Gold Bug 2 or Minelab SD 2200 best for small nugget detecting?

[Postman_907]

Greetings! I'm new here and this may not be the right section for me to pose the question but here goes: I live on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska and there are areas all around us where detectorists find very small gold nuggets. One pal of mine uses a Gold Bug 2 and gets great results. A friend of mine is selling his Minelab SD 2200 for about the same amount of money as I'd pay for a Gold Bug 2. Is the Minelab Sd 2200 better suited for detecting small nuggets?

Thanks for your patience with a newbie!

Eric

 

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[favored papa]

you might do better in the prospecting section, there is a section just for prospecting with M D's

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Thread moved to Metal Detecting For Gold forum.

 

[Terry Soloman]

Greetings! I'm new here and this may not be the right section for me to pose the question but here goes: I live on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska and there are areas all around us where detectorists find very small gold nuggets. One pal of mine uses a Gold Bug 2 and gets great results. A friend of mine is selling his Minelab SD 2200 for about the same amount of money as I'd pay for a Gold Bug 2. Is the Minelab Sd 2200 better suited for detecting small nuggets?

Thanks for your patience with a newbie!

Eric

Get the Minelab. You MIGHT miss a couple REALLY small ones, but you'll get MORE gold with the Minelab!

 

[Hamfist]

The Gold Bug 2 is a fantastic VLF machine that should be at the top of anyone's list, but it's not great in areas high in iron mineralization. Definitely read as much as you can on the differences between pulse induction and VLF detectors before pulling the trigger. Your choice depends a lot on how and where you plan to use the machine.

 

[meMiner]

The easy answer is both. The thing is the 2200 is an older machine, but it still works. Since your friend has a GBII, you know it works in your area and you have somebody who can show you how to be successful. Good luck with your decision.

 

[Vance in AK]

When Steve Herschbach was still up here & running AMD he sold me on the GB2 for detecting our area & I have not regretted my purchase. I'm on my phone so I don't have the web address but he has a site where he reviews & recommends detectors. He probably has as much experience as anyone in our area.

 

[ezrider2]

When Steve Herschbach was still up here & running AMD he sold me on the GB2 for detecting our area & I have not regretted my purchase. I'm on my phone so I don't have the web address but he has a site where he reviews & recommends detectors. He probably has as much experience as anyone in our area.

He has a lot of info on his site. I just goggled his name and it came up. Don't know if I can post a link or not. Anyway good info!

 

[GreyGhost]

From what I've read Alaska is not super mineralized like other places such as Alaska or Arizona. A VLF like the GBII will do ok. However those machines do not have a lot of depth.
The SD2200 probably won't be great on small gold, unless there's smaller aftermarket coils available for it. Generally, when you're hunting with a Minelab you're looking for the bigger, deeper nuggets VLF machines in the past missed. These big nuggets are few and far between tho, you might go a year without finding anything. Kinda just depends on what style of hunting you're interested in.

 

[Zip Zip]

I just got a Gold Bug 2 with the 6.5 inch coil for finding those tiny nuggets in my area. those PI machines are amazing with deeper larger nuggets. the ML 2300 is supposed to do well with small nuggets, but the $3,700.00 price tag is way out of my financial league. So I got a great deal (with 30 mins of haggling) for my GB 2

 

[GreyGhost]

I just got a Gold Bug 2 with the 6.5 inch coil for finding those tiny nuggets in my area. those PI machines are amazing with deeper larger nuggets. the ML 2300 is supposed to do well with small nuggets, but the $3,700.00 price tag is way out of my financial league. So I got a great deal (with 30 mins of haggling) for my GB 2

If you just call the vendor up and talk to them you'd be surprised on the deals and packages you can get. They can't list the price on their website because they could lose Minelab as a supplier but over the phone they'll usually give you a better price.
(Link removed by mod, non-supporting vendor)