Saturday, braving the 22 degree temperature, which I didnt notice from the excitement of the prospect of finding some neat old coins and relics with my X-70, I was on my inlaws 280 acre farm here in southwest Missouri. A beautifully remodeled old victorian style, turn of the century farmhouse. After sweeping the whole front yard, I was surprised to not get any solid locks on ANYTHING! I did find an older 30-06 springfield unfired shell and a 38 or 9mm fired, havent inspected it that closely yet.Well I went to the side yard and again nothing, I was hearing some occasional blips, but resweeping produced no signals.
I have been on a twenty year hiatus from metal detecting, My last detector was a whites 6000di coin master in the 80's, and if I remember correct, a faint high pitched noise from that machine usually meant a deep nice target. I was wondering if it is then same for today's machines, especially my X-70. I seem to get some nice blips but further sweeping produces no signal.
Anyway back to the side yard, My fingers were stinging and my nose half frost bitten, so I went into the house to warm up. My father inlaw produced a photo scrapbook of the renovation of the house that sat vacant for twelve years, shrubs, volunteer crops, and small trees were overtaking the old place, some of the pictures showed a bull dozer literally scraping around 10 to 12 inches of the top soil off ( am already studying those pics to find the pile) hehee. He then informed me that in the 1880's this was a stagecoach stop or depot of some sort where people could catch a train, leaving thier buggies, horses etc. for thier return. There is still a live track, not 200 yards from the property. My fingers suddenely warmed up and my nose twitched as I grabbed my detector in one hand and swung the door open with the other in one fluid motion. A new fever had come over me as I swept the the other side of the house where the pictures showed a roof overhang with a door with no steps going into the house, I was informed that the stagecoach pulled right up to the house and passengers stepped from the buggy into the house, hence no need for steps. I could picture the two front rooms full of seats and maybe a saloon there full of passengers waiting on thier train. I could see mentally the buggy swing around the house on the exit trip.I adjusted the 70 to all metal mode and began digging up every signal, lots of rusty things not recognizable to my inexperienced eye. My eyes focused on the ground, on every blade of grass waiting for THAT signal, you know the ones, high up on the octave scale. Well. it came, bout nocked my earphones off, The meter said 46 ,but only one arrow down, immediately, I was thinking pop can, dropping to my knees I probed in a two inch circle and nothing. I then cut a three inch chunk from the earth and passed it under my detector head, nothing. I swung the detector back over the hole and pinpointed again, still the same place with the high pitched ringing seeming stronger, and the arrows fully pegged showing it very deep. Around 15 to 18 inches later I was digging around the top of something, it was rectangle in dimension on the end I had uncovered, and now pinpointing seemed to suggest the object was about three feet long. Thinking this could be some former dump area, my mind was fitering through what this could be, I had decided it must be an old car fender or something. Then I remembered reading tips from this web site, and I held my detector up above the target about 12 inches and still it responded with a very strong 46. I was scraping away trying to get under the edge of it and noticed the outer skin was peeling away revealing an even heavier shell underneath. The outer skin is made of a thin aluminum zinc or tin, cant tell exactly. Some more digging, now with a regular shovel, I got a 38 on the TI of my 70, mainly on the ends of the target, stiil a strong 46 in the middle. The sun was dropping lower in the sky and along with it the temperature, I abandoned the dig for a return trip, when I can devote a full day of fun to the site, there is also a small house on the property that is suggested to be a former slave/ caretakers house, and I stumbled upon a small two foot circumference old well I think,that is rock lined out in the woods there. Anybody have any ideas about this target that peels layers of metal?? I think this would be a great site for a gathering of a club or something this summer.
I have been on a twenty year hiatus from metal detecting, My last detector was a whites 6000di coin master in the 80's, and if I remember correct, a faint high pitched noise from that machine usually meant a deep nice target. I was wondering if it is then same for today's machines, especially my X-70. I seem to get some nice blips but further sweeping produces no signal.
Anyway back to the side yard, My fingers were stinging and my nose half frost bitten, so I went into the house to warm up. My father inlaw produced a photo scrapbook of the renovation of the house that sat vacant for twelve years, shrubs, volunteer crops, and small trees were overtaking the old place, some of the pictures showed a bull dozer literally scraping around 10 to 12 inches of the top soil off ( am already studying those pics to find the pile) hehee. He then informed me that in the 1880's this was a stagecoach stop or depot of some sort where people could catch a train, leaving thier buggies, horses etc. for thier return. There is still a live track, not 200 yards from the property. My fingers suddenely warmed up and my nose twitched as I grabbed my detector in one hand and swung the door open with the other in one fluid motion. A new fever had come over me as I swept the the other side of the house where the pictures showed a roof overhang with a door with no steps going into the house, I was informed that the stagecoach pulled right up to the house and passengers stepped from the buggy into the house, hence no need for steps. I could picture the two front rooms full of seats and maybe a saloon there full of passengers waiting on thier train. I could see mentally the buggy swing around the house on the exit trip.I adjusted the 70 to all metal mode and began digging up every signal, lots of rusty things not recognizable to my inexperienced eye. My eyes focused on the ground, on every blade of grass waiting for THAT signal, you know the ones, high up on the octave scale. Well. it came, bout nocked my earphones off, The meter said 46 ,but only one arrow down, immediately, I was thinking pop can, dropping to my knees I probed in a two inch circle and nothing. I then cut a three inch chunk from the earth and passed it under my detector head, nothing. I swung the detector back over the hole and pinpointed again, still the same place with the high pitched ringing seeming stronger, and the arrows fully pegged showing it very deep. Around 15 to 18 inches later I was digging around the top of something, it was rectangle in dimension on the end I had uncovered, and now pinpointing seemed to suggest the object was about three feet long. Thinking this could be some former dump area, my mind was fitering through what this could be, I had decided it must be an old car fender or something. Then I remembered reading tips from this web site, and I held my detector up above the target about 12 inches and still it responded with a very strong 46. I was scraping away trying to get under the edge of it and noticed the outer skin was peeling away revealing an even heavier shell underneath. The outer skin is made of a thin aluminum zinc or tin, cant tell exactly. Some more digging, now with a regular shovel, I got a 38 on the TI of my 70, mainly on the ends of the target, stiil a strong 46 in the middle. The sun was dropping lower in the sky and along with it the temperature, I abandoned the dig for a return trip, when I can devote a full day of fun to the site, there is also a small house on the property that is suggested to be a former slave/ caretakers house, and I stumbled upon a small two foot circumference old well I think,that is rock lined out in the woods there. Anybody have any ideas about this target that peels layers of metal?? I think this would be a great site for a gathering of a club or something this summer.