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GPZ 19 And General / Difficult - Will It Miss The Bird Shot?


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Don't own the 19, probably wont  The 14 is and exceptional coil compared to the GPX series in my experience.  Even on small stuff the Zed did as well on the small stuff as the SDC on hunted patches. Minor opinion. JP's got some strong mojo on the coil however its where yo hunt not what you get when it comes to results.  My thoughts.  Lot of areas where the Zed, large or small coil are limited.

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Haven't run a Z19, but you'll still pick up birdshot with an 18" standard mono coil so I'm guessing the Z19 will hit it hard.

You can use Salt Coarse to ignore birdshot and tiny wire bits (like around Franconia for instance) on the GPX without losing a whole lot on 1/2 gram+ stuff if you are in some area that you really need that sort of functionality. Or, maybe if they come out with an update that helps the GPZ deal with salt that might be an experiment to try out.

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Thanks for the great feedback everyone. I have owned a lot of very large coils on the premise of finding that huge gold nugget down deep, but none of them on any detector really proved out to make that happen. My biggest nuggets have all been with 16" and smaller coils.The real fact is most multi ounce nuggets go to the first decent detector to get over them, and most of those nuggets went first to VLF detectors in the early days, then the bulk of what was left deeper went to the first few generations of Minelab PI. The idea that there are al these big deep nuggets lurking out there is just incorrect at many locations for sound geologic reason. So I never got all excited about that as being a realistic prospect for most places I hunt. For me it really is more about ground coverage, and I have to admit I seriously looked at just picking up a used GP3500 with a 12 x 24 UFO coil. But then another detector and battery and battery cable... simplicity wins out here. And let's face it, my GPZ 14 coil is going on its third season of use (just put on the third coil cover), so a backup coil is not a bad idea at this point.

6 hours ago, Norvic said:

Steve, stop your buggerising around:wink: and just get a 19, set up with hip stick and swing arm

Yeah, you are probably right, and I already have a Hip Stick and swing arm going unused anyway!

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36 minutes ago, Rick Kempf said:

Steve, any particular reason considering a used 3500 as opposed to any other GP/GPX machine?

Get one cheap and as far back I the series as I would be willing to go. It was last analog model and I liked that. If I pulled the trigger though cheapest used GPX might win out as I hated the old battery system and the GP 3500, although improved, still had that "Minelab warble". But used GPX units are around $2000 still and a used GP under $1000 so you could get a used GP and a new 19" EVO coil for about the price of a GPZ 19. Looks like for me though it will be GPZ19.

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Has anyone out there in NNV been running the Z19 much yet? Just curious how it does on the alkali there when its dry, there were some places I couldn't even run the Z14 if it was damp out due to the salt.

Your coil spacer idea is probably not bad really. A swivel wheeled platform with nylon hardware and a windshield wiper motor on a stick to swing the detector. :biggrin:

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JW, heh you stop buggerising around too, go get a 19. You can blame me for proper justification to the Treasurer. A 3000 with a 24x12 found  patches in your country what will a Z with a 19 do?

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Heh I`m just reading between your lines JW, we are all much the same we start out talking ourselves into why we don`t want the new toy, then when we have exhausted all that in creeps why we want the new toy, well this is the go with me anyway. Missus will say to me but last week you were sure you didn`t need it.............. anyway have fun.

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I believe you have nailed it Steve, and that is why there has been so much controversy over the 19, especially here in OZ, expectations were too high and that is where experience and knowledge is the key. In my part of OZ big coils are kings and I`ll swing one when the deep ground allows me. I`d still love a smaller coil also, for those shallow tight places but overall the 14 is the general purpose size.

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