Need Help With DFX

[miller0217]

I recently got a DFX. I am a retired LEO. My agency has reached out to help find a 9mm bullet in a criminal case. The bullet fell out of the suspects clothing as he ran from the scene. (so its not deep, if not laying in the grass). I will need to cover an approx 3,000 square foot area of a front yard. I already have the area gridded off. Im using an Eclipse DD coil to cover as much ground as possible but I also have a 5.3 coil if that would be better. The bullet has been laying on the ground a little less than a year and is believed to be jacketed but not sure. With that being said here is my questions.
**which coil should i use.
**What pre set program should i use?
** What adjustment should I make since the target is so shallow?
Thanks for any help.

[Chase Goldman]

I am not familiar with the dfx so I can't help with settings.  First of all, after a year, I would not necessarily assume it is sitting on top of the grass.  I am assuming this is a mown lawn or similar ground cover?  Rain and other forces associated with the grass renewing itself, frost heave, and other natural forces will almost definitely cause it to be sunk and buried perhaps a few inches not to mention people and wildlife walking over the site, this happens over a period of just a few days or weeks for similar size and mass coin targets.  If the bullet did not sink into the ground before the grass was mowed, then it could be chewed up or spit out elsewhere on the site as a result of lawn mower action, so if that happened, then the bullet would have suffered some physical damage.   I would not reduce sensitivity much but if you could get an identical bullet and place it in the same ground perhaps buried and inch or two to get an audible and visual ID reading, then you can notch out anything but a narrow swatch of target IDs to include the bullet ID you recorded in your field test.  Also, I would use the largest (or longest if an elliptical) coil you have to maximize ground coverage while still enabling you to see a shallow bullet.  Copper jacketed lead projectile in a brass casing should ring up higher up on the conductivity scale, not as high as silver but perhaps higher than a copper penny.  Anyway, those are my initial thoughts.  Be careful upon recover too.  Take a big plug around the supposed pinpoint spot to prevent damage to the target from your digging tool.  Good luck.

[Jim in Idaho]

I recover old bullets fairly often. I use the <Coins & Jewelry> program. Generally I use ground filter 3, and Preamp gain of 2 or 3. I use a 6 x 10 DD Eclipse coil, unless there's lots of iron trash. I also use the <Best Data>.

Jim

[Steve Herschbach]

A bullet on or near surface should be no problem for the DD coil and just stock coin and jewelry program. If you are new to the machine messing with the settings much is not something I would recommend for an easy target that you should basically be able to eyeball unless somebody has stepped on it and driven it into the ground. Toss a similar bullet in the grass and practice on it to get an idea of responses. Good luck!

[GaryC/Oregon Coast]

Miller, You don't mention where you are located, but if you have a club near by you might consider contacting them.  They LOVE to find bullets for Police Agencies.  In fact most clubs have trained teams which work with their local law enforcement agencies to locate all types of evidence.  Just a thought, as there is success in numbers, depending on your time restraint.  GaryC/Oregon Coast

[johnedoe]

Since it is a fresh drop..relatively... You don't need to run at high power settings because you won't need the depth. Also this will help reduce the interference of deeper targets, and using a larger coil will help you cover more ground... 

Also get a few 9mm bullets and see what they register as on the VDI... This will also help since you will now know the VDI range the target will fall under

And yes a local club often has experience helping the police with evidence recovery.

[Chase Goldman]

Thanks for the drive by, hope it worked out...