I've been reading so many posts about the different detectors and am thoroughly confused about which MD to buy. I had a detector about 30 years ago when I lived in Houston. It was a cheap White's MD. I now have more time to devote to metal detecting. My budget is $300. Looking at Garrett Ace 250, BH Sharp Shooter Ultra Mag and BH Pioneer 505. I now live in Austin, TX and will do most of my looking for coins and jewelry around here (on land and along the lakes) with an occasional trip to Galveston beaches. Which of these detectors would you choose or am I missing an option? Or would you be disappointed with their performance and raise your budget to $500 and buy a better detector so you could find more stuff? Which one? Thanks for any advice you can offer. Glenn.
Find's Treasure Forums
Welcome to Find's Treasure Forums, Guests!
You are viewing this forums as a guest which limits you to read only status.
Only registered members may post stories, questions, classifieds, reply to other posts, contact other members using built in messaging and use many other features found on these forums.
Why not register and join us today? It's free! (We don't share your email addresses with anyone.) We keep email addresses of our users to protect them and others from bad people posting things they shouldn't.
Click here to register!
Need Support Help?
Cannot log in?, click here to have new password emailed to you
Which metal detector should I buy?
- Thread starter gjcern
- Start date
I just bought a Discovery 3300 for $85 at a pawn shop. It sells for about $250. Like you, I was planning to spend about 250-300 and was having a hell of a time deciding what to buy. It seemes the more I learned, the more confused I got. Just for the heck of it, I called a few pawn shops. Came across the Discovery3300. I wasn't familiar with it so, I posted a couple of threads in here asking for opinions. Several members said buy it. so I did. Another pawn shop had 2 higher end White's units for sale. If you're flexable in what you want, from what I understand, pawn shops sell MDs for about a third of the new price.
I'll use this one to see if I like the hobby. Then, I'm looking very closely at the Teknetics Delta 4000. It seems to have a lot of features for the price. If you definately want to buy new, check Kellyco. They have a very good price on it now.
Good look in your shopping.
Ron R.
I'll use this one to see if I like the hobby. Then, I'm looking very closely at the Teknetics Delta 4000. It seems to have a lot of features for the price. If you definately want to buy new, check Kellyco. They have a very good price on it now.
Good look in your shopping.
Ron R.
Jackpine Savage
Active member
Kydigger mentioned the Teknetics Delta which I agree would definitely be worth adding to you list for consideration in the under 300.00 range.
Tom
Tom
mascard1
Well-known member
I think a ace 250 or a Fisher F2...can get with two coils cheap....The ace makes a bonging sound that drove me nuts!!!...but still a good detector...I think the F2 to me sounds better!...I still have both....I use a E-TRAC now.......(cost a lot)....but once you get hooked you will get one....SEE YAH
Nauti
Well-known member
Check out the whites 5id.You get whites quality,rechargable battery pack,simple visual id and a machine that is about as simple to operate as you will find.This machine will perform better in trashy ground than the ace 250.I think kellyco are selling it for $329 with accessories at the moment.
woodwizard
New member
I'd stay away from used-save your money a while longer and buy new -it covered by warranty plus but one ya want not one just because it cheap.check out detector pro models-very high quaility machines at reason able prices.call MRBill -he'll give ya the best deal on the net.look into the wader-good on land and in water-been using one for about a yr now- best spent money on a detector I've made in over 20yrs.
DirtDiggerDaveinMD
Member
How about an X-Terra 305? You can usually pick up a good condition 2nd hand unit on Ebay for $250-$300. I recently picked up a new 305 and I really like it. I am mainly a White's guy, but I was impressed with the quality of the Minelab. 7.5 and 18.75 kHz coils, manual ground balance, tone ID and VDI. Two preset discrimination patterns, and all metal mode. The presets can also be tweaked to your liking. The best part is that the machine's memory will remember you settings even after the batteries are removed.
JOHNMARKHAM
New member
jmo here but the ace 250 works great for the price....ive had allot of great success with mine..
good luck....
good luck....
With a price budget of $300.00.My strategy a used Fisher 1236X-2 and a cheap hand held pin pointer.A used White's Bullseye 1 or 11.
TURNMASTER
Active member
I bought a Bounty Hunter Land Star for cheap (125$ new) and used it for 2 weeks before I decided it wasn't good for me. I seem to have a little tougher soil conditions. That coil on that machine falsed a TON in the early morning dew. It did prove to me that I would enjoy the hobby (I knew I would).
Save your time and money and just buy a better machine. My sister has a Whites IDX Pro and I am told that is a real good machine. I run a Xterra 705 that I love. Out of your range new. The Xterra 30/305 can be had for a good price used. For getting back into the hobby I would watch the used machines for a bit.
There were a couple of Troys (x5 and x3) in the for sale forum a week or two ago for very reasonable. I have heard the Grand Master Hunters are good machines also and can be had for reasonable.
Jeff
Save your time and money and just buy a better machine. My sister has a Whites IDX Pro and I am told that is a real good machine. I run a Xterra 705 that I love. Out of your range new. The Xterra 30/305 can be had for a good price used. For getting back into the hobby I would watch the used machines for a bit.
There were a couple of Troys (x5 and x3) in the for sale forum a week or two ago for very reasonable. I have heard the Grand Master Hunters are good machines also and can be had for reasonable.
Jeff
silversmith
New member
Everybody has mentioned everything else so here's another. Go over to Treasure Hunters forum. Lookup a guy named Tabdog. Read about all his finds with a Tesoro Compadre. You can pick up a new one from one of the little E-bay dealers for about $150 +- shipped for free. Make sure you get it from another state (no taxes). You'll wind up with half your money left. PAY through the nose! for a Garrett Propointer pinpointer. Stay away from Harbor Fright. You won't regret it. Hey, I guess the cheapo pin pointer at Harbor is Ok but do you really want pin pointer that just Ok?????????/ Good luck in what ever you chose.
n/t
They say the warranty applies to the original owner but I have never heard of them not doing warranty work on any detector whether you bought it new or used.
The Tejon with the 5.75 HOT coil is amazing. The Compadre is also a very good machine. I believe it has a true motion All Metal and a full 180 disc, and it comes stock with the 5.75 coil... you might think you need a bigger one but you don't. You can swing them fast and they go deep... and they are LIGHT.
You can ask Monte on the Tesoro forum about any Tesoro, he know all about them.
J
The Tejon with the 5.75 HOT coil is amazing. The Compadre is also a very good machine. I believe it has a true motion All Metal and a full 180 disc, and it comes stock with the 5.75 coil... you might think you need a bigger one but you don't. You can swing them fast and they go deep... and they are LIGHT.
You can ask Monte on the Tesoro forum about any Tesoro, he know all about them.
J
Good advice on the Tesoro detectors. For relics I would for sure say the Tejon over anything else on the market. Good on coins also so long as you are not in a trashy area.
People who buy Tesoro detectors don't just like them, they love them. Read the reviews on the Tesoro forum. I would buy the most that you can afford, stay away from the cheapies.
I myself would for sure stay away from the Bounty Hunters and even Garrett. The ACE 250 has a good reputation but the only one that I ever saw reminded me of a toy.
People who buy Tesoro detectors don't just like them, they love them. Read the reviews on the Tesoro forum. I would buy the most that you can afford, stay away from the cheapies.
I myself would for sure stay away from the Bounty Hunters and even Garrett. The ACE 250 has a good reputation but the only one that I ever saw reminded me of a toy.