Garrett's 4 1/2" Super Sniper Coil and Prospecting

[Lenmcgold]

Anyone have experience gold prospecting with the 4 1/2" Super Sniper Coil from Garrett. Also same question for the 5x8 DD coil. Thanks

 

[steve herschbach]

Yeah, I have used both.

The AT Pro is a good gold machine but can use all the help it can get on small gold, the most common gold nuggets being quite small. The stock coil is best suited for stuff over a couple grams. I would recommend the 5" x 8" DD as a very good choice for general nugget detecting, this being the reason it is the stock coil on the AT Gold. It will be less reactive to the ground than the larger coil and has better sensitivity to nuggets weighing under a gram.

The 4.5" concentric is too small to use for general purpose nugget detecting as ground coverage does count. However, it has a slight edge over the 5" x 8" DD coil on the smallest nuggets, stuff down around a grain ( not gram). It is a better choice for extremely irregular bedrock surfaces and working around brush and boulders due to the ability to get into very tight places. Small coils will almost always pull more gold out of locations that have produced previously with larger coils, and so I have the smallest coil available for every detector I own for nugget detecting.

To summarize, the 5" x 8" DD is probably you best choice as it is a better all around coil. Many people prefer it to the stock AT Pro coil for all kinds of uses. But if I were heading into an area where I knew small gold was lurking I personally would also have the 4.5" along. It really just depends how serious you are about nugget detecting. More than most types of detecting it begs the operator to take advantage of any small edge in capability.

Steve Herschbach

 

[undersc0re]

I would like to know what you guys use for your settings setup for your atgold with 5x8 coil to find gold...both all metal and as well as the disc2 setting. I am thinking of ordering the 4.5 coil, from the above post it sounds as though it may work a little better for my area as it contains gold less than 1 gram not sure if specimins are here much. The area is very, very rich with hotrocks and minerals, I found my best setting with the 5x8 to avoid hotrocks was disc2 threshold 3 and sensitivity cranked....I never had much time to test it though. Snow on the ground and cold right now but want to be armed with info and maybe a 4.5 inch coil to find specimins in the tailings and small gold. Thanks!

 

[steve herschbach]

Nothing special for me on the AT Gold. All metal mode, ground balanced, and sensitivity cranked. I am not too hot on using disc mode myself unless really desparate. Here are a few nuggets I found with mine....

[attachment 249142 gaatgold.jpg]

Steve Herschbach