BH Discovery 3300 vs Pioneer 505

[Skyhawk]

I think I'm ready to move up from my Discovery 1100 to something a little better. Not ready for a high end model yet but I have been looking at these two machines. Primarily for coins and relics. They both seem to fit the bill but not sure which would be better. I know these are old models but online reviews give them high marks. Does anybody out there still use either of these and can provide some advice? Thank you in advance. Dave

 

[Dave J.]

Land Ranger Pro is the BH top of the line these days, introduced I think about 3 years ago, based on a solid platform already used for products in the Fisher and Teknetics lineups, and having performance and features you'd expect in a much more expensive machine. MSRP is $449, but I'd suppose "street price" is in the high $300's -- arguably the highest value-for-the-dollar metal detector we manufacture. The website sell sheet is surprisingly uninformative but at least it's something: http://detecting.com/manuals/Land%20Ranger%20SS.pdf The model comparison chart lists the features: http://detecting.com/product-spec-chart.htm and the searchcoil compatibility chart http://detecting.com/coil-table.html lists the accessory searchcoils available. I suspect that there have been some recent additional compatible searchcoils that don't show up on the coil chart but am not sure.

Basic "depth" is in the same league as the BH 3300 & 505 you inquired about, but the ergonomics and features are a lot nicer.

Where to buy? As always: "Support your local dealer if you have one; otherwise one of the forum sponsor dealers."

 

[Skyhawk]

Thank you Dave for all the info on the Land Ranger Pro. Looks impressive. I'll check it out further.

 

[BH505Man]

I've owned both the Pioneer 505 and a Legacy 3500 (a newer version of the Discovery 3300). They're both great detectors. All things considered, I believe that the Pioneer 505 has a slight advantage as far as depth. However, the Legacy is better in target ID. It gives not only a tone ID, a numeric ID & a target ID indicator. Another great feature is that the Legacy 3500 has 4 tone ID verses 3 tone ID for the BH505. The Legacy is also a slight bit lighter and compact than the Pioneer 505. The Legacy does a better job of identifying nickels with the extra ID tone and a numeric Identification of 34-35..