best cheap metal detector.

hellomikie92

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Joined
May 13, 2010
Messages
480
Location
Powder Springs, Georgia
I am looking for a metal detector that is cheap, but is also a good metal detector. I just don't wanna spend 1000000 $ on a metal detector. So does anybody know of a very decent, good metal detector?
 
Define cheap...

You can pick up a Bounty Hunter Tracker IV new for around $100. I started out with it and very much liked it. It is well built, gets great battery life, and best of all, works. I paid for it some seven times over in the first year I had it just in clad.

Most on the forum recommend the Ace 250 as the best starter unit. I'm sure it's great, but I believe it cost $200 and I have a hard time believing it's twice as good as the Tracker.

There are also some inexpensive Tessoro units that are highly regarded.

Good luck!
 
Define cheap...
Most on the forum recommend the Ace 250 as the best starter unit. I'm sure it's great, but I believe it cost $200 and I have a hard time believing it's twice as good as the Tracker.
Good luck!

Don't have the ACE but got the Bounty hunter for my kids as part of a deal when I bought mine.

Here are my thoughts... It does work. It is enexpensive not cheap:D

It doesn't works best in places like playgrounds

The sensitivity knob is also the on off so I always have to set it up for the kids not a big deal but something to be aware of

No pinpoint means you really need to practice x'ing the target

Overall for what it costs I'd say it pretty good. If it beeps there IS metal under the coil it does make different pitch sounds but they can blur and mislead you especially pull tabs they sound like nickles

What you should do is decide how much you want/can spend then look at whats available and decide also what/where you hunt matters

Don't take this a selling the tracker short I got skunked by it once kids found a dime I found nothing with mine it really seems to boil down to researching and looking learning your machine and looking again:lol:
 
100-700 $

Well in the upper end of that range you can get a good one from just about all the major manufactures;)

If I were you I'd do some serious research maybe stop by a local dealer come up with a couple of brands then ask.

Last year I was exactly where you are now. Take your time figure out where your going to use it the most and go from there
 
Get yourself a Tesoro. Later, you won't regret spending money on something you consider unusable.
 
100-700 $

Another option on the upper end range, if you don't need visual readouts.

Just got this package

High Tone Vaquero---Lifetime warranty
Killer bees headphones---Lifetime warranty
Lesche digger---Lifetime warranty
Garret Pro Pointer

All of this and free shipping...$705 (Don't need manual ground balance? Save about $80 and get a Cibola).

I will not need to upgrade anything...ever!
Or at least for a long long time.

Been out 3 hours with this rig trying to learn the new machine.
What they say about the Vaq appears to be true, so you will need to add one more thing to this package...
A freakin' deep digging shovel!

HH
 
What type of hunting are you interested in - tot lots/sports fields, beach, fields, etc? Also, what are your targets - coins, jewelry, gold, relics, etc? Could be all of the above. Do you know the soil conditions you will be primarily hunting. Clay, sand, dirt - heavy, medium, light mineralization? Do you have any pysical disabilities that will dictate the weight of the detector? These factors as well as the cost will help others provide recommendations for the dectector for your needs.
 
That tesoro that space weasel is selling would be great in your area , but I havent seen his price yet. In Georgia ( I used to live there ) you have many opportunities to hunt for old deep coins and indian or civil war relics , so you would be doing yourself a favor getting atleast a mid level detector if you can afford it. Garrett ace series , fisher f2 and f4 , new whites coinmaster or similar , tesoro compadre and silver , are all decent choices for general purpose detectors but they arent real great for deep targets or relics. If you can find one in your price range , a detector with manual ground balance and/or threshold control , and pinpoint mode is better for relics and really deep coins. You will find out why after you have been detecting for a while. If you end up with one of the other detectors Ive mentioned you can still hunt for relics and old coins , they are just not ideal for that.
 
What type of hunting are you interested in - tot lots/sports fields, beach, fields, etc? Also, what are your targets - coins, jewelry, gold, relics, etc? Could be all of the above. Do you know the soil conditions you will be primarily hunting. Clay, sand, dirt - heavy, medium, light mineralization? Do you have any pysical disabilities that will dictate the weight of the detector? These factors as well as the cost will help others provide recommendations for the dectector for your needs.

Any spot that may have old artifacts. Like maybe from the civil war days, or maybe just early last century.
 
I'm pretty happy with my Xterra 505 both the 305 and 505 are in your price range you could even get the 3khz coil which I was told was great for relic hunting.

One feature that sold me on the Xterra was that by changing the coil you could change the unit for different types of hunting the come in 3 freqs 3khz, 7.5khz and 18.75khz from what I read each freq has its strenghs and weaknesses for different types of targets. Only problem with my logic is now I want to skip the extra coils and get an Etrac:shock:
 
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