Bearkat

You will be suprised how easy to swing that big coil is. Seems lighter than the stock coil and the pivot point is different without the lag. Of course Garrett fixed that on the stock coil a while back. As far as the 8" mono, it is a beast for depth on larger items. For example, I got a stronger and broader signal in very hot dirt at 20" on my 5.4 oz gold nugget with the 8" mono coil vs the stock 10x12" DD coil. Both hit it fine, but the better signal was the 8" mono. I just drew it up to mono vs DD coil design in general. Enjoy your new Deep-Seeker Pack! The big coil will hit a .4 gram nugget at couple inches - not too bad for a 20" coil. Bearkat

That SDC 2300 is one bada** detector that is for sure. I can't believe Minelab made such a simple to use machine. And yes; it has the cool thing going for it. I actually can use an even smaller backback to put it in than the ATX while hiking to remote areas. The price sucks yes, but it makes up for it in being able to slice meat out in the field if needed.

Hey Steve, Wow; late to the party here...good frigin job on the nuggets man! Almost an oz in one day is killer in my book. Especially with a detector! And good job on the research, that is half the battle there. By the way, I got tired of waiting for Garrett to come out with the open coil covers, and since I had a few of them I drew an outline of the coil while it was on it, and used a dremmel tool to cut it - so now it is an open cover, which I like better. Seemed the closed one added a little weight. I hear they have the open covers availiable now... I brought my wetsuit down here to the Los Angeles area to do some of the beach hunting you mentioned. Is SoCal the area you were talking about? If so, hit me up and we can do some surf detecting if a storm opens it up... Hey JP, Did you sell your ATX? Curious... that is some nasty lookn dirt. Found a spot in Oregon looks very similar near where I dredge. Its only maybe one sq mile in size, but was the beginning of where the gold is and was formed there (contact zone). No gold above that area...only below. Alan

Yea I had trouble with the ATX floppy coil thing (stock DD only). Garrett has since re-designed that part and has incorporated that in new models. Sent mine back for the fix. Both great machines and have their place...

Wow, great thread here and fantastic information. I think if most of you watched my entire 8 part series on the ATX vs SDC 2300 you will see how much I say I love both detectors and you will see that I actually discovered the hole while doing the testing. Do I dislike the SDC 2300 any more now that I see a hole? No way! A fantastic machine and as Steve correctly said, the ATX looses sensitivity and depth when the ground gets hotter, where the SDC 2300 does better in this dirt and retains more of its sensitivity. The best part is, I said all that in my videos...holding nothing back regarding both machines. And yes Trev, I did find that nugget in a plastic container out in the field after it sat there for thousands of years !.......... just teasing man, that is a Klamath river nugget. One of 200 + nuggets I tested on both detectors. For those interested, here is the 8 part series with the last video of the series doing a Pro's and Con's video discussing both the good and bad of each detector: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfjOj2OMqlSS9tvqHJl9xI88xwOIeMNZ8 Including discussing the dreaded ATX 8" mono coil noise! As far as the hole in the SDC 2300, you really won't know it is there in the field, most likely, since the ground balance is always tracking, the hole moves along with it, unlike the TDI you can "make a hole" with it's manual ground balance. But I will say it here, like I did in my videos, the new Minelab SDC 2300 is my favorite Minelab detector they have ever built! My wallet, however, does not have the same feelings... Alan

I'm loving the performance on small gold below .3 gram of the new SDC 2300. So doing a bit of testing vs the ATX I got the ATX performing a bit closer to the SDC2300 performance on this small gold. Tested in the video is a .25 gram nugget. The dirt in the video will stick to my magnet on my digging pick. Check out the video to see what I did... Bonus video... How to use the Minelab SDC 2300 as a meat slicer:

Hi folks, I did an all day hunt with my mining partner, and unearthed a couple of small pocket gold nuggets in an area I've been detecting for years and have found a 1/4 oz nugget at. As usual we did some video just in case we hit some nuggets. This is in Northern California about a mile up a creek from the Klamath River. Video is from my partners Youtube channel, "The Handergard". I also did an all day Oregon hunt with the Minelab SDC 2300 to no avail for nuggets, but did enjoy hunting with it. Oregon gold nuggets seems a bit more hard to find than California nuggets... Beautiful scenery in this video also...

