5 Best Metal Detectors For Meteorite Hunting

Here’s the hard part about meteorite hunting using metal detectors – you need something that’s specifically made for the job. YES, there are metal detectors meant for meteorite hunting alone…BUT guess what, they can cost you anywhere from $6,000 to $10,000! Ouch. Not every metal detecting enthusiast and meteorite hunter can afford that.

Not to mention you can’t easily find them in stores…NOT even in Amazon.com! So what’s the solution? Simple, just move a notch down. There are metal detectors out there, which are made for gold prospecting, BUT they are so sensitive and beefed up with a lot of features that they don’t have any problems detecting meteorites as well.

Sure enough, there are things that these second tier meteorite hunting metal detectors can’t do. BUT think about it, do you really want to spend an extra 2 to 3 grand for that top tier metal and meteorite detector when you can get the job done with the second tier ones with a little bit of extra work?

I’m sure you get my drift. And here are the top 5 and best metal detectors for meteorite hunting:

#1: Minelab GPX 5000

Just yesterday, I had my second outing with my Minelab GPX 5000. I went to an area which is just north of Yuma AZ – lots of dry washer holes and lots of evidence of metal detecting and meteorite and gold hunting. Well, as someone who believes the old saying that ‘you should go where the miners have been’, I decided to do some prospecting.

And seeing that the hillsides in the area have been raked, there’s no doubt that gold has been found here.

Using the mono coil supplied with the Minelab GPX 5000, I decided to first detect a steep ATV trail down into the area. Within about 8 feet down from the crown of the said hill, I made a good hit right at the center of the ATV trail. I dug down about 4 inches and, after that, I used my scoop. After getting the hit in my scoop, I worked all the way down…until there was almost nothing left.

I decided to go deeper, and viola! I found shining and shimmering gold! Now, don’t get me wrong. I won’t be able to buy a house or a motorcycle with the gold I got. It’s just a couple of ounces BUT hey! It’s still gold. Indeed, it was a great day with the Minelab GPX 5000.

Feature Highlights Of The Minelab GPX 5000 At A Glance
New Timings That Make The Minelab GPX 5000 One Of The Most Flexible Metal Detectors Around: Thanks to the new timings included in this Minelab metal detector, it’s like having 8 different detectors in one neat package. It comes with the previous timings on the recent models PLUS 3 NEW timings – we have the (1) coin (2) relic or salt (3) gold and fine gold.

Improved Electronics: With the improved electronics of this metal detector, target sensitivity as well as balance performance is dramatically increased! Increased Rx Gain adjustment lets you control the sensitivity MORE precisely…giving your optimum performance.

Automatic Ground Balance Options: This one, on the other hand, allows you to easily adjust the detector to suit all ground conditions. Examples of ground balance options: fixed, tracking, tracking speed, ground balance type, quick trac button, and more.

#2: Minelab GPX 4500

I grabbed my brand new Minelab GPX 4500 out to find a new patch or two. Leaving for a month to hunt the desert in search for something valuable, I spent 20 days of hunting with nothing to show for my efforts – nothing BUT a lot of miles covered and blisters. I was driving down a road…again in search for a place that looks good to do some hunting when I decided to settle for one of the hills.

I started to move around the area using my Minelab GPX 4500 and it wasn’t long before I got a signal. Long story short: I was finding one golden nugget after another. A LOT OF IT!

It was when I got tired that I decided to head back to the track and went over a ridge when I found another patch. It took me another 8 days to work on those patches and I went home carrying about 10 ounces of gold just from that area alone. Man! I was flying high with my new Minelab GPX 4500 and I’m gearing up for another outing with it.

Detector Feature Highlights
- One of the FINEST gold prospecting detectors out there.
- Comes with the new SETA gold nugget hunting technology.
- Prospecting made easy thanks to the automatic functions coupled with the pre set search modes.
- Easy to read even at night. With the backlight, it doesn’t matter what time of the day you are searching – night or day, you can surely read the information correctly.
- HIGHLY improved discrimination: this one gives you access to gold and treasures hidden even in the trashiest of grounds.

