Any Metal Detector Users?

Knifecollector

I was wondering if anyone else has a metal detector. It's a fascinating hobby if you can find a place to look for lost items. I have a quart jar that's about half full of old coins I have found. I mostly search around old house sites. Some people find gallon jars full of silver dollars that have be buried, guns , and everything else you can imagine. I found a old cap gun one time. A friend found a revolver buried in a church yard . Detectors are very popular around the old battle sites, where a lot of musket parts and lead bullets can be found.

Knifecollector

I was wondering if anyone else has a metal detector. It's a fascinating hobby if you can find a place to look for lost items. I have a quart jar that's about half full of old coins I have found. I mostly search around old house sites. Some people find gallon jars full of silver dollars that have be buried, guns , and everything else you can imagine. I found a old cap gun one time. A friend found a revolver buried in a church yard . Detectors are very popular around the old battle sites, where a lot of musket parts and lead bullets can be found.

reb8600

I have been using detectors for years. I have found some nice coins and other items, have a good collection of rings also. It is actually enjoyable, you never know what you are going to find.

Guncontrol-The ability to hit what your aiming at.

muley

I loved to search around old mines when I lived down in the desert. Never found anything of real value, though. My metal detector is a Garret(sp) but is pretty old and won't do what the more modern detectors can. I'm planning on getting a better one and getting back in the game. It's a lot of fun.
muley

**I love the smell of Hoppes #9 in the morning**

beachmaster73

I have a nice Whites detector but really haven't used it that much. I had planned on hitting some of the old islands in the Mississippi River sometime on a kayak trip but that hasn't panned out yet. Beach

RugerNiner

I've always thought about getting into it.
Why don't some of you experienced users give some Names and Models of some good ones. I don't do anything halfway, if I buy one I want a good one not a "starter kit".

Remember...Terrorist are attacking Civilians; Not the Government. Protect Yourself!


Edited by - RugerNiner on 08/25/2002 17:50:49

Knifecollector

RugerNiner, good idea not to start out with a low class detector. I'd recommend staying away from the Radio Shack models as well as the Bounty Hunter models advertised in some hunting catalogs. The three best in my opion are Whites, Garretts, and Minelabs. The White's Spectrum XLT is a excellent detector, $600-650 range. Minelab's Explorer is a highly rated detector with a SPR of $1000. Garrett"s Master Hunter is another high quality instrument. I currently use a Garrett. It's a exciting hobby especially if you begin to find a few good coins. I get magazines made just for metal detector users. It's amazing at some of the item's that are found, some very valuable, some just very old. Some people have followed up on leads of buried cash from old train and bank robberies and have actually found it, others have spend untold time in search of such caches and never found them.

daddo

Kids got ahold of mine a couple years back. When I got home from work, the whole yard was dug up. It was worth it though- we now have a nice collection of old bottle caps, nails, and metal stuff.

smokinggun

I have a Minelab Musketeer and it works great. It is probably my tenth detector. Dont waste your money on a cheap model starting out. I would say cheap is anything less than $350.00. I like the simple machines the best. Mine is a motion detector which only works while the head is moving. My Minelab cost around $425.00. Over the years I have found thousands of dollars worth of Civil War relics, but living in the Richmond, VA area has put me right on top of them. Most places where I hunt are already "hunted out", I like those places because good relics are there and other hunters think they aren't there. I look for trashy areas like old homesites, and with a lot of patience you can find the goodies under the trash. Pile the trash in one spot til you get it out of the way. Scrub the ground with the head of the machine to get as close as possible. A $600 button on its edge 10" in the ground can barely be heard when the head of the machine passes directly over it. If you are digging shotgun shot, 22 casings, 22 bullets, and other simular objects it's a good thing because you have to dig a lot of trash to find good stuff sometimes. Always listen for the faint but crisp reading. Then after you scrape leaves and mulch out of the way it will sound better. I always use a small pick-hoe and dig completely around the object to loosen the ground enough to remove the dirt with my hands.When I dig a bullet 8" down the hole ends up around 18" in diameter and 12" deep. A old army knife comes in handy in tight spots picking around your reading. A day of relic hunting for me is more exausting than two hard days framing a house. Don't set the discrimination setting too high, I like mine set at about 25%. That way it will discrminate a small rusty nail but not a large rusty cannonball. Hilltops are good when looking for campsites. Campsites were almost always near water like streams. One of my best finds was a gold plated stamped brass Union army ninth corp badge. It was 98% in condition and had a fouled anchor and cannon with the rope from the anchor curling around in the shape of a # nine. I got a reading and kicked the leaves out of the way and out came a rusty tin Budwieser can. I always check again when this happens and I got the prettiest reading after that. About four inches down I found the badge, it was between two roadbeds that were "hunted out". When you have a feeling that you are in a good area hunt real slow and cover every square inch, it takes a long time to cover a small area. Always cover your holes(very important) and make sure you have permision to hunt the property you are on(common sense). Cool weather is the best because of ticks, chiggers, poison ivy etc. in hot weather. Clean your relics as little as possible or else you will ruin their value by overcleaning. A $100 set of Fischer headphones are worth it! Look under old dead logs, holly trees(big burly guys are scared to hunt under them sometimes). Research has helped me a lot in large areas. Sometimes if you ask people will tell you about an area that you might not have found otherwise. The ground will read better when it is wet like after rain. Dont get discouraged if you don't find anything in a certain area, keep going back till you know you have covered it well. Anybody wants to go come on to the Capitol of the Confederacy and I'll take ya. And if we find something confederate beachmaster73 I'll gladly take it off your hands, I know how you feel about them rebels.:)

BNRVA@aol.comwww.vcdl.org

offeror

I used to live in L.A. and the beaches were popular spots for those detectors, especially after a big tourist or weekend day. You've got to figure people lose a certain amount of stuff in the sand, and the guys with the detectors are going to get it eventually -- as long as they don't mind sifting through an awful lot of bottle caps, cans & junk. Any chance of getting electrocuted, digging around town? Or are we talking shallow?

- Life NRA Member
"If cowardly & dishonorable men shoot unarmed men with army guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary...and not by general deprivation of constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878

mcneely77

I have a $100 Radio Shack, but I love it. Only found a couple coins, but everytime that thing goes off, I get excited. It kind of like having a lottery ticket. Someday I hope to get a better one, but until then, mine works fine. Not alot of places in S.W. Michigan to find stuff. No battlegrounds and the such.

Do not mistake my kindness for weakness.

IALEFI, ASLET, NRA, and proud owner of a pair of S&W revolvers.

smokinggun

I guess electrocution is possible but most stuff is shallow. The machines wont pick up a quarter much deeper than 18" but I have seen live mortars dug at 3-4' and they are very live! Old filled in privys (outhouses) are good spots but you have to go deep.

BNRVA@aol.comwww.vcdl.org

smokinggun

mcneely77, I know the feeling, it's an adrenalin rush!


BNRVA@aol.comwww.vcdl.org

thunderbolt

I traded my first detector off years ago and have just got my 2nd one.
I'm going to the beach in search of Rolexs and diamond rings, ha ha ha. More likely aluminum tabs and pennies!