Chris, on this particular spot of the Rogue River, which is only a mile down stream from where the gold is actually formed, there is not much 30 mesh gold or smaller. So the smallest I classified is 20 mesh. In the picture the vials are minus 20 mesh gold, plus 20 mesh, and plus 8 mesh gold. If there is 30 mesh or smaller it is in the vials. About 10 miles down river or even on the Applegate River 20 miles away I classified down to 50 mesh because the need was there. As far as the SDC2300 - Just got home from some intial test and am very suprised at the small gold capability of this machine, even in hot dirt. Very crisp and clear signals. Got no video yet as the 2300 batts died (forgot to charge). So my test were cut short. I had my ATX along also and tested the same nuggets right on top of bedrock along side hotter dirt that was attached to the bedrock. I had to re-ground balance the ATX when coming to this dirt (w 8" mono coil, not so much with the 10x12 DD) but the SDC2300 just purred right along when changing ground conditions. The ATX lost a little sensitivity on the smallest nugget (.13 grm/2.1 gn) when re-ground balancing but still got it in the hotter dirt. The ATX went from getting it on the bedrock at 1.5 inches to about 3/4 inch after ground balancing to the hotter soil. The 2300 got it better on both. So far it looks like the cut off point on the ATX is right at .1 gram, maybe a tad smaller if someone is on their game detecting, and the cut off point on the 2300 is less than that - no solid figure yet except for Steve's 0.045 gram piece. But a bit crisper and deeper on the tiniest (- .1 gram).... The ATX seems deeper overall on larger stuff a gram and up - not by much, but an inch or 2 depending on size of target, size of coil and soil type. Really like the new Minelab - can't believe I said that, Lol. Alan

Very good Chris! I just got my SDC 2300 the other day and let me tell ya, I do like this new Minelab, my fave Minelab so far of all their models! This is one cool new machine... Doing some testing and hunting with it today and will get some video cause I know you all love them!, Lol Here is a pic of my 2014 gold so far...12.3 oz's! And a pic on my last day on the Rogue River about to move the dredge up river a half mile, with jet propulsion, for the taking it out.

Steve, If California opens back up for dredging you might consider that...even a little 4" is fun and can produce well in some areas. Alan

Hey Steve, Just finishing up my gold dredging season and catching up on your Alaskan trip. What a great story...went through all pages. Nice gold too! Good job man! That is a tough way to get gold - but almost more satisfying due to the effort you have to go through to get it. Here are some pics of my dredge season and gold. My mining partner and I got 31 oz's of beautiful Oregon gold! I got just under half of the take... Couple pics of a bonaza Le Trap sluice cleanup, and nice blue bowl cons and me at lunch atop my dredge (shore was too far to get back to until end of day, dragging the dredge back under water 150 feet to shore). My detecting season starts now! - hope to get some nice detecting nuggets like yours! Take care, Alan

Interesting detector...that thing sure is thin! I like it so far. A bit on the spendy side, but if you have used a lot of Minelab's in the past, that is normal - performance is what matters. So far it looks like it will hit the small bits very well... Bearkat

Hey Chuck... Yes; I went out nugget hunting with it a bit the other day. It was surprisingly easy to swing per its size. Seemed even better balanced than the stock coil. It did punch deep...but alas no nuggies. I could definatlely swing it all day if needed. You will most likely get most targets at 1 gram and up with decent depth. Bearkat

""The battle for me is if the SDC2300 with its 8” coil can punch to depths greater on small nuggets in medium to severe mineralised ground than my GPX5000 in its most sensitive timing of Fine Gold with my 8” coil."" That is the question I am looking for the answer to also...detector question of the year! BK

Whats the smallest nugget I could hit with the big coil? You might be surprised...check it out: Part 1

Well, I finally got to meet Steve Herschbach! After reading his writings and arguing on forums for many years, we finally got to meet. A very nice guy, great seminar, learned a few things even though I've been metal detecting since high school. We had a few laughs about forum etiquette (or the lack of it). Lol I hope next time Steve we can get out and do some detecting for those elusive litte gold rocks! Have a great and successful time when you go to Alaska soon! Alan