Advice on using sniper coil on Fisher F4

SilverFinger

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Apr 17, 2008
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Hi-
I'm going back to a location where I pulled a 1912 Barber from.

I've been back w/my old analog a few times and have found nothing else due to immense amounts of trash in the area I hunted (some of the worst I've ever experienced)

The gods of silver were definitely with me when I found the Barber dime 'cause the ground trash is terrible, terrible, terrible.

I got a new F4 w/4.5" sniper coil. I've never used the small coil before and wonder if you kind peeps could give some advice on the best way to use it.
 

Cal_Cobra

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Oct 3, 2008
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The small coil works great (it's actually a 4" coil), and what's nice about it (aside from slicing through trash and iron) is that you can crank up the sensitivity all the way, and it pin-points dead on (not like pin-pointing with a 4" coil should be that tough).

HH,
Brian
 

F2 Hunter 28146

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May 22, 2013
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In case anyone is interested. I made a You Tube channel called: Carolina Diggers

In this channel I just uploaded two NEW videos today. The first one is where I tested the 10" concentic coil and the 4" sniper coil on a Fisher F2 in ALL METAL mode and using SENSITIVITY 5.

....Maybe this will help you decide whether you want to use THAT 4" coil or not.
 

The Silver Pirate

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Nov 27, 2011
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Thanks for taking the time to make that video. Unfortunately, when I searched for "Carolina Diggers" it pulled up monster trucks Carolina Crusher vs Grave Digger and I got distracted for a few minutes, but I made it back.
What is a typical depth range for a 4" coil on a F2 or F5?
 

digger27

Bronze Member
May 18, 2011
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I put my 4" coil on my F2 just as a lark a year ago last June, since then it has rarely left the bottom of my shaft.
I hunt in some very trashy areas, sometimes more trashier than you can believe, and since I mounted it that thing has found me 13 gold targets, many many silver targets including both jewelry and coins and hundreds of dollars in clad including at sites I thought I had cleaned up using the larger coils and even other detectors but in actuality I didn't.
Masking is a much bigger problem than most know, I believe, and the precision this small coils has to find targets in a trashy environment is unreal.

Go slow, look for targets with solid numbers, (on my F2 if the numbers don't jump more than 2 I always dig that), hit targets from a different angle to try to get those numbers stable.
I don't X the target, I always make small side to side swipes and always try to center the target under the coil to get the most stable and accurate numbers...something much easier to do with the sniper than the larger coils.

Silver coins are one thing and will come in high, of course, but Indian heads will come in at zinc instead.
Old nickels could be there so dig all those and don't think they will all come in at the exact same nickel numbers, either.
On mine a nickel is a 33, but silver war nickels a little higher and all kinds of nickels can come in at a lower number.

For jewelry dig all solid signals from foil on up because they could be gold or chains of all kinds including gold and silver depending on their thickness.
Small gold and silver items and chains could come in at iron, also, and some small silver rings and earrings can also come in at zinc.

Hunt in all metal using the threshold you can go the deepest and this is the only setting your manual GB will have any effect.
The GB is preset on the disc side and you can't affect this.

Below is some of the best of what I have found since I started using this small coil and targeting trashy sites.
 

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Bart@Big Boys Hobbies

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The 4" is DEADLY in trash!
 

Dan

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May 18, 2012
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Yorktown Heights, NY
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after reading this, I put on my 4" coil and went back to a local spot I've been hitting with my F2 and DD coil. Wow I couldn't believe I missed a quite a few targets. I only discriminate iron. Why is it that the DD did not pick up the targets but the 4" did? Help me understand.

On a side note I believe the stock 8" coil goes as deep if not deeper then my DD.

Thanks
 

Rookster

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I just after 2 years put the sniper that came with my F75 Limited on about 2 months ago. It isn't coming off. This is a great coil. I went back to some old sites that I used the 11"DD on and it was like I hadn't been there before. I live in a part of Mississippi that the GB will come in at 49-51. I set my machine in DE most of the time sometimes in BP when I want to slow down, sens. at 80-80,disc. 9. Again we don't have a lot of mineralization in our soil so it depends on where you are hunting. I thought at first I would miss a lot of targets with the small coil but not so. And the depth doesn't drop off that I can tell. Good luck.
 

