quarter sized metal object would be about 6-7".

As far as weatherproof, do you really want to detect in pouring rain with any detector ?
It has a control box cover that you can detect with in light rain, I do it all the time.

 

[bowwinkles]

I dont know the type of soil in your area but I believe that you should search and buy a detector that has ground balance. There are many in that same price range. good luck

 

[Sixburgh79]

What is ground balance for? Well we are heading to the beach in 2 weeks so he wanted it for that trip, but otherwise I mean I'm sure he'd just go around some of the woodsy areas here, or park areas and what not.

 

[Sixburgh79]

And none of the mid range Garrett's have ground balance?

I'm also trying to find a good bundle, bummer I'm not seeing a bundle with the LRP

 

[John-Edmonton]

Th ACE 300 should serve him well. The ACE 400 has a feature, which lets you know if your target is iron (junk) or not. The ACE Series detectors are tuned for about 90% of locations. Unless you are in severe mineralized, the ACE is fine. The ACE Series are probably the biggest selling metal detector ever. Very easy to learn too! The problem with ground balancing with a new person learning the hobby, is that the ground mineralizatons keep changing. Ten feet from where you are, the ground conditions can be entirely different. I rarely ground balance any of my detectors, unless I am in an area where there are known deep targets or if you are metal detecting on a wet salted beach, where all metal detectors suffer in depth. And a sensitivity control on a metal detector is not a depth control, but a function to allow the metal detector to read a target accurately. If you run the sensitivity too strong, you will actually miss targets.

Please.......whatever you buy, get a simple machine for your dad to learn on. Many people have been frustrated with the operating controls on detectors, and simply given up.

Below is a field test I did last year on the ACE 400.



Putting the new Garrett ACE 400i together was just like meeting an old friend. About 10 years ago, Garrett released the New ACE 150 & ACE 250 models. The new ACE Series at that time became an overnight success. It turned out to be one of the (if not the) best metal detectors sales of all time. It received cult status. It got nicknames the "Yeller Feller" and some converted it for water hunting, calling it the Aqua Ace." Most loved the new bright colored machine, as you could never ever really lose it. But some despised the color also. They went as far as to spray paint it a new color or cover it with camo tape

Well, fast forward it to 2016, and a new Garrett ACE Series has been released. The Top of the ACE line, the "Ace 400i" has even more improvements over it's earlier production models. The new ACE 400i now has cam-locks, a request many have made to Garrett and they listened. The front of the screen now has a large digital target ID, using numbers plus target probability numbers suggesting ferrous/non ferrous conductivity. Also new is the "iron Audio" feature, available only on higher, more expensive metal detectors. This helps eliminate junk targets by designating them with a distinguishable low tone in the iron range, which might be junk, depending on what type of targets you are searching for. To help eliminate EMI (electro-magnetic-interference) Garrett has given you the option of hunting with different frequencies. This will also allow you to hunt close to your buddy by elimination his metal detector interference. And....the coils off the older ACE's work fine on the new ACE Models. So hang on to your sniper coils!






Garrett still has maintained the notching system, which is also available in the higher end AT Pro/AT Gold Series. This allows you to selectively remove junk targets so you won't hear the audio, or set it up to just hear one particular target. This comes in handy when searching for a lost earring. You can remove all notches except the one(s) sounding off on the remaining earring, then search with ease for the other earring. And......you do NOT lose more depth removing notches for unwanted targets like on other metal detectors with knobs to add discrimination, where as you advance the knob to remove further targets, where you do in fact lose depth.

To those considering the New ACE 200, 300 or 400, it is simple to use. It's well balanced and only weighs 2.9 lbs. (1.32 kg.). The length of the rod can be adjusted, depending on a persons height. It comes pre-programmed for your choices of coin mode, relic mode, jewelry mode, a custom mode (you create it, it saves it) or a setting with no discrimination so you can hear all targets. It is so simple to operate or sequence through the different programs. It operates on 4 x "AA" Batteries and readily excepts rechargeable batteries. I managed about 27 hours on the set of batteries which came with the metal detector.
To maintain a high degree of reliability with consistent results, I used the unit for 10 hunts. Anyone can go to a site not previously hunted before with any detector and do well. I chose to put on about 50 hours on it, so as I can properly learn it, and learn it's strengths and weaknesses.






