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My Son and I are wanting to try metal detecting as a hobby. I was wondering what would be the best detector to buy, as my first one.

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Welcome from NM.    Yep!   What He Said.

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  Thanks for the input!

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I have been looking online, and I have found a package deal of The Bounty Hunter Quick Silver, and the BH junior. 2 machines in the package, for about $200 plus shipping. Seems like a good deal, Anyone heard of these machines? Are they reliable?

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		Quote:			Posted by Ian,Dev
	I have been looking online, and I have found a package deal of The Bounty Hunter Quick Silver, and the BH junior. 2 machines in the package, for about $200 plus shipping. Seems like a good deal, Anyone heard of these machines? Are they reliable?

Hi Ian,

       Just straight talk here (as I see it---there are people who will disagree with me)....Bounty Hunter is made by the same folks as make the Fisher and the Teknetics detectors, both of which are on the list of detectors to consider.   That speaks very well for Bounty Hunter.   However, limiting the discussion strictly to Bounty Hunter and ignoring for the moment the Fisher and the Teknetics lines, Bounty Hunter has/had a checkered past.   There was a time in the late 70's and early 80's when BH had a really good reputation (in fact a lot of us used to dream of their Red Baron model   ).   Then the company went through a phase where they basically expanded faster than they probably should have and were producing detectors for a whole lot of other companies to slap their name on.  Quality control suffered and for a lot of people, buying a Bounty Hunter was a bit like buying a Chinese knock-off---you never knew for sure whether you were going to get a good machine or one with a whole lot of problems and the odds weren't particularly in your favor.  Ok, move into the future.   First Texas, which owned Bounty Hunter and Teknetics, bought Fisher in 2006.   Most honest long time hobbyist pretty much expected the Fisher line to go down the drain with the change in ownership.   But surprise, surprise.   Fisher actually brings out some new detectors that actually raised the bar on what they had produced before.   And then First Texas apparently started applying some of the lessons to the Teknetics line, introducing the "Greek" series of detectors and proving that it was committed to quality.....but questions still seemed to remain with the Bounty Hunters.   There still seemed to be too many "private label" versions and too many quality control issues to overcome misgivings.   So a lot of us have adopted a wait and see attitude.  And from what I have seen over the last 2 or 3 years, it looks as though First Texas is serious about quality control in the BH lines also.   There aren't nearly as many "private label" versions of their machines out there.  And each year, we're hearing and reading more and more good reviews from people who are using them (especially the Land Star series) and we are hearing of fewer quality control problems.
    Bottom line, if the detectors were manufactured the second half of 2011 or later, the Quicksilver should be a good machine.   I just don't know enough about the junior to be sure about it.   In fact, if I could find a good used Tesoro Compadre that would probably be my choice.  
    One thing you have not said, though....how old is your son?   That might change the recommendation some.   ( I find it hard to imagine someone too young for a compadre although they may be too old for a BH Junior).

BA

Posted on: March 14, 2013, 07:01:59 PM

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Also I found that package on line for $150 + shipping at a couple of places.   So even if you decide to go with it, shop around some (and be sure to factor in the value/costs of any extras you might get in the package)

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