Angus Mackirk Rocky Mountain Sluice Box with Abyss Riffle

[Joel1316]

Well I finally broke down and ordered my Angus Mackirk Rocky Mountain with the Abyss Riffles. When I called AM to order, I got a lot of great information regarding the sluice box. I wouldn't be surprised if they converted all of their sluice boxes to have the Abyss riffles in the future. The Abyss riffles is basically a channel at the bottom of the riffle to better protect your gold from washing out.
I'm an Angus Mackirk fan, I own the Foreman, Backpacker and now the Rocky Mountain. I like that its capable to trap large flakes and very fine gold, easy to carry (lightweight), self cleaning (leave the sluice in the river and eventually all you will have left is black sand) ease of setup and easy to clean out.
Used the Rocky Mountain this weekend and it performed very well and lived up to all the reasons why I like AM sluice boxes.
The river had pretty good flow and the Rocky Mountain loves a good strong flow! As told by AM, I would be able to feed the Rocky Mountain at a high rate, which is what I wanted. I classified down to 1/4" and was able to scoop material in very fast; cleared a 5 gallon full bucket in about 15 minutes (that's fast for me). Check tailings and did not find a single piece of gold... I did 3 clean outs, only because it was first time using the sluice and didn't want to do something stupid to lose the gold. I ran about (10) 5 gallon buckets, I think with the deeper, larger riffles; 1 clean out would have been fine...
Me and my son ran a Keene A52 with Miners Moss (removed expanded metal) and the Angus Mackirk Rocky Mountain. Hands down, I will be taking the Rocky Mountain with me and leaving the A52 at home. The A52 could not handle the material as fast (in my opinion) and with the changing river flows constantly required re-tuning of the angle. Clean up on the A52 continues to be a task (but really only needs 1, maybe 2 clean outs) and re-setup was a pain in the rear. Don't get me wrong, I love the A52, but I think I found its replacement....

 

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[63bkpkr]

Joel1316,

Thank you very interesting writeup! What are the dimensions of the RM w/AR as well as how much does it weigh?...................63bkpkr

 

[Joel1316]

Rocky Mountain specs:
L = 38.0 inches W = 16 inches and D = 5.5 inches

Weight = 7 lbs.

 

[Vance in AK]

Thanks for the report!
I have been eyeballing one of these but haven't ordered yet. Still considering the Bazooka sluice asan alternative...
I rteally like my AM Explorer in the limited use I have given it.

 

[Joel1316]

Which Bazooka will you be getting?
I have a Miner that I will be using in this river, just waiting for snow melt to increase river flow.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Thanks for the report!
I have been eyeballing one of these but haven't ordered yet. Still considering the Bazooka sluice asan alternative...
I rteally like my AM Explorer in the limited use I have given it.

Tough choice between the two (I own both the BGT Prospector and the AM Expedition). The bgt requires NO classifying and is really hard to overload. A 5 gal bucket takes about 1 minute to run vs 15 mentioned above for the AM so production is way, way higher! However, you can run an AM with very low water flow/speed/volume if you classify down real well...not an option with the BGT.

 

[Joel1316]

Can't wait to get increased flow so I can finally test out my BGT Miner. I want to be able to run a bucket in a minute! : )

Kevin, right now I'm classifying down to 1/4". How much do you classify with the BGT? Just get rid of softball sized rocks and rest go in to the BGT?

One thing I will say about the AM sluices. May not be fast as a BGT, but it only a fraction of the weight...

 

[dvdtharaldson]

Since the subject is am sluices and I have a recon, I am hoping someone can answer a question for me. Do you have to change the angle of the sluice or the water flow if you change from a #2 classifier (half inch) to a #8 classifier (eighth inch). The reason i am asking is, it seemed when I classified to a smaller size more of the smaller heavies (-20 black sands and smaller) seemed to wash right out of my sluice.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Since the subject is am sluices and I have a recon, I am hoping someone can answer a question for me. Do you have to change the angle of the sluice or the water flow if you change from a #2 classifier (half inch) to a #8 classifier (eighth inch). The reason i am asking is, it seemed when I classified to a smaller size more of the smaller heavies (-20 black sands and smaller) seemed to wash right out of my sluice.

Yes, you will want to adjust the flow depending on how you classify...

Joel, I shovel right onto the bgt, rinse the big rocks in the water flow on the skid plate and then toss them aside. The bgt does the rest! Of course if you have to carry the material a distance from hole to sluice, I would do some classifying just to avoid carrying big rocks around for no good reason!

 

[charlotte49er]

Rocky Mountain specs:
L = 38.0 inches W = 16 inches and D = 5.5 inches

Weight = 7 lbs.

Cool! A little bit bigger than "The Boss"
Boss - Dimensions: 36"L x 15-3/4"W x 4-1/4"D; Weight: 5 lbs.

 

[Joel1316]

Cool! A little bit bigger than "The Boss"
Boss - Dimensions: 36"L x 15-3/4"W x 4-1/4"D; Weight: 5 lbs.

The selling point for me on the Rocky Mountain were the abyss riffles. AM rants and raves on how well the abyss riffles help to retain gold.

 

[Dirk Pitt]

I really love my backpacker sluice. Light, easy to set up, and you can feed it fairly quickly considering its size. I have the recon as well, but it is a little more finicky compared to the backpacker. I also have a Letrap as well, never seen so much garnet sand caught by a sluice! Bob.

 

[kengold]

Has anybody who had an older AU trp Boss tried the new BOSS with the the abyss riffles to see if it is better. I noticed that the new one has a different bottom to the intake flair which doesnt look as though it is as efficient as the old diamond pattern but I am only judging from photographs.