Deep and shallow?

[bigrockman]

I am looking for a good metal detector that can detect up to 2-3' deep but is still fairly accurate with shallow gold nuggets or coins. Does anything exist? Also, a waterproof coil would be ideal. I don't do any beach or field hunting, so this is mainly for rocky desert and mountain terrain.

 

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[Terry Soloman]

Minelab GPX 5000 - Good Luck!

 

[bigrockman]

Is it worth getting a used 4000 or 4500 to save some $? Is there anything comparable for $2500?

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Is it worth getting a used 4000 or 4500 to save some $? Is there anything comparable for $2500?

Those minelab nugget machines are not suited for coin-hunting ventures. OH sure, they'll "find" coins (even down to amazing depths), but they'll be too squirrely sensitive for hunting at places where your goal is coins. Eg.: do you really want to hear every speck of birdshot, every pinhead, every staple, etc... when hunting ghost-town like sites, or parks, relicky sites, etc...? No. Of course not. Because most nuggets found in nature are rarely larger than grain-of-rice sized, so nugget machines have to be super sensitive (and thus too sensitive and squirrely for coin/relic type sites).

There's machines designed to go back and forth between the two venue (coins and nuggets), but they excell in neither venue. The mxt is one such cross-over machine. But there will be better coin machines, and better nugget machines, than the mxt, for example.

Going back to your original question: When you say you want a machine that can go "2 to 3 ft deep", you fail to say what size object you want to get, at those depths. If you mean volkswagons, then even a cheapie machine can go that deep. You need to be specific.

 

[bigrockman]

I am mainly searching for small nuggets but would like to have the capability of locating a larger one that had sunk to bedrock a few feet down. What is the typical ratio for the size of target per foot of depth?

 

[cudamark]

That ratio would be variable depending on the ground mineralization.