Small coils.

i have had very good luck with my small ciol on my e-trac a 5x8 detech coil not very good ground coverage

2108silver1 said:

So wahts it like using a 4 or 5 inch coil. In a lawn . do you really have the ability to get around trash and find the goodies. And how deep do they go.

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In area of dense trash, heavy iron or both together, (as I am blessed with),the sniper coil is a must have.
Masking is a huge issue here and you better bet that smaller coils have the advantage in getting between trash and has a better chance of getting the best signal invoke targets with garbage in the vicinity.
Someone that used to hang out here argued with me and others that snipers had no advantage because anything the sniper goes over and reacts to the large coil would certainly do it to.
He was 100% correct but he was also very wrong because it isn't all about just acquiring a good target but just as much about getting the most logical, stable,correct signal that you are willing to dig.
There are things such as up-averaging and down-averaging and skewing of normal numbers and behavior when good stuff is in the vicinity of bad so unless you are willing to literally dig every blasted thing your detector finds over it might be smart to get a few more percentages of luck on your side by using a smaller coil that has a better shot of seeing a good masked target better by reducing the scanning field area.
Less confusing and false or skewed signals permits you pick out the really good ones easier and more efficiently.
You cover less ground but you make up for it with some finds that are exceptionally good at hide and seek.

I hunted using larger coils a lot and then once I saw what the small coils were able to find most everywhere I really thought I had cleaned out better than well came shockingly alive again after I tried a small coil at those sites.
I became a fan, all my detectors have small coil option and 99% if the time I have one mounted and have for years including years ago when I lived in another state and hunted in much better and cleaned dirt.
I just started finding more so I learned to stay with what works.
I still have and use bigger coils but I rarely use them.

Just some of my adventures with small coils on a few detectors...

https://www.findmall.com/read.php?37,2364649,2364649

Post #366 below the instant my eyes were opened...
http://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?p=1300299#post1300299

http://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?t=193738

I love my Garrett 5x8 coil, it gets all of 8" deep and is small enough to get into tight spots. I hunt very thick woods quite frequently, and very old woods too, so to have both of these qualities in a coil is huge! I have since bought a 9×12 concentric, and will admit, I do miss the little one at time's, especially in the weight department. Good luck and happy hunting!

I use a NEL 5x9 Sharpshooter coil in really trashy areas and in tight spaces. I also have a 5 inch sniper coil that I use occasionally. They do make a difference.

I have a 6" coil for my 800. Its been good for hunting around junky homesteads and sniffing the coins out of tight spots. I also use it for prospecting where smaller coils are a must.

I never use a small coil. To me it’s a waste, I hunt the trashiest spots around anywhere and do just fine without a small coil.

Jamflicker said:

I never use a small coil. To me it’s a waste, I hunt the trashiest spots around anywhere and do just fine without a small coil.

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Ditto here, I use the stock coil on my AT Pro and do great. If I even get a hint of a high tone in with iron or trashy mid-tones, I really work the angles and sweep to home in on what may be making that high tone.

I'm very newbie so I still have a ways to go to figure out what my ATP tells me with the bigger coils. Eventually I'll learn the nuance of the sound but now with the 5x8 I will dig squashed flat rusty bottlecaps that give me 85 quarter VDI and it is worse with the 11x8. I'm still fooled by deep cans too so that will tell you where I am on the learning curve. And because I dont recognize the complex things I miss coins in heavy trash with the 5x8 and 11x8. But with my Garrett 4.5" super sniper (which I just learned is a concentric coil) I dont dig any trash. There is no bottlecap that will fool it! Only coins come out of the ground when I use that thing, it is an amazing coil. It finds coins I just missed with the bigger coils. The trade off is depth and area per swing coverage.
Heavy trash used to frustrate me but now I just wade in there with the sniper and its fun.

The rule-of-thumb for smaller coils: Pro's: Better target separation and better pinpointing. Con's: Less depth and less coverage.

Another factor to consider in junky targets, is not only "separation" (ie.: larger vs smaller coils), but rather: Some machines simply do better in "averaging". Ie.: they don't simply "see" the top-most target. But instead, tend to "average" the two together, to raise up your TID reading, to be a combination of the 2-targets combined.

bravo! tom! didn't think ya had it in ya! "dead nuts" right tom! sounds like ya been at this for awhile! for 20 years' have used "small coils" with exceptional results in "junked out" sites! most of my better finds have come via the small coil route.presently use a tesoro "mojave"
with the 7" precision coil on board..fantastic in the !!!!. outrageous separation, and good depth average 7 to 8" over all.plenty to grab most of the hidden stuff.as tom mentioned, coverage is lacking,HOWEVER, ya need to slow down in the trash.so you can pick out the clean, smooth sounding hits (tesoro) from the ferrous junk.any where there is a concentration of trash,a small coil "can" make a difference...i'm just sayin'

(h.h.!)
j.t.

With a large coil, I do believe there are targets in heavy trash that you will not see, due to masking. Also, it's a double edged sword. You might give up a deep keeper or two that a small coil will NOT see. I took the 5x8 off a couple months ago, and haven't taken it off since. Now I'm afraid of losing coverage and depth the big coil may have been the difference in a couple of my finds, especially the deep capped bust, I cant tell you how many times I walked right over it with the small coil. Bottom line is, You have to figure out what works best for you in the type of sites you hunt, and work best in your area. Good luck out there!