Just thinking about cz21

[Jason73]

I was thinking about getting a cz21 for salt beach hunting if my xp doesn't do well -but it seams that many use all metal mode on the czs so they wont miss anything. Why not use a pi ??? I use a pi for many years digging for china iron and never reaching it. All I can say is i'm sick of digging the small staples and fish hooks (rusty Bits) Just looking for a machine thats good on the beach that weeds out most of the small rusty pieces... I'M sure some of you wont understand but the salt beaches i work are loaded with iron 90% iron to 10% good targets and spend half my time filling in the sand under The Great Wall.
So is the 21 better than excal ???

GLand HH jason73​

 

[therover]

The CZ21 vs Excal debate goes on and on. Having used both for a long time, for me here in NJ on the salt water beaches, the performance of each is even. The differences for me comes when factoring in personal preferences.

I like concentric coils, simple tone ID, manual ground balancing. I also like listening to iron as opposed to nulling in discriminate mode. Hence I prefer CZ's.

If you have more mineralized sand/soil, like the idea of automatic ground balancing, multiple tones and DD coils, the Excal is more for you.

The machines are also configured differently ( rectangle vs long cylinder). The CZ for me is easier to hip mount and seems more rugged. Four 9V batteries (CZ) vs rechargable battery pack (Excal) as well on the standard configuration.

Bottom line is you cannot go wrong picking a CZ21 or and Excal for hunting iron laden beaches. A CZ may false more on those types of beaches, but once you have learned a CZ's 'language' in iron, you will pull out lots of good targets among iron as long as you work those areas slowly and grid them from multiple angles. Key to running a CZ in that type of area is to hunt in 0 discriminate mode and with a lower sensitivity level...and make sure you have it ground balanced spot on.

 

[mudpuppy]

Yeah, this is a tough one...CZ21 or Excall?..I'm up here on the fresh water, but I can tell you there are some awesome hunters that swing either rig here as well...you wouldnt think that, but they do..top of the line multifreqs in fresh water? All on account of the amount of scrap iron that slowly rots here...It may come down to the tones your ears are comfortable with and prefer...that said, there was a guy named Norm Garnush who wrote "The Golden Olde"..he hunted salt beaches in TX with a CZ and was a prolific hunter of gold and the operation of the rig...he was quite candid about the reasons why...so read a bit maybe?

Personally, I have never swung a ML, only the CZ...but I see great production out of either rigs, and based on the finds, would not disparage either...so this is one tough question you ask that may just boil down to something simple like batteries or something....you are doing it right by posing the question... read as much as you can, watch a bunch of vids, try to discern which one will fit you best... And if you dont get it right the first time, they both hold a great resale value...Time and Gold wait for nobody, so get cracking!

I believe if you commit yourself to mastering one or the other, all things considered, you would probably break even in the end....
Mud

 

[tvr]

Why not just a PI if you hunt all metal most of the time? Because with the CZ it is a fairly easy flip of a switch, moving one position from all metal (called autotune on the CZ) to discriminate setting 0 where you listen to tones on all targets.

CZ6A that I have, I normally use a big coil, hunt autotune and flip to discriminate 0 to listen to the tones. All metal seems to spread the detection field of the coil more and can sweep a little faster and still detect deep. With the CZ20, I like the 8 inch coil and hunt more often than not in discriminate mode set to 0. Like the rover says, listening to all tones. Not as easy to just flip from all metal to disc 0 with the CZ20 and when working the water, a nice slow sweep in discriminate mode detects deep. I have been looking for a knob with a bigger ridge on the pointer to make flipping from autotune to disc 0 easier with the CZ20. Have tried a couple but have not found the one I like yet. Minor personal preference I'm still working to improve.

With a hard wired coil, on the CZ (old CZ20 or new CZ21), I'd go with the 8 inch coil. There have been some beaches I've been to with the CZ6A, intending to cover a lot of wet sand with the big coil, that dense iron had me putting the 8 inch coil on it to get better separation and size information and a better read on any bounce in tones.

I have an Excal that I like a lot; but the Excal really needs better headphones and an after market straight shaft to make it more friendly to my tastes; and a pinpoint switch mod doesn't hurt either.

CZ can be hunted comfortably out of the box and has a very short learning curve to get started. To get best depth with a CZ can take some learning on sweep speed, but not a lot. Don't hurry the coil sweep.
Cheers,
tvr

 

[Jason73]

I have never had or even really know anything about the czs but willing to learn and ask plenty of questions. I know there are a lot of czs out there and not really sure what to weed out for a guy on a budget. I have watched plenty of videos and some i just CANT believe . Cz 3 6 20 21 will study up on them but still like to hear the real deal not staged videos like some do.
jason73​

 

[Jason73]

are all the Czs good on the salt beach ? I see some like the 70 7a pro the m scope ?? Getting confused like a turkey

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