F5, F70, or AT Pro for relics?

[RVAdigger]

Hi. Trying to decide on a new to me machine...

I live in a very history rich area that being Richmond VA. I'm interested in finding relics primarily but coins and precious metals I wouldn't mind of course. I currently have an F2 with 8 inch coil. My interests lie in hunting land in Richmond down to the Petersburg area. I have 40 acres undeveloped property I can hunt outside my doorstep more or less plus another 10+ acres undeveloped where I have found 1800's homesites on old maps at least. My F2 has uncovered shotgun headstamps dating to 1887'ish in this area and I found a 38 short rimfire with no headstamp which is pretty old plus a very old muleshoe, lots of pottery, blown glass pieces, etc... Lots of 17-1800's activity in my immediate area. I'm finding the F2 doesn't want to find anything deeper than 4 to pushing maybe 5 inches max wherever I've searched thus far. I'm assured by a local old timer that my yard has silver coins somewhere being that it was built in the 1930's but I haven't found the first one. The sniper coil won't hit the square nails which are every foot of space on one local spot I've got which I believe to be an old structure but the 8 inch coil hears them all when iron isn't notched out. Looking for a relic machine that can go a good bit deeper than the F2. I could get the F5 from someone for $200 with standard coil or the F70 or AT pro both with stock coil for $400. I just started detecting a month ago and I really like the F2 but I think I'm missing some deeper relics and want to find them. I'm trying to keep the current F2 and I'm working with a $400 budget. My pinpointer is the Fisher... Not great. Would love to get the Garrett pro pointer. Would you go with F5 and buy a Garrett pro pointer plus a DD coil, or simply the F70 or simply the AT pro in my position and for what I want to do? Most of the used AT Pro's out there are out of warranty, the Fishers I'm looking at have lots of warranty left. If I went F5 with standard and DD coil plus a pro pointer I could put the DD coil on the F2 to use as a better than stock buddy machine which would be a bonus. There are creeks in the area but nothing more than thigh deep I'd look into so AT Pro waterproofing isn't a huge deal plus I like the light weight of the Fishers... . Ugh... Decisions... Help me decide! Thank you in advance for your advice!!!

 

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[jojobama]

love my f2 ! shes good 2 me

 

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[Cletus]

I bought the AT pro a few weeks ago. i have been digging everyday since.
I have pulled some great relics from several "hunted out" areas.
I'm not a fan boy and i"m not saying the the ATP is the best choice for you.
I am saying that it works very well for me. it has great depth, it does a great job at separating
good targets from bad. the iron audio is a big +. It pin points very well and has ground balance.

the three tones and the digital read out works very well. i do wish that Garrett had a longer warranty.
Other than that i'm extremely happy with the ATP and do not see any reason to upgrade anytime soon.

I will add that i have hunted beside detectors that cost 2x the price of the ATP. (fisher and Minelab).
The ATP did just as good and in some cases better at locating deep targets.
Both of my buddies was talking about buying the ATP by the end of the hunt.

Best of luck with whatever machine you decide to buy. Again, there really is no bad choice.
Just about every machine made today is capable of finding relics if you are hunting the right area.
Cletus

 

[Loco-Digger]

I am a Fisher guy, and have read many posts on the internet to include watching many videos when I wanted to upgrade last year from the Fisher F4 to a higher end detector. I now run the F75 LTD SE (upgraded). I was very interested in both the T2 and the F75 series. The reason I went for the F75 over the T2 is that it is more of a coin shooters machine and the T2 is more for relic hunters. The fishers have a VDI scale of 1 through 19 for iron where as the T2 has a 1 through 40 VDI scale for iron. If I was a dedicated relic hunter, I would buy the Classic T2 for $499 or go for the higher end with boost. The Classic T2 is the best bang for the buck in my opinion. It will compete well with higher end detectors.

 

[JackalopeZL1]

Just about any of the machines listed will do a really good job and you can't go wrong, See if anyone local will let you try one out See what YOU like. Or do what I did bye one of everything and figure what you like best..lol

 

[CaptjimUP]

I would also consider customer service for these brands. I know how good Garretts is and that was a huge consideration for myself. They offered 40% off a new detector when a friend had a '90's grand master hunter go bad after sitting for years in a unheated garage and no parts were available for repair. That and the fact that an AT Pro can get wet was my deciding factor.

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