Metal Detectors....Do You Have One?

[emptypockets]

Does anyone have one and actually use it? I came into one about a year ago, I've been out a couple of times with it and have 12 cents to show for my effort. I'm hoping to use it more this fall and be more acquainted with its workings.

This looks like a good way to kill a few hours while getting some exercise. I'm not looking to unearth any ancient treasures...I'd be happy to find an old coin or two, perhaps a Civil War relic.

 

[goatsnguns]

I use mine to police up my .45 ACP brass after a shooting session out in the back pasture. In the summer the cut grass is a gold color just like the brass, with the metal detector I find 99% rather than the 50% I found with my old eyes.

 

[soFlaNative]

Used it just yesterday, found a drip leg with my head.

 

[Old TexMex]

Used it just yesterday, found a drip leg with my head.

Geez...that sounds like a personal problem

 

[Alpo]

Anyone else think, from the title, this was about those things that security guards use to wand you, to see if you are carrying?


"Do you have a metal detector?"


No. Why would I?

 

[df06]

Brother and a friend have them. They have found a few 1800s cartridges and military brass buttons at river crossings in Kansas. Apparently there are certain places where the Calvary crossed streams and camped. That is where they look. They have found lots of other small metal object that they can not identify.

 

[spricks]

I have a garrett Ace 400. It works well for not a fortune invested in it. I also have a garrett pro pointer II that saves a ton of time finding what's in your soil you turned over.....for coins, the curb strip in front of old homes can be a great place to find silver coins.

spricks

 

[JohnHL]

I dropped a couple of alloy keys on a small steel ring out of my pocket in my back yard. (I have a BIG back yard).

Even though I thought I knew the general area where this occurred, I could not find them.
I tried raking, dragging a magnet (to attract the small steel key ring), even crawling around on my hands and knees.

NO LUCK!!

I decided a metal detector might be the answer.

I called the local tool rental and I could rent one for $25.00 per day. (Figuring it could take a day or two.)

A guy on Craigslist had a SWARM Ground EFX for $50.00 so I bought it.

It took me a couple hours to figure out the discriminator settings and how to recognize a promising signal, but I FOUND those keys.

I also found lots of buried trash (this place must have been a JUNKYARD ) before I got a little more savvy to the signals but it was an interesting experience.

John

 

[Skeet 028]

I bought a white's detector many years ago. Set it up put the batteries in and in the 1st 20 minutes found a 1800 dollar(what I sold it for) diamond ring. In the next 2 years I found at least 200 dollars worth of coins(18.10 worth of silver ones) and lots of pop tops. . Then someone stole it from me...I think I came out on the top end. I also bought a really nice Garret for a really cheap price and sold it for a good profit. Detecting it turns out is a good bit of work

 

[MRB1]

I've had one for many years, and they are worth the money but a lot more work than most people realize. I use mine around old homestead locations, and around camping spots. A lot of public areas restrict their use, which takes away from the fun.

 

[TX-Dennis]

Had an older White's years ago, but I never really found anything of value. Mostly junk and those old pop tops along with a handful of pennies and nickels. I did find a ring once, but it was costume jewelry and worth exactly what I paid for it. The batteries to keep that thing going cost a fortune. If I remember correctly it used 14 AAs. I eventually got rid of it in a garage sale.

 

[mikey52]

There are several good ones out there for less than $400, not fantastic; but good enough for lots of fun. Lots of money needed to get underwater, saltwater, and gold hunter types. Try to buy one that uses the same batteries as your smoke detectors and carbon mono detectors take. The ones you switch out every year are still good for the detector. Its not a huge savings, but 12-15 bucks is good! You will have a learning curve, but the ones that let you notch metals out will help. You can notch out , pull tabs, iron and stuff that you don't want to dig. This is a nice feature if you are mostly hunting coins. Lots of city, state and federal ground, prohibits them. Check the laws, before you dig, and if you dig, get the Garrett pro pointer to check dirt that you pull up. Mikey

 

[Golddollar]

Many years ago I assembled a Heathkit metal detector, and as a machine from 45+ years ago it probably did pretty well. I found a number of coins, a key, a sinker and a sterling silver religious medal. It didn't have any kind of metal selection process, so it bleeped on anything metal. When I was at a motel in Ocean City, MD with my parents, when I asked if it was OK to comb the beach, I told the person in charge at the motel I would be doing them a favor by cleaning up their beach because of all the pull tabs I picked up.

 

[Recusant]

I've only found rusty iron items like these:

 

[JcMack]

Theres a Brit series entitled "Detectorists" on Amazon. Kinda funny, about 2 guys that belong to a detector club.

 

[cougar14]

About 3 years ago my wife got me a Garrett Ace 400 for Christmas, and I got a propointer soon after. I soon knew it was a mid-level unit, and planned to upgrade when I had enough found to offset the cost some. About 3 months ago, I cashed in $500 in nickels, dimes, and quarters, ordered a Minelab Equinox 800, and am really happy with this unit. BTW, Minelab offers a 15% military discount. Also found a 14c. gold ring with the 400.

 

[Paseclipse]

I've been into metal detecting since 2006. It's a fun and rewarding hobby for those that have the patience for it.

Currently I own four detectors- a Minelab GPX-4000, Minelab Explorer II, White's GMT, and Fisher Gold Bug II.

There's many different disciplines with metal detecting and I focus on hunting for placer gold and meteorites all over the southwest united states.

 

[gman51]

One of these days I will check for metal in my yard. My metal detector will be my Cub Cadet riding tractor. The electronic magnetic belt clutch disengages by itself at the same places every time I mow. I figure there is something magnetic in the ground there causing the clutch magnet to release.

 

[Targets Guy]

My wife just had to have one. So I bought one for her about five years ago. Never been used.

 

[islamoradamark]

Oh its a good work out I use mine in the salt water mostly at the beach looking for jewelry. Mine has a discriminator so im not digging a lot of iron. I go early am so the sun is not beating me up to bad the more you use it the more goodies you find