What to buy?

[mastereagle22]

I know you have heard this before but I want to get a detector. I am trying to chose between a Whites possibly Prism V or M6 or on of Tesoros machines. I want to spend around $500.00. I really want to be able to find coins, and there are a lot of possible civil war type relic sites here in this part of southeast missouri. Can anyone help me out with this? Please, please please!

 

[RLOH]

Look for a new Vaquaro, Cibola, or Tejon. Many times you can find a used Tejon in the 400 to 450 price range. If you are a relic hunter the Tejon is one of the best. R.L.

 

[VaTom617]

I started detecting with an Older Whites,and have owned Fishers and Minelabs. I just purchased the Tesoro Tejon several weeks ago and have went back to several old Civil War haunts of mine. I am finding relics at 12"+. Positives - Lightweight(less than 3 lbs) and the battery box beneath the cuff make it pretty balanced(I have had 2 back surgeries and can be in the field longer) Manual Ground Balancing for a variety of soil types(if I can master the manual GB anyone can), Dual Discrimination (similar to the Fisher 1266X) plus All Metal mode, and the Lifetime warranty. Negatives - The knobs move around some. I believe this has been mentioned before on this Forum. The battery box doors -Could have been better thought out as they appear the they eventually come off.(Here is where the Lifetime warranty will come in handy) Overall, I would consider the Tejon one of the better relic machines for the price.

 

[somedad56]

I am in Western Missouri and have metal detected for around 20 years. I started with a White's then went to Tesoro, then to White's and now back to Tesoro. I currently have a Vaquero and love it. Tesoro not only tends to go deeper but seems to always be more light weight, better balanced, and tends to react more stable in Missouri's soil. White's use a ground balance system that is built in, I prefer to manually ground balance to better adapt my machine to the soil I am working since Missouri's soil is so diverse. I have found plenty of coins, civil war relics, old home place items etc with my tesoro. If I were you I would go with Tesoro for the best value for your money. Best Wishes and if I can be of any help feel free to ask this fellow Missourian!

 

[manganos]

I'll put my two cents in for what is worth (probably not two cents haha) If you primarily want to find coins I would personally go with a detector with TONE ID and a VISUAL ID. I will swear by my Nautilus DMCIIb and I am getting to know my Vaquero really well but I believe my old Minelab Explorer was a better coin machine for me. I could listen to the TONE ID and tell you what the coin was going to be. And if you use the X-Y axis screen you will see silver will show on the upper right hand corner of the screen. You can find them used (The explorer XS) in the $500 range and I think you would be happier with it. With the Tesoro Vaquero and Tejon you will just get one tone wether it be ferrous or conductive. You have to approach the target from different posistions to determinte wether or not it is iron or a quarter. Good luck and let us know what you decide on and FIND!!!! Chris

 

[Wirechief]

Tejon or Vaquero all the way! Get the new 5.75 coil to go with it while your at it.

John Tomlinson,CET
John's Detectors

 

[saika]

I have a PIV and it is a very good park hunter. I think that it would do well with a small coil, but I have never used one on it. I have had a Vaquero and it was a super park hunter and will reach deeper than the PIV ever can. The PIV has some nice features, it is generally a nice machine. The Vaquero with a small coil is a scary, good deep machine and has amazing target separation but no TID per say. With time you will begin to understand what is under your coil to a great degree. You will dig more pull tabs with the V than you will with a TID machine but you will also get more rings and gold than if you ignore the tab readings.

The V is a very good relic and fresh water beach hunter, I never had it in the water though.

I now have a DeLeon and it is a very good park hunter. A friend of mine had one and was able to hit coins at the 10" mark. I haven't experienced that yet but for now I am running my sens quite low and at sens setting of 1 I have pulled out a coin from 6" with a solid TID. You can't go wrong with any of the suggestions that others have made here. There is a site http://thegoldenolde.com/oldego5.htm . More importantly you have to figure out what you want a machine to do for you and what you want to do for your targets. I had an XLT last year and didn't care for all of the menus, I was always worrying about what else I should be adjusting, it is a very good machine, just not for me.

Take care and good luck, and get digging with something for now.

 

[mastereagle22]

Just to let you all know I jumped in with both feet and found a good deal on a Deleon. I should have it by middle of next week. I really appreciate all of your help.

 

[mastereagle22]

Okay stupid question. How do you where you can use your metal detector? I mean I know I can dig up my own yard and any neighbor's that will let me but where else? State parks? Local PArks? What about old places that are being considered for national landmark status? I don't want to get arrested for using my metal detector.

Thanks

 

[khouse]

That's great! Good luck!

 

[saika]

I like mine a lot and hope you find the same with yours.