#3: Minelab GPX 4000

A couple of days before my birthday, a friend of mine to me out to one of his well pounded BUT still decent and producing patches in Northern California. The area has pumped out a lot of beautiful nuggets of gold BUT many of them are less than 3/4 of an ounce. What you would find in there, though, is a lot of trash. For the most part, that’s what I was digging up…trash and lots of it.

I had the stock 11 inch Double D coil (it’s the only one I own), I had no choice BUT to make the most out of it. After 3 hours or so into the hunt, I got a slight target in an area where a lot of holes have been dug before. After clearing a couple of inches away, I finally found my target – solid and sweet gold! At only 14 inches down sitting on the clay layer lies the 6.14 ounce of gold which I now own. Fantastic! Simply fantastic!

Feature Highlights Of The Minelab GPX 4000
Advanced Digital Control System – This gives you, the owner, more control as well as functionality by allowing the Minelab GPX 4000 to be fine tuned no matter what type of searching you are doing.

LCD Function Display – Of all the changes made to the Minelab GPX 4000, this is the most obvious. With its enhancements, you can just scroll through the different functions and pick the level that you need. All of the variable level controls give you PRECISE numeric settings for greater accuracy.

Sensitive / Smooth Timing – This is beefed up with 2 sensitivity options – what made the difference though is the NEW all Smooth option. This significantly reduces the signals from hot rocks, false noise grounds, while remaining very responsive to smaller and more valuable targets.

#4: Minelab GPX 3500

The Minelab GPX 3500 – this metal detector combines all of the features and niceties found in the previous models PLUS a lot of enhancements like ground balancing (this maximizes depth whatever the ground condition is). On the other hand, the new Stable Threshold Technology will give you a clearer as well as sharper target signals without creating distracting background noise.

PLUS, the newly designed battery bag as well as harness gives you improved comfort.

With the Minelab GPX 3500, you get all of the advantages that only Minelab’s metal and meteorite detecting technology can offer:

DVT / Dual Voltage Technology – This gives you increased depth as well as sensitivity compared to other transmission technologies.
All Metal Mode And Discrimination – With the Minelab GPX 3500, you can choose whether to go for All Metal Search Mode or opt for the adjustable iron discriminate when you are searching in areas where there are a lot of junk.
Automatic Tune Control – With just a single push of a button, the external interference is minimized.
Manual Tune Control – This is one is perfect for fine tuning until you get the optimal performance for gold and meteorite hunting and digging.

#5: Minelab X-Terra 705

The metal detector, another masterpiece from MineLab, is the flagship model of the X-Terra Series. Whether you are looking for golden nuggets, coins, relics, treasures, or meteorites, the Minelab X-Terra 705 offers enough flexibility to get the job done. It uses 18.75 kHz as the standard frequency coil. With that together with the advanced Iron Mask Discrimination and Ground Balance functions (which has been specially configured for gold hunting), detecting gold even in a mineralized ground is a piece of cake.

The Iron Mask Discrimination Control can be easily BUT precisely adjusted to your chosen settings so you can reject most of the junk while still being sensitive enough to find those bits and pieces of shining gold.

Features Of The Minelab X-Terra 705 You Shouldn’t Miss
- All of the accessory coils from 7 X-Terra series can be used on the 705.
- The Automatic/Manual Ground Balancing, Tracking, as well as Tracking Ground Balance Offset adjustment gives you a performance advantage when searching for gold in certain areas like wet, dry, sand, transition, and hot rock locations. All you have to do is set the balance to be slightly positive or negative.
- The 2 Pin Point modes: Auto and Sizing (which uses variable tone and graphical indicator), allows you, the user, to get MORE valuable information about your target, its characteristics, shape, size, and more.
- Comes with noise cancel options (choose from Automatic or Manual).
- Target ID Stability – it’s precise, very responsive, and accurate…and that holds true even if you are searching through high trash areas (just like my backyard).
- The positive and transflective LCD display is beefed up with a backlight to give you better screen visibility even in dim light conditions.
- The depth indicators update consistently even if you are using Pin Point mode.
- Comes with low battery audio and visual warnings.
- Backed by a 3 year Warranty as standard.