Just one machine? But which one? Or maybe a new coil?

[BushWhacker]

Really would just like to buy a larger coil but the only coil available for the AT Pro is an aftermarket one and haven't seen much on them on if this would be right for me. I love the AT Pro but I haven't found the deeper bullets that I know are here. If push comes to shove I could buy just another machine but I am not sure what to go with. I would be buying for a specific field. It is fairly clean of trash. There is a little bit of trash but most of the stuff here are good targets. Discrimination and screen isn't really needed as I want to dig everything that beeps. It's a huge field covering a few hundred acres. We have found patches of bullets in different parts of the field but I know there is more here but being such a large area it takes a while to cover. The soil is fairly mild. Ground balances around 81 to 83 on the AT Pro. When I am searching for the patch I am pretty fast but I slow to a snails pace when I start finding stuff and grid it off accordingly. I kinda want something lightweight but will sacrifice the weight if it gets me what I want. I would like to get at least 12 inches depth on a .54 caliber Minnie ball consistently. If I get deeper then that's cool but don't want to go any less than 12 inches. I honestly don't want to spend a ton of money on this machine and I don't want to have to upgrade it with another coil. I am thinking at least $800.00 max. I know there are some really good used machines in this price range. I would rather buy new but I will do what I have to do to get what I want.

If you could have a machine for this type of conditions what would it be?
Or do you think one of the aftermarket coils would work for what I want?

 

[metaladdict]

Pulse induction is deepest,How about a Whites TDI pro? You would have to dig all signals though!!

 

[ohiochris]

I think its likely that you will spend $800 just to find out that those bullets you thought were there really arent. But assuming they are , I think the larger aftermarket coils will set you up really good. I havent used them , but Ive read reports of many that have. If I can hit quarters at 7 inches with the 5x8 coil then your bullets would definately be in reach with the larger aftermarket coil. Heck , for that matter many of them should be within reach of the stock ATP coil. Just consider that you wont find what isnt there.

 

[Irons]

Get a NEL 15' Attack coil and run your ground balance the same and your sensitivity at 3 bars under max. You will hit deeper stuff and the coil will run stable and quiet until it sniffs deep metal.

I was in the same situation as you except in the water. I was going to buy a deeper machine like a CZ 21 but decided to try a bigger coil first. Thank goodness I did, the NEL is a killer coil and I never take it off once I got used to using it.

Good hunting to you!

 

[gunsil]

For your $800 you could easily get a nice condition used Garrett Infinium pulse induction detector which with the 14" coil should hit minies at 18-20 inches without much problem. Many relic hunters who dig all targets like the pulse machines because they are basically free of mineraliztion problems in hot soil, and they are the deepest machines out there. No screens, just sound, deep, not super heavy. Infinium will be a bit heavier than your ATP however, but it shouldn't be unbearable.

 

[BushWhacker]

Thanks for the replies so far.
I would like to touch on a couple of subjects that have been brought up.

Irons,
How much better depth would you say that coil gets? I saw on Youtube where they tested that coil against the stock coil in mineralized soil and it only got a couple of inches better depth. It may get better depth here since I have a bit milder soil?

OhioChris,
Depth of the bullets. The area I am hunting is swampy bottom ground it can go from soup to rock hard depending on the moisture in the ground. There are days out there walking around that we will sink up to 6 to 8 inches in the mud. After the Union cleared this ground for the camp the land owner started farming it. Those old breaking plows were fairly large and ran fairly deep. Even the newer sub-soiler plows they use here now days go at least a foot and a half deep. So I would figure that after all of these years of being turned under by those deep plows there has to be some stuff that is deeper. Not to mention what would sink when this stuff turns to slop. Maybe I a wrong and there isn't much past a foot?

Metaladdict and Gunsil,
I thought about a PI machine. I was looking at the Garrett Sea Hunter Mark II with the dual coil pack. That would give me a 14" coil for covering more ground and getting better depth. Then I saw that it was a mono style coil and I would hate trying to guess where the target is. The Garrett Infinium or White's TDI Pro looks like it would be a better choice for pinpointing the target.

 

[Irons]

Thanks for the replies so far.
I would like to touch on a couple of subjects that have been brought up.

Irons,
How much better depth would you say that coil gets? I saw on Youtube where they tested that coil against the stock coil in mineralized soil and it only got a couple of inches better depth. It may get better depth here since I have a bit milder soil?

My soil ground balances at around 85 to 91 so I set it at 87 and leave it there.

Actual depth is hard to say, I just know I went over a great spot 1 week after clearing everything I could hear with the stock coil and it was like it was never hunted, it gets considerably more depth. I am also in the water.

I know I hear stuff so deep I get tired of scooping craters for pennies. I think it would work great for you, and if it doesn't you can re sell the coil and do really good on the resale.

 

[relichead]

Really would just like to buy a larger coil but the only coil available for the AT Pro is an aftermarket one and haven't seen much on them on if this would be right for me. I love the AT Pro but I haven't found the deeper bullets that I know are here. If push comes to shove I could buy just another machine but I am not sure what to go with. I would be buying for a specific field. It is fairly clean of trash. There is a little bit of trash but most of the stuff here are good targets. Discrimination and screen isn't really needed as I want to dig everything that beeps. It's a huge field covering a few hundred acres. We have found patches of bullets in different parts of the field but I know there is more here but being such a large area it takes a while to cover. The soil is fairly mild. Ground balances around 81 to 83 on the AT Pro. When I am searching for the patch I am pretty fast but I slow to a snails pace when I start finding stuff and grid it off accordingly. I kinda want something lightweight but will sacrifice the weight if it gets me what I want. I would like to get at least 12 inches depth on a .54 caliber Minnie ball consistently. If I get deeper then that's cool but don't want to go any less than 12 inches. I honestly don't want to spend a ton of money on this machine and I don't want to have to upgrade it with another coil. I am thinking at least $800.00 max. I know there are some really good used machines in this price range. I would rather buy new but I will do what I have to do to get what I want.

If you could have a machine for this type of conditions what would it be?
Or do you think one of the aftermarket coils would work for what I want?

ive found deep bullets with my atp...fool around with ground balance. u will learn how to take advantage of tweakin it to get a few more inches

 

[Patriot1776]

I agree with Metaladdict

Really would just like to buy a larger coil but the only coil available for the AT Pro is an aftermarket one and haven't seen much on them on if this would be right for me. I love the AT Pro but I haven't found the deeper bullets that I know are here. If push comes to shove I could buy just another machine but I am not sure what to go with. I would be buying for a specific field. It is fairly clean of trash. There is a little bit of trash but most of the stuff here are good targets. Discrimination and screen isn't really needed as I want to dig everything that beeps. It's a huge field covering a few hundred acres. We have found patches of bullets in different parts of the field but I know there is more here but being such a large area it takes a while to cover. The soil is fairly mild. Ground balances around 81 to 83 on the AT Pro. When I am searching for the patch I am pretty fast but I slow to a snails pace when I start finding stuff and grid it off accordingly. I kinda want something lightweight but will sacrifice the weight if it gets me what I want. I would like to get at least 12 inches depth on a .54 caliber Minnie ball consistently. If I get deeper then that's cool but don't want to go any less than 12 inches. I honestly don't want to spend a ton of money on this machine and I don't want to have to upgrade it with another coil. I am thinking at least $800.00 max. I know there are some really good used machines in this price range. I would rather buy new but I will do what I have to do to get what I want.

If you could have a machine for this type of conditions what would it be?
Or do you think one of the aftermarket coils would work for what I want?

The whites TDI SL great detector, running a special call me