Walmart Bounty Hunter 505

H

HammerHead

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Hi, I am new here and have been lurking for a while,
love the info on this site, I am sure this has been asked but I can't seem to find an answer
so here ya go
how is the walmart bounty nunter modle 505 for a starter MD'er? I have never done any MDing
and would like to start, walmart sells them for 278.00 they also have a bounty hunter 202 for 198.00 is worth going with the 505? and what are the advantages other than the extra coil and accesories that come with the 505?
thanks in advance for any input
 

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Hammerhead: Welcome to Treasure Net! I second the suggestion! A Garrett Ace 250 is preferable over the WalMart BH! PM TonyinCT for a good price! You won't be sorry!

HH Joe
 

that's 2 for the ace,
I have a lots of questions, hope you folks don't mind, I no nothing about MDing, so from the minds of you Pro's can you tell me the pros and cons? most of my MDing will be on salt water banks of the eastern shore of Maryland,
I have looked at so many MDer's on the net and read the spec's they all seem the same ??
and of course I know this can't be, thats why I came here to ask ya'll
we have no hobby shops in the area to compare or look at, only a "walmart" of course.
 

The BH is an excellent relic hunter, but put it around salt water and it gets very erratic, fresh water its fine.
 

Thanks so far you folks are GREAT!
so? looks like the ace is a good MD but not around salt?
and from reading looks to me that it is, some the detector, but mostly experiance(sp) MDing around the big salt pond?
that's really why I was asking about the 505, as advertised it shows it being used "in" the surf.
BUT! will it?
sorry for the ramling, just trying to learn as much as I can, before runnin' out to get a MD'er
I really can't afford to waste 300.00 if it's not going to do what I want it to do
 

HH: I have a Ace 250 & I use it on the Salt Water Beaches here in Corpus. It will work pretty good as long as the Sand is not too wet. If you just want to look for Coins & Rings lost by Sun Bathers, It works fine! If you wish to Surf Hunt, buy a PI Detector!

Good Luck! Joe
 

Oh! BTW thanks for the welcome,
what's a PI dectector? and are they universal?
 

Bounty Hunters are VLF detectors while PI's are Pulse Induction type. PI's are very deep and handle the wet sand well as do Minelabs or other VLF's with a saltwater mode. Trouble is, PI's have very poor discrimination and you could spend your day digging two foot holes for a wire bread wrapper. They love iron.....
 

You say you will use it mostly around salt water..... I have only been MD'ing for 2 months and I live very near the beach. However, I have only been to the beach once to MD! The thing about MD'ing... it is an addictive hobby. You will soon run out of salt water areas and move on to all other places. Schools, parks all kinds of places. When I do get out to the beach, I will probably stick to dry sand and the upper wet sand areas and will have no problems with my new ACE 250. BTW, I have a BH Discovery 1100 which I loved, but my ACE 250 is an awesome machine with so much more potential. Detecting the beach is ok, but my guess is that on the Eastern Shore you might find more in the touristy areas during the 'in season'.
 

Can't say I've heard too many good things about the 250 in the beaches. I'd concentrate on a little more research on finding a unit that will work better in the environment you want to use it on. You've got a few hundred dollars there, spend wisely. I'm sure people will start offering some beach machines in that price range.
 

well, thanks for the input folks,
I have been reading up on MDer's for the last couple of days, the more I read the more confused I get, ??? alomost looks like a enee meenie minei moe thing for my price range,
 

HammerHead said:
well, thanks for the input folks,
I have been reading up on MDer's for the last couple of days, the more I read the more confused I get, ??? alomost looks like a enee meenie minei moe thing for my price range,
Click to expand...

i know how you feel. there are so many choices it can be a bit overwhelming. if there is a dealer in your area, go check him out. it will give you a chance to try a few different machines out with your own hands. also if there is a club in your area, it might be worth it to go to a meeting or two. there should be lots of guys with lots of different machines there. maybe one will stand out to you from the others.
 

HammerHead,

I have the BH 505. It is a great little machine! Comes with 2 coils 8" and 4" fantastic coin finding machine. It is super easy to use. I have used my BH on the beach, but it doesn't like the salt. If you hunt higher on the beach away from the surf it works like a charm. It is very erratic close to the surf. Oh and I will put the 505 up against the Ace 250 any day. My dad has an Ace 250. I have used both. They are nearly identical as far as finding things. I can usually even find more with my 505. To me it has better discrimination. Check some of the major MD dealers on the web. They have great selections and descriptions of what the detectors can do. Kellyco had three or four "beach" machines in the price range of $300 to $500 for the beginner models. Ebay is a good place to check as well. Good Luck and Happy Hunting!
 

if a bounty hunter type machine used on a beach ----it often helps to turn down the sen knob and turn up the disc knob --- because it is too sensitive and oicks up the minerals in the salt water---you will lose some depth by doing this but the machine will now be useible ---it stablizes the machine that way it can be used around wet sand areas near the surf line---stay out the salt water though it tends to "freak out in the salt water"--- while the coil is water "proof" the housing units are not ---get the housing unit soaked and kiss it bye bye---Ivan
 

The problem isn't necessarily too much sensitivity as it is the detectors ability to canel those minerals out through proper gorund balancing. Lowering the sensitivity and raising the disc will definitely lose you considerable depth. Many targets on beaches are deep since they "sift" through the sand readily. The conductivity of the wet salt sand is the real problem and you need to compensate through ground balancing to get top performance. If you adjust the other controls , it is true that you can work the area but to what depth ?
 

Why don't you buy a used Fisher or Whites for the same money? You'll have a used machine, but one that will give you a lot more satifaction. I bought a used White's Eagle for $300 ten years ago and it still works great, with the same features most new machines of today have.

I agree with the earlier comment if you are going to detect lots of wet, saltwater, sandy areas, buy a PI machine. I bought a second detector for that purpose (Fisher Impulse) many years ago & it finds things as deep as two feet. I use my whites in parks and the Fisher on the beach. The Whites works fine on the beach, it just doesn't go as deep & it's not hip mounted.

Good luck & let us know what you get & how you do.
 

tony what I mean is simple--- given the choice between ---less depth (maybe even much less) and a working machine vs a total unstable (basically totally useless) machine --I'll take less depth over no machine---and while I totally agree this is much less than the ideal fix---if all you have at the time or can afford is a bounty hunter type machine ---this will at least help stablize it so you can at least try to hunt with it if rather shallowly--- some folks are scared to buy "used"---be it cars or metal detectors --- because used stuff is often --someone else problems for sale---Ivan
 

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