BH Discovery 3300 vs Cibola and Vaquero

[CliffHanger]

I'm a happy Lobo ST owner. I am going to buy another detector for a change of pace. I've heard nothing but good things about the V & C and a mixed bag of reviews on the 3300. The experiences of those who have compared the 3300 with either or both the Tesoros will be interesting.
Thanks in advance and best to all.
Cliffhanger

 

[digitaltim]

If you're not hell bent on TID go for the C or V! You'll be happy you did.

I guess it depends on what you're hunting. The BH should be fine for the parks.

FYI: my Vaquero and compadre likes Aluminum. Even with discrimination maxed out. They ignore Iron extremely well though.

The BH's like Iron and aren't as sensitive.

 

[digitaltim]

n/t

 

[SkiWhiz]

I am no pro but also not new to detecting. I have been at it for over 15 years. I have had the Discovery 3300 and now have the Cibola, never had the Vaquero. I traded in a Fisher CZ 6a for the Cibola. If you look up info on the Fisher CZ models you will see people like them and say they go real deep. Well let me tell you that the Cibola is probably the "best" detector I have ever had, period. So much lighter than the CZ 6a I had and not so noisey. The pinpointing on the Cibola is dead on,goes deep,discriminates well,etc. It is just a fun machine to use, hard to put into words ya just have to use one to see what I mean. I don't want to bash any other brands but the Discovery 3300 I had was the worst detector I have ever had. I might of got a lemon I don't know, but I took it back to Radio Shack the same day I bought it. In my opinion if you can find one for $100, it would be $99 too much for it. Put up any Tesoro (or any other major brand) against the 3300 and see the quality difference between the two. Bounty Hunter's just seem to be made cheaper. But there are alot of folks that swear by the 3300 and other B.H. models. The Cibola/Vaquero is well worth the extra $$$. Steve.

 

[tab-nabit]

I have the Cibola which I just purchased recently. Among all my detectors (Minelab, Whites, Garrett, now Tesoro), I also have a couple 3300 machines which were the RS 99 dollar clearance buys. I picked up the 3300 as loaners over a half year ago. I have already used the Cibola and will continue to do so. The 3300 machines are still sitting waiting for a walk. Only one 3300 has been tried - once as a loaner. Usually when I have a newbie tag along, they choose my ACE 250 as a loaner in nearly all cases.
Since you already are a happy Lobo ST owner - why not get the V or C since you heard nothing but good things about them.
So I have used my recently purchased Cibola and will continue to do so, and have not tried the 3300's purchased over a half year ago and will continue to do so- - nuff said.

 

[AndyNM]

The BH 3300 is an underrated detector because of the bad BH reputation in the past. I have tested the 3300 and was impressed what it can do for the money.
How does it compare to the Vaquero ?

Let me start by the features the 3300 has what the Vaquero doesn't have and let me explain why you may want that:

Display with VDI numbers from 0 to 99.

VDI number can be nice to have to see the difference between the newer style pull tab and a nickel. Yes the 3300 can do that. A nickel comes in at 30 and the newer style pull tab at 32 to 34. Not many detectors can see this difference.

Tone Id
Sort out coins just by the tone can be useful to because you don't have to look at the meter every time you have a target.

Battery meter With the Vaquero you may end up detecting with an empty battery because the detector is so quiet that you may not notice for a time that the battery just ran empty and the detector shut off.

Notch The 3300 has notch so you can notch out pull tabs and still get the nickel (just one example). The Vaquero can't do that.

Depth meter The 3300 has depth of a coin sized target displayed in the second you swing the coil over the target. That can give you some information to dig the target or not.
The Vaquero doesn't have that.

Frequency about 6.7 KHz The 3300 is hot on silver and not to bad on lower conductors like nickels and gold rings.

Now you may ask what can the Vaquero do what the 3300 can't ?

The Vaquero is about one inch deeper on silver coins in disc mode and about 4 inches deeper on lower conductors like nickels and gold rings.
Yes it has that much more power. The Vaquero has a frequency shift switch so you can select another frequency when you have interference problems. The Vaquero has a faster recovery speed and is better in trash with separation

There is a huge difference in the price: the Vaquero sells for 420$ and the 3300 sold for 112 $ on sale at Radio shack.

I own both detector and there is a reason for that. If I'm not after the 8+" deep coins or other targets the 3300 with its meter gets the job done. If i need the extra punch i go for the Vaquero or Whites M6.
My Ace 250 gets its workout to for silver coins in trash with the 4.5 sniper coil.

I won't say one detector is better than the other....just choose the right tool for the job.

Andy,NM

 

[CliffHanger]

n/t

 

[CliffHanger]

n/t

 

[Skillet]

Like many, I got mine at closeout from RS. Depth was only so-so. A better machine will give a whisper signal on deeper stuff, the 3300 just nulls out... it either hits hard or not at all.

Hunted alongside an old Garrett Freedom Ace plus (not a depth-demon by any stretch) in the bark-chips. The FA+ hit harder on faint targets than the 3300 did. Surprised the heck out of me!

I DO like the features on the 3300 and would have kept it, but the deal-killer was target separation.

In iron, my Tesoros blew it away and for coins in pulltabs, my Garretts were superior.

In short, every time I'd use the 3300 I'd be wondering what I was missing.

For target separation testing I'd surround a nickel with nails, and also a dime with pulltabs and see which machines would hit using stock coils. The 3300 didn't do well against the others in either test.

I can handle 'average' depth capabilities in a machine, but I GOTS to have good target separation.

Not brand-loyal here, I'd use a pointed stick if it got me more loot. Just my observations with this one BH model. No offense intended.

Regards,
Skillet

 

[CliffHanger]

n/t