Do you have to spend allot of money to get a good metal detector?

[Californio]

I have a Bounty Hunter Tracker IV that i've had for 10 years. Looking back on Amazon, it has almost a 5 star rating. I was thinking of upgrading to something in the 400 dollar range. What do you guys think?

 

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[smokeythecat]

It's going to depend on what you are going for. Almost any detector will find good stuff. My $329 Tesoro Cibola has found the most, including a gold guinea and my largest gold and diamond ring.

You will get a lot of answers. f you have the patience to dig it all, then any machine that works will do well.

Tesoro is now out of business but their machines still rock. You can get a used Garrett AT pro for that money.

 

[Californio]

I'm mostly looking for old coins, jewelry.

 

[smokeythecat]

Then you have a lot of choices. Check out a site like Ebay for machines in that range. If you have a chance, find a dealer you can visit to pick something out. Lots of dealers have both used and new machines.

There is no perfect machine out there. It all take work and patience.

 

[alaskaseeker]

The Tesoro units are hard to beat for sure, liteweight and strong...

 

[CoinFetcher]

At pro is a fun machine to use - I think it might be limited for high end hunters though.

The best machine is the one fully charged and in your vehicle

 

[RustyGold]

Not necessarily. You do have to focus on where it is you’ll be using it. The parks, fields or the beach or all of the above. That should lead you to what type/brand is best for the areas you might want to hunt.
I just picked up a used Tesoro Mojave and I’m very impressed with it. It has great discrimination. Under $200. Good luck!

 

[Kansas_Jayhawk]

When did Tesoro go out of business. I have an older machine that I started my kids in.

 

[smokeythecat]

Just this year. However my first Tesoro which I bought in 1989, and now owned by someone else, is still going strong. Just don't leave it in the rain, put it in the washer or run over it with a truck.

 

[Kansas_Jayhawk]

Just this year. However my first Tesoro which I bought in 1989, and now owned by someone else, is still going strong. Just don't leave it in the rain, put it in the washer or run over it with a truck.

Too bad. The inexpensive one I bought still works. Great buy for the money

 

[Calgarychef]

Yes.

 

[Trezurehunter]

I like my Minelabs and Fisher CZ5, although the Minelabs are a little more cost wise to get into.

 

[Clad2Silver]

There are quite a few good detectors out there for under your $400 price. I have a Garrett Ace 400 as my backup unit and it cost me just a tad over $300. I've used it a number of times and it gets the good stuff. Batteries last a long time and it has a very short learning curve.

 

[gunsil]

You can get great detectors with little use on them on ebay as stated above or I have found several good deals on craigslist. I got my AT Pro used on craigslist for $300, it is still going great seven years later. Got a used three times Excal for $650 on craigslist too. One thing about craigslist is when you find a fairly local machine you can usually try it out, something that is not usually possible with ebay sales. There are many used machines with little use on the market as so many are trying the hobby and deciding they don't have the patience for it or realize finding good stuff can be work. I have no problem buying a used detector that the warranty has expired on if it was a closet queen and sat barely used for a couple or few years. These things are modern electronic devices and really have few problems unless abused by owners.