Which one

[PaJim]

Looking for some experienced advice...

Would you rather spend your hard earned money on a Garrett Ace 250/350 or..
a Bounty Hunter Land Ranger Pro.

Just a hobbyist here... of course I'd love an AT Pro, but I just can't justify the price tag unless one falls into my lap somehow. I like the Garrett name better than Bounty Hunter, but my BH has treated me pretty well so I can't complain too much. I do like the idea of a number readout like the BH LRP does, but is the Garrett a better machine overal?

 

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[Terry Soloman]

Gosh, I would rather see you get a Tesoro Silver uMax with an 11" x 8" widescan coil, but if you have to stay with lesser machines, get the Garrett.

 

[beerguy]

While I usually avoid cult members at any cost, , I agree with Terry.

It would be better to spend money on a machine with superior electronics and no display than lesser electronics and a TID system.

Even on high end machines, the advanced detectorist will say that you hunt with your ears first.

A Tesoro would be a great choice over the Garrett 250/350.

I do like a machine with pinpoint, though. I have a phobia of nicking targets when I do not pinpoint correctly, but that is my baggage.

You know I am kidding on the cult thing, right Terry? I see that you carry a pick axe and a shovel on you.

 

[Crappies-n-Coins]

You may need to decide if you need something with ground balance, if not, I got 2 words...........

Tesoro Cibola

 

[cudamark]

What sort of targets are you hunting?

 

[PaJim]

Id love to say relics, but Im primarily getting coins where I can go.

Sent from my N800 using Tapatalk

 

[Phantasman]

Hmm...........let me think about this.

I have a LRP and had a Ace 250 and Tesoro's. Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't give up my LRP for either. Matter of fact, I wouldn't even give it up for an AT Pro.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Phantasman]

I like the Garrett name better than Bounty Hunter,

I wanted to address this as well. The new BH Pro's are not the same detectors as past Legacy series George Payne "muffler on a stick" detectors. FTP has taken the fratbros Greek design and software of successful detectors like the Eurotek Pro and made the BH Pros in the same arena. Dave J says it in a post in the BH forum:

The Gold, Titanium, Platinum, Fisher F5, the Teknetics "Greek series", the Euroteks, and the newfangled BH's are all variants of a platform we call in-house the "13-bit platform" because of the peculiar A/D it uses to digitize the signals. Products built on this platform run at 7.8 kHz, use 880uH/8.8mH searchcoils, and have some software in common. -woof

He also made this comment:

Medium performance "entry level": most folks would rate the more recent Euroteks as offering more value for the money than the Delta. Might also look into Fisher F22 and the new Bounty Hunters that look kind of like the Delta and Eurotek. All these share somewhat similar circuitry, and differ primarily in feature set and what searchcoil they come with stock standard.

The discrimination software algorithms used in these machines is fairly similar to that used on our high performance machines, and customers familiar with metal detectors often remark that on targets less than 8 inches or so deep these machines deliver performance comparable to machines costing several times as much. Of course the more expensive machines still have their place for searching in locations where it's okay to dig with a shovel, and in gold prospecting which the under-$400 machines aren't much use for. -Dave J

FTPs Bounty Hunter Pros are NOT George Paynes Bounty Hunters, which is everyones first thought.

 

[Loco-Digger]

The sounds of the Garrett turn me off. I have owned a BH LRP and really liked it. Mine came with the 9" x 11" DD coil. My favorite coil. I bought it to replace my last back-up detector. It can be ground balanced via ground grab, or manually. The VDI functions in all metal mode, unlike the F4 I used to own. It is a very light detector and gets respectable depth. I air tested the LRP in both AM (all metal) and in mode 4 with disc. In AM mode it could ID a clad Kennedy at 10.5 inches and at 9.5 in Mode 4. AM mode goes, on average, an inch to 1.5 inches deeper than when you use disc. AM mode ID'd an Ike at 12 inches, but only 9.5 in mode 4 using disc. Mode 4 would ID a dime at 7" and at 8.5" in AM. The LRP has more functions than either Ace you mentioned.

I have never used a Garrett or Tesoro. I have used a Treasure Cove TC 1023, Fisher F4, Whites Coinmaster GT, Whites MX5, Whites Classic ID II, Fisher F75 LTD SE, and the BH LRP.

 

[Liu21]

OK let me add my 2 cents, since i have the ATPro and a BH Platinum. Get the BH Platinum pro, if you cant dish out the cash for the AT Pro. The BH Platinum, IDs better on coins especially IHCs. The ATPro is great for iron infested areas, but when it comes to IHCs the numbers bounces a bit. I made a coil adapter for the BH, and I have a NEL Tornado coming, I might even get the Hunter for it later. What ever you pick, you wont be disappointed.

 

[PaJim]

Thanks for all the opinions. Seems like it's really up to personal taste for most. I think I know what I'm leaning towards in the future though when time comes for an upgrade.

 

[Ren]

I don't know about the Bounty Hunter, but you can't go wrong with a Garrett, so if you bought one, I can definitely say you wouldn't be disappointed. The 250 is pretty much the same as the 350 with a bigger coil, with a slight different display. If the 250 and 350 had the same coils, they can do the same job. One isn't stronger than the other if not for the coils it comes with. I have the 250 and have been enjoying it since I've had it. If this is your first, must I add you consider getting a pin pointer also. The 250 and 350 have a pinpoint button that works great, but a separate pin pointer really comes in handy when you're digging up smaller treasures.

 

[Ren]

Like Loco-Digger said, he couldn't stand the sounds of the Garrett. For me, I didn't like the sound the Bountys made. So make sure you listen to the sounds the detector you're getting because you're gonna be hearing it a lot.

 

[Phantasman]

The LRP has different options for sound. And V-Break adjusts the low tone break point. The pinpoint gives depth reading up to 10" as well as VCO tone. And ground balance will give better depth in mineralized soils. The conductivity arc is broken into 0-99 higher definition Treasure ID points represented 0-99 numerically and 43 segments. Allowing for much more defined ID between, say nickels and tabs that both show up under the same ID in most low end detectors.