43 of 53 people found this review helpful:

Review by: Bobby Woods

User Experience: 2-4 years

Submitted on: Aug 22, 2008

User Rating:

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I purchased a Bounty Hunter Time Ranger to add to my gold prospecting arsenal. After doing some research, I decided on Bounty Hunter because of the price and the features.

I was quite impressed with its ability to find very small gold (1.6 grains) at near three inches deep with the 4" coil. I also dug up an old hub cap that was bent in half at about two feet. By the strength of the signal, I think I would have heard it at twice the depth.

After learning how to take full advantage of all the feature capabilities, I think it is a machine that does not seem to get the credit it deserves in metal detecting circles. I bought mine through Walmart and paid $484.00 for it. It's a good detector at a good price. I'm not saying it's the best MD available on the market, but in its price range and I would put it up against all comers.

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19 of 20 people found this review helpful:

Review by: Edward Merritt

User Experience: Newbie

Submitted on: Mar 18, 2008

User Rating:

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The Bounty Hunter Time Ranger is a very adjustable machine, that can be used for a variety of detecting. Nugget hunting to relic hunting. Perfect for the versitile user.I have used it in a number of situation's, for ghost town searches, that have turned up a number of interesting finds that might have been missed with another "starter" unit. While I tend to the ghost town/ battlefield hunts, I am also interested in "nugget hunting"(with gold prices at a all time high... and going higher, it shouldn't be a big surprise). You can never tell what you will find at some sites and it is good to have a detector that can change targets on demand.

I am looking forward to many future hunts...for gold...and treasure(the word treasure can mean many things i.e. coins, belt buckles,old guns and who knows what). I have been going over old railroad stops, as my future hunt sites. I also go over old military maps, looking for camp sites, not just battlefields. Many battlefields are protected areas, but the campsites are not protected and sometimes very good as search sites. Good luck to you!

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27 of 40 people found this review helpful:

Review by: Christine Conklin

User Experience: 6 months to 2 years

Submitted on: Mar 17, 2008

User Rating:

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For the money, the Bounty Hunter Time Ranger is a good detector. It is simple to use, with only two controls, sensitivity and discrimination. The depth is only about 5", but perhaps replacing the 7" coil with an 8" might help it search deeper. The discrimination mode can be turned off to put the Fast Tracker in ALL METAL mode. There is no toggle switch for all metals so you will need to mark the dial setting to return to your favorite discrimination setting.

It is easy to use, very light weight and comfortable. The price is low and it has a 5-Year warranty. The shaft is a little wobbly, but it performs well in most instances. I did find that it is not very good at the beach. Although way back from the water it seems to work better.

This is a good beginner model, not only for youngsters, but adults can have a good time with this as well. However, if you want do do some serious detecting, I would suggest you go with a higher priced unit that will detect at a deeper level.

I haven't found anything of real value yet, but some old coins, a bracelet and a ring. The ring has a sterling setting, however the stone was missing. I especially look for coins and jewelry, but I haven't searched many areas yet, as I have only been doing this for about 6 months.

I would rate this a 3 star rating, as it is a good value for the money, but I think a better model would find more treasures than this beginner model. I still use this one, but will soon purchase a different model and give this one to my grandchildren to use when they visit.

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19 of 26 people found this review helpful:

Review by: pat

User Experience: 7+ years

Submitted on: Sep 11, 2008

User Rating:

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Overall, for the top of the range bounty hunters, it is very disappointing. I have found very little with this machine. There are cheaper detectors made by Bounty Hunter that far surpass and outperform this machine.

The good features are that it is light and does not make the arms tired. This machine unfortunately misses many coins and the Titan 3000 can follow behind and it cleans up on the Australian decimal coins that the time ranger leaves. Out of my 4 machines that I own, this machine ranks fourth unfortunately. I can only go by how mine performs against the other three machines and they all perform better.

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9 of 9 people found this review helpful:

Review by: Weldon Marshall

User Experience: 2-4 years

Submitted on: Mar 26, 2008

User Rating:

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I’ve been using detectors about three years now (Bounty Hunter Time Ranger about six of those months.) This machine is very user friendly for old homesteads and dry sand. I’ve found the pre-programmed discrimination levels, auto ground balancing which is great for out of the box running, and the manual easy for beginner's to understand.

The first few runs I’ve made with this were by old farm houses that I’ve known to be loaded with old scraps of wire, nails, beer tabs, and bottle caps. This thing was great on saving my back from digging junk, which is what I was hoping for. I was looking to see how the machine would react to junk at varying stages of decay, and I found it to read fairly accurate as to iron and clad. Claiming the targets was a little shallower with these metals.

My second run I took it out to the beach for a week, where I found several sets of Mardi gras beads, and a horseshoe, sometimes I dig the iron to check depth and discrimination when I’m bored.

Oddly, I found the depth to be right on target in dry sand, compared to a grass field.
I should mention that on the beach, I run the four inch coil and the sensitivity a little higher than usual. I had just come to a nice little system before weather turned the beach into ocean. I couldn’t get to any of the more popular beaches as to a front raising the water line to the access points of the beach. So, as of this writing I can’t attest to the response you’ll get to Gold or silver, but if you’re tired of digging junk and you’ve got open field or dry sand, this unit especially at the price, I you shop around, is what Id recommend for beginner and seasoned alike.

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