Here are the results of my 10 hunts. This machine is a Super coin magnet! I started hunting in relics mode, hunting a lot of schools and sports fields. As I learned where my (Canadian) coins were reading with the VDI, I began to remove some notches. I pretty well ended up using the coins mode, as it also maintains notches where most (but not all) gold rings will read. I used my old concentric 9" x 12" coil from my old ACE 250 mostly. Bottles caps often read as good copper/silver coins, so using the iron audio can help to eliminated them. I discovered that deeper bottle caps read higher compared to more shallow ones. So......bottle caps and aluminum pull tabs remain the "Curse" for metal detector users. The square pull tabs often tend to give a strong double beep, whereas nickels have a softer single beep sound. It got so I could guess a nickel would pop up with a good probability. Hey....these things happen when the hours accumulate on a detector. One thing for sure....the ace BANGS hard on coins. Because the weak signals on the ACE are amplified so you can easily hear them, (unlike the modulated volume on the AT Series) hunting without headphones becomes easy in a quiet environment. Wireless headsets not required!






I did manage to dig up 4 rings during my hunts. You can't miss them. They hit hard! The older ACE models were very good for hitting rings, including gold ones. I didn't find any gold rings, however, I did get a solid gold football charm in a sports field! That was a first!






Here are some pieces of jewelry I dug up. If the jewelry is there, the ACE will find it no doubt.






My last 3 hours metal detecting were done in a freshwater lake. Because only the coil is water proof, I hunted just the beginnings of the freshwater lake. I notched out nearly everything except where gold rings might show up. That left only 4, sometimes 5 notches left on the screen. I had built up my confidence with this machine that any old silver coins/rings or older copper coins would easily be hit on. I got pennies in the 40's on up, but no rings today.






My thoughts.......A great detector for coin/jewelry hunting. It also performs well hunting relics. It has too much power! I could not hunt with full sensitivity....a first for me. All my other detectors could operate with full sensitivity in the woods, but not the new ACE! It bangs hard on targets....even very tiny ones. This machine would do well on the beaches dry sand or shallow fresh water searching for micro jewelry. When hunting in shallow water, PLEASE remember to tether the machine so it can not accidentally fall in the water if you drop it.

The depth indicator id fairly accurate with coin sized targets. I did pull out an old tag at bout 8 inches. It performs well for depth in my soil. I wish I could try it on a wet salted beach in/out of the water, but the nearest beach is 14 hours away. I hunted an afternoon without using any headsets, and I could easily hear the audio and distinguish the soft signals from the loud double beeps. I didn't like detecting with the iron audio left on, rather, I used it to help identify a target. Running the iron audio on all the time and getting a good audio on a target added confusion as to dig or not. A little trick I learned was that trying to pinpoint a large target is very difficult. Pop cans were easy to ID because of this. This allowed me to just move on to a better target saving time.

It is an excellent entry level detector, with lots of bells & whistles seen on many higher priced detector. It's simple to use, easy to learn, and depending on your goals for metal detecting, may be the only machine you might ever need, yet, you can easily move up to a more elaborate expensive model in the Garrett line. For a metal detectorist with over 20 years of experience, the ACE 400 is an excellent machine for coin and jewelry hunting! And......it will not sit in the closet collecting dust. Every metal detector I own has it's strengths in certain niches.

Some Actual Field Hunt Videos To Compiment The Garrett ACE 400i

ACE 400i Water Hunt


How To Increase Your Finds


ACE 400i Relic Hunt



Please go to Garrett Sport Division for further information and to find a dealer nearest you to purchase Garrett equipment.

 

[HighVDI]

Teknetics patriot. There was one that just sold on the classifieds here for $319. Would blow away anything listed above.

 

[Sixburgh79]

Thanks for the info fellas, much appreciated.. I'm about to pull on the 400, but my last question is do I get what is know as a DD coil or...? Is that something that's a must?

 

[bowwinkles]

You will find that the short shaft and youth cuff and the standard very heavy coil is (at least for me) a sorry combination. I went ahead and bought the 5X8 in an attempt to gain favor with this detector. That change did help but with the additional expense of the smaller coil added to the expense of the detector purchase moved me into the price range of other very popular detectors one of which is also a Garrett and it comes with the 5X8 coil. If the 400 is your final choice a smaller coil is most definitely needed, be it concentric or DD.

 

[RustyGold]

Teknetics patriot. There was one that just sold on the classifieds here for $319. Would blow away anything listed above.

Actually, I still have the Teknetics Patriot for sale, brand new under warranty for 319. Shipped.
I took it out of the classifieds as I was going to list it on eBay for more.

 

[Xraywolf]

I personally like to sweep as much ground as possible so I avoid smaller coils which mostly are used for "sniping" trashy areas.
Unless very frail, I wouldn't worry about weight. It is negligible to me, though granted after an hour or 2 of repetitive motion swinging, your arm will feel it no matter what coil you use.
I am ambidextrous and have no problem switching arms when the need arises.
Those who think they can't swing left, probably more of a mental block than anything.

 

[HighVDI]

Actually, I still have the Teknetics Patriot for sale, brand new under warranty for 319. Shipped.
I took it out of the classifieds as I was going to list it on eBay for more.

Pm me, I'll take it