advice for buying a detector to hunt civil war relics

[2burgs]

Given that I am a novice who is considering detecting a civil war encampment close to my home, what are the recommendations for a good detector, not too complicated to operate, that would do well in finding CW relics in Pennsylvania? My budget is about $350 to $400. Also, is there a good research book that is recommended for such a search?

 

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[bakergeol]

I do hate it when no one responds to a thread from someone seeking help.
For a new detector- Tesoro's Vaquero has been used by a lot of relic hunters and
at $400 has the depth of a lot of high end detectors. It doesn't have digital ID which relic
hunters don't really need anyway. Check out some of the CW relic forums for some more feedback
on the Vaquero.



HH
George

 

[LEOJ]

Leitner--
Although they no longer manufacture them, Fisher's 1266 machine can still be found out there. Even new ones. It's a simple machine and with a 10 inch coil, it will get you plenty of depth. With this machine, you might want to consider the purchase of a small relic shovel as well.

 

[relicreb]

Leitner

I hunt relics and use a whites xlt. It is a great all around machine and the factory programs do a good job. Just about any machine will find relics, the trick is getting to know your machine and learning the best way to use it. Good luck and I hope to see some post from you in the future. We need more relic hunters on this forum.
Relicreb

 

[bazinga]

I've never used one before, but I hear Tesoro's are about the best you can get for hunting for deep relics. I would recommend the Minelab Explorer, but it's a lot more costly and since you want relics, I think you should do some research on Tesoro brand and pick the best one for your area.

 

[Rusted_Iron]

If you could stretch the budget a bit I'd say go with the Tesoro Tejon. Amazing relic machine. I've found .22 caliber lead bullets at 10" with it.

Also great for coins. Found a wheat penny just shy of 12 inches measured depth, suspect it will go even deeper yet.
I would expect the Vaquero to be almost as good as the Tejon.

A lot of people tell me the Fisher 1266X was also one of the best relic machines ever made. Look for a used one, they discontinued 'em a little while ago.

Believe it or not my Sears / White's coinmaster (from the mid 80's) with the big Hot Head coil is great for relics in all metal mode. Surprisingly deep in that configuration! The Coinmasters in Disc mode weren't that deep, but all-metal is a different story.

 

[bazinga]

If you could stretch the budget a bit I'd say go with the Tesoro Tejon. Amazing relic machine. I've found .22 caliber lead bullets at 10" with it.

Also great for coins. Found a wheat penny just shy of 12 inches measured depth, suspect it will go even deeper yet.
I would expect the Vaquero to be almost as good as the Tejon.

A lot of people tell me the Fisher 1266X was also one of the best relic machines ever made. Look for a used one, they discontinued 'em a little while ago.

Believe it or not my Sears / White's coinmaster (from the mid 80's) with the big Hot Head coil is great for relics in all metal mode. Surprisingly deep in that configuration! The Coinmasters in Disc mode weren't that deep, but all-metal is a different story.

I've never used the tejon personally, but I've heard great reviews on this machine by relic and coin hunters alike! I'm all for minelab explorers, but if you want deep iron, the tejon is just as good, if not better from what I have heard of it.

If you truly want to spend a lot of your time detecting and finding the best possible finds then I would say to buy the best detector that you can possibly afford. It will save you lots of time in the long run for when you finally do upgrade and have to go re-hunt all of your old sites when you could be out hunting new sites!

 

[Rusted_Iron]

if you want deep iron, the tejon is just as good, if not better from what I have heard of it.

At the old house site I'm working with my Tejon, I have found small iron objects at 16-18", and that wasn't even in all metal mode!! I'm talking about iron pieces the size of a quarter or a half. Also for lead... the Tejon is awesome for finding Minies, musket balls, and that sort of thing. Minies at 18" are well within reason.

Sooner or later, an equally-deep quarter or half has to surface as well Silver conducts better than iron.

 

[bazinga]

if you want deep iron, the tejon is just as good, if not better from what I have heard of it.

At the old house site I'm working with my Tejon, I have found small iron objects at 16-18", and that wasn't even in all metal mode!! I'm talking about iron pieces the size of a quarter or a half. Also for lead... the Tejon is awesome for finding Minies, musket balls, and that sort of thing. Minies at 18" are well within reason.

Sooner or later, an equally-deep quarter or half has to surface as well Silver conducts better than iron.

I did dig an 18"+ deep hole once for a tiny piece of iron about the size of a dime. It rang in like a silver dime and I just kept on digging... and digging... and digging.... My guess is that it was originally fairly large but had rusted quite a bit but was still producing a nice halo effect to give off such a good reading at that depth with my Explorer XS with the 15" WOT coil on it.