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digger27

Bronze Member
May 18, 2011
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after reading this, I put on my 4" coil and went back to a local spot I've been hitting with my F2 and DD coil. Wow I couldn't believe I missed a quite a few targets. I only discriminate iron. Why is it that the DD did not pick up the targets but the 4" did? Help me understand.

On a side note I believe the stock 8" coil goes as deep if not deeper then my DD.

Thanks


Why?
If you have a lot of trash at this site masking was the problem.
This is a bigger issue than most hunters tend to believe, IMO.

If there was not a lot of trash you just didn't get your coil over it the first time.
It is just mathematically impossible to hit every square inch of any size area no matter what kind of coils you use or how close you overlap.
Also coming at targets from different directions often can reveal great things that your detector just didn't pick up from one way that could be easily found from another.
This is just physics and I have experienced this many times using all types of detectors and coils no matter how careful and efficient I try to be every time I hunt.
 

TheCaribbeanDigger

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Aug 15, 2013
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Why?
If you have a lot of trash at this site masking was the problem.
This is a bigger issue than most hunters tend to believe, IMO.

If there was not a lot of trash you just didn't get your coil over it the first time.
It is just mathematically impossible to hit every square inch of any size area no matter what kind of coils you use or how close you overlap.
Also coming at targets from different directions often can reveal great things that your detector just didn't pick up from one way that could be easily found from another.
This is just physics and I have experienced this many times using all types of detectors and coils no matter how careful and efficient I try to be every time I hunt.
Exactly! After a while I was thinking the same thing, but just realized what Digger27 just told us. Masking, direction in which you swing and come swinging to and from. A lot of things come into play and determine if you hit or miss targets!
 

TheCaribbeanDigger

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P.S. I just got an early christmas present!!! My spankin' brand new Garrett Pro Pointer!! I have the Fisher version which is ok (just broke the lid pulling it to install a new battery) but wanted a REAL pointer!! Merry Christmas to Me!!! :D
 

Rookster

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Make sure you put the 9 volt in to match the positive and negative poles. I put them in back axward once and they will go in backward. Seemed like it help the pointer back a bit. Good luck and Merry Christmas.
 

TheCaribbeanDigger

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Make sure you put the 9 volt in to match the positive and negative poles. I put them in back axward once and they will go in backward. Seemed like it help the pointer back a bit. Good luck and Merry Christmas.
Thanx man! Merry Christmas to you too!!
 

Showtime2385

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Damn i guess i need to take my 4" out of the bag and give it a try. I haven't taken my 8" off since i got it because i seamed to be finding a decent amount.
 

digger27

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May 18, 2011
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Damn i guess i need to take my 4" out of the bag and give it a try. I haven't taken my 8" off since i got it because i seamed to be finding a decent amount.

Same for me.
18 months using the 8" on the F2 and I thought I was getting most everything and doing a good job.
Then I threw the sniper coil on just for laughs and I can't tell you exactly how shocked I was when I found tons at every old site I revisited, and how much more in volume and quality I found overall at every site old and new after that compared to hunting with that larger coil.
That thing has been on the end of my F2 for the last 17 months and found me so much that larger coil couldn't in the very trashy sites I usually hunt, including 10 gold targets in just the last 11 months alone.
 

Opie

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Aug 27, 2013
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I have loved the F-2 with the 4"" concentric coil, but have to say the aftermarket smaller dd coils have really impressed me... F2digger Merry Christmas with that pointer!! yer gonna luv it,,,,!!
 

Rawhide

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Nov 17, 2010
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The small coil is good for scrubbing. I put it as close to the grass, sand wood chips as possible. Almost dont need a pin pointer with it. The propointer will increase your finds do to the speed you will recover targets. The small coil is more sensitive to smaller items, but the 11" inch coil is pretty sensitive too. I think the big coil is picking up on the targets, but locking on to the best target is why you are missing targets. Look forward to your finds.
 

TheCaribbeanDigger

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I have loved the F-2 with the 4"" concentric coil, but have to say the aftermarket smaller dd coils have really impressed me... F2digger Merry Christmas with that pointer!! yer gonna luv it,,,,!!
Thanks Opie! I have been too busy this month specially with my kids. I still haven't gone on a real hunt with the pro pointer yet but I'm sure I'll have a blast with it!!! Merry Christmas to you all!!
 

Opie

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Aug 27, 2013
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I have the concentric sniper coil, has worked great,,, but i have fallin in luv with that NEL sharpshooter coil,,, really just a slight edge in target separation. and a Merry Christmas to all as well!!
 

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