Getting back in the hobby need advice

My main hunting is done for Civil War relics but I wouldn't mind trying to do a bit more jewelry hunting to pay for the hobby. I would love to be able to afford a high end deep seeking machine.

I have owned the X-terra 70(basically an older version of the 705) for many years now and just bought a new AT Pro. I really loved the X-terra 70. I was in the process of buying a new coil for the X-terra 70 and had it modded to fit my needs. That was until it started giving me problems. I sent it in for repairs.
After my X-terra 70 died on me and before sending it in to Minelab I had the opportunity to buy any mid level machine I wanted to. Including buying a brand new 705. I have extra coils for the X-terra lineup and have the shaft modded the way I like so it may have been a good choice to pick another X-terra but I chose to differently. I was able to spend time using the AT Pro for awhile and I started to doubt the machine I once loved. There were a lot of features that I really liked about the stock AT Pro in it's ability to outperform the stock X-terra 70.
One of the main features was the ability to hunt trash with it with the stock coil and not loose any depth. I simply can not do what it does with the X-terra and stock coil. I would have had to buy another coil for it to be able to perform this way and another coil equals more money. Then again if I bought another coil for the AT Pro I would still have about the same amount of money in it as I would for just a stock 705. So I get more bang for my buck with the AT Pro.
Both will air test about the same. I do know the AT Pro will get deeper on smaller items which impressed me greatly. My hunting partner and I spent quite a bit of time trying out different signals with each machine. This is the reason I was going to buy just a new larger coil for the X-terra. That would have been cheaper than just going and buying a new machine that would run deeper on smaller targets. But that also would have brought my total in items spent on the X-terra to a little over $1,400.00 in all. I would have been able to buy a higher end machine for that much.
The waterproof feature was an OK selling point but not as near as important. I do want to hunt some water sites so this will help. Hopefully I will be able to find some gold jewelry and this feature will help with that quest.
The last but not the least selling point to me was the customer service. I have never had a problem with Garrett's customer service. Not saying that I ever will but so far they have been the absolute best.
Good luck!

I have owned both of these machines. IMHO the AT Pro is deeper and gives more information on targets. The 305 numbers skip by fours, 4,8,12...
The AT is better set up to make target ID.

I agree with Pastor Bob

JmCraz8 said:

I've hunted with the ace 250 and then upgraded to the at pro but want to start out in the mid level range again but can't make up my mind. What's your guys thoughts on the Minelab x-terra 305? Is it good with relics I've heard it goes deep and has many coil options. Is it comparable to the AT Pro?

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The AT-Pro will go deeper. I think with all the feature the AT- Prooffers and including All Terrain its the way to go

JmCraz8 said:

I've hunted with the ace 250 and then upgraded to the at pro but want to start out in the mid level range again but can't make up my mind. What's your guys thoughts on the Minelab x-terra 305? Is it good with relics I've heard it goes deep and has many coil options. Is it comparable to the AT Pro?

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Both great machines but the DD coil, frequency shift, Iron audio and modulated audio are all big upgrades over the 305.

Holler with questions. Be glad to go over them with you on the phone in detail.