 

[Rusted_Iron]

I did dig an 18"+ deep hole once for a tiny piece of iron about the size of a dime. It rang in like a silver dime and I just kept on digging... and digging... and digging.... My guess is that it was originally fairly large but had rusted quite a bit but was still producing a nice halo effect to give off such a good reading at that depth with my Explorer XS with the 15" WOT coil on it.

That WOT coil is super deep, I may have to get me one of those.

They make a 12x10 widescan for the Tejon which should increase the depth well over the stock 9x8 concentric. On a stock Tejon, I'd say a dime-sized piece of iron at 18" is possible if it has a good halo and you run it in all metal mode. However, I usually hunt in Disc mode and ignore the signals that are breaking up or sketchy, but with the Tejon these can be good targets that are right at the edge of the detector's depth limits. I like iron, but it just so happens that the better iron objects don't disc out where I have it set. They give coin-like signals and may stay solid well into the "nickel" or even higher range on the knob. Usually because they are big or have some kind of hole, loop, or otherwise circular aspect to them.

Who knows how many 18"+ deep objects I've left in the ground because they sounded iffy. Maybe that's why I'm not finding a lot of coins at this house site I'm working...

With both the Tejon and the Explorer I have chased some 18+" deep signals and just plain gave up, the thing was still down there whatever it was. I still wonder what was in these holes. Based on my experience I'd say the Explorer and the Tejon are about even on depth. I love both machines, just finding that DD coil frustrating to pinpoint with.

 

[bazinga]

I did dig an 18"+ deep hole once for a tiny piece of iron about the size of a dime. It rang in like a silver dime and I just kept on digging... and digging... and digging.... My guess is that it was originally fairly large but had rusted quite a bit but was still producing a nice halo effect to give off such a good reading at that depth with my Explorer XS with the 15" WOT coil on it.

That WOT coil is super deep, I may have to get me one of those.

They make a 12x10 widescan for the Tejon which should increase the depth well over the stock 9x8 concentric. On a stock Tejon, I'd say a dime-sized piece of iron at 18" is possible if it has a good halo and you run it in all metal mode. However, I usually hunt in Disc mode and ignore the signals that are breaking up or sketchy, but with the Tejon these can be good targets that are right at the edge of the detector's depth limits. I like iron, but it just so happens that the better iron objects don't disc out where I have it set. They give coin-like signals and may stay solid well into the "nickel" or even higher range on the knob. Usually because they are big or have some kind of hole, loop, or otherwise circular aspect to them.

Who knows how many 18"+ deep objects I've left in the ground because they sounded iffy. Maybe that's why I'm not finding a lot of coins at this house site I'm working...

With both the Tejon and the Explorer I have chased some 18+" deep signals and just plain gave up, the thing was still down there whatever it was. I still wonder what was in these holes. Based on my experience I'd say the Explorer and the Tejon are about even on depth. I love both machines, just finding that DD coil frustrating to pinpoint with.

Yeah... if you are hunting for DEEP iron then the explorer with the WOT will find it, that's for sure! I have also chased some deep signals only to give up because the hole just got too deep and my arm too short, haha. I figure if it is something really good, then the person who has the patience to dig it up truly deserves it!

The pinpoint with a DD coil is certainly a bear... I good with it about 90% of the time.... with that other 10% of the time leaving me with a question mark as to why I dug so far away from the actual target, haha.

 

[gregl01]

Tesoro for sure!!!! I heard raves about them and got one myself. I got the Cibola which is very easy to operate. No ground balance, no meters- no BS!!!! Turn on and go. This thing hunts deep as I want to dig and is really hot on copper, brass,and lead. A real relic machine. You may need manual ground balance which the Vaquero and Tejon have. Any one of these three would make a great machine for you.

HH
Greg

 

[Sandpit]

Given that I am a novice who is considering detecting a civil war encampment close to my home, what are the recommendations for a good detector, not too complicated to operate, that would do well in finding CW relics in Pennsylvania? My budget is about $350 to $400. Also, is there a good research book that is recommended for such a search?

Given that I am a novice who is considering detecting a civil war encampment close to my home, what are the recommendations for a good detector, not too complicated to operate, that would do well in finding CW relics in Pennsylvania? My budget is about $350 to $400. Also, is there a good research book that is recommended for such a search?

A good place to research is the official records of the civil war which is on line at the Cornell university web site HH LOL, I use a Nautilus 2ba, but they are in the $600-700 price range.