Bounty Hunter Discovery 3300 Review

If you are a professional detectorist or any detectorist looking forward to becoming specific on your search for precious items, the Bounty Hunter Discovery 3300 metal detector is perhaps the best device for the job.

The detector has good functionality and features that also make it the appropriate device for beginners. This product is especially beneficial for hunting coins, relics, jewelry but is not the best for gold prospecting.

In this article, you will find sufficient info on the features, benefits, design, appearance, and performance of this gadget. Now, let’s get into a detailed review of the Bounty Hunter Discovery 3300.

If you want to know…

What features make Bounty Hunter Discovery 3300 excel

Detailed information about its design and performance

All the specifications of this metal detector

Where the Discovery 3300 falls short

The answers to the most common questions

Then definitely keep reading our review.

The best metal detector?

We’re on a mission to review all the top metal detectors.

Although Bounty Hunter Discovery 3300 is a good metal detector, it didn’t make it to the top of our list mostly because of its complicated handling

The Bounty Hunter Discovery 3300 manufacturers aimed to proffer solutions to virtually all detectorists’ common challenges on the field. Such challenges include different ground mineralization, which causes interference in detecting, often resulting in false signals and poor detection of real, desired target signals.

Another challenge this detector aims to address is the reception of signals from all kinds of targets, especially when many of them are undesired.

How has the Discovery 3300 proffer solutions to these challenges?

The incorporation of ground balancing helps the user to detect with almost zero interference. You are able to quiet the chatter produced by terrains with high mineral compositions while detecting. The preset mode of this ground balancing automatically calibrates the device to adjust to the ground condition at hand; much more, in situations where the preset mode is not doing the trick, a manual option is available for your tweaking.

Bounty Hunter Discovery 3300 Features and Benefits

1. Audio Tones

The primary signal method employed by metal detectors is audio signals. But what sort of metal detecting would it be should the device give out the same audio tone for different items. The frustration of ending up digging an unwanted item will be unending; the time wastage will be tiring. The wisdom of manufacturers in circumventing this problem is to design their detectors with a different audio tone pitch, which will help the user determine the type of metal they are detecting and, if possible, their depths.

On this wise, the Bounty Hunter Discover 3300 is not an exception – maybe even better. While some other detectors may offer two to three audio tones, this device offers four: low, medium, high, and bass tones.

The detector gives off:

1. a low tone – when detecting small objects like nickels, pull tabs;
2. medium tone – when detecting larger items like zinc pennies, screw caps;
3. the high tone – when detecting items that have high conductivity and are non-ferrous, such as copper, brass, and silver;
4. the bass tone – to help the user identify ferrous objects like steel and iron.

2. Target ID

Metal detectors primarily use sound signals to let the users know the type of metal they are detecting, but in practice, sound signals are not enough.

So, manufacturers design a means to further help the user identify the type of metal they are detecting – Target ID.

The Discovery 3300 runs its Target ID in a 3-digit number. When you’re sweeping over an area, and you pass over an object, the metal detector will display a 3-digit number to help the user estimate the exact type of metal they are detecting – if not exact, this feature will get him close to being exact.

How does this work?

For instance, the object you’re detecting is likely a large metal object should the target ID display is between 150-199; iron should the detector display target ID between 0-10; zinc or penny should the number be in the range of 62-65.

3. Operating Modes

The Discovery 3300 features 4 operating modes: All Metal, Notch, PinPoint, and Discrimination. There is other information that you may find indicating that there are indeed 5 operating modes. Still, we are chosen to pick 4 because one mode is only functional in the Discrimination mode.

1. The All-Metal mode, as the name implies, means the device can detect all types of metal.
2. The Notch mode (known as the custom mode) allows you to create a custom setting where you can eliminate certain metals from being detected.
3. Pinpoint mode helps the user to find out the exact location of a target. The ground balance feature can affect your pinpointing accuracy; hence, ensure your ground balance is correctly calibrated before using the pinpoint mode.
4. The Discrimination mode helps you to silent the noise of unwanted items (particularly ferrous objects) by increasing and decreasing the level of discrimination.

In general, the detector features 3-level iron discrimination and 7-segment target elimination.

4. Zap

When you pass over an item that you deem undesirable, you can save yourself time in the future by “zapping” the object. By using the zap mode, the Discovery 3300 will keep signals from such an object mute.

Zap mode is only used in Discrimination mode, and if so, it implies the intention is to weed out ferrous objects. Hence, the unwanted objects must register within the Target ID scale of Iron to Zinc for them to get zapped.

5. Motion and No-Motion Modes

Say you’re trying to sharpen your reception on a specific target; it becomes frustrating having to constantly find them while moving the search coil.

With this feature, however, you can pinpoint a target’s specific location and narrow down the dig. This is similar to pinpoint. You’re probably not unaware of pinpointing. Using the search coil when detecting requires movement but pinpointing (the No-Motion mode) allows you to focus on a specific area by holding the search coil still.

A successful pinpointing will allow you to determine the size of the target.

It is noteworthy that the no-motion mode can easily pick signals of larger or grouped multiple objects. The detector’s inner coil will detect smaller and single objects easily when it passes over them.

Note that the No-Motion mode does not necessarily mean an absolute lack of movement; in some cases, you may have to map out an area slightly larger than the search coil and carry on your pinpointing.

6. Preset and Manual Ground Balance

There are almost zero detectors made for professionals that lack a manual ground balancing feature. It’s a convenient feature for detecting on terrains with differing mineralization and difficult soil conductivity. Due to these ground conditions, there is a high level of interference and chatter that impedes smooth signal reception from targets.

The preset ground balance is the detector’s auto setting, which helps the user to hunt efficiently in its current ground condition, having automatically calibrated the detector. However, chances are you might still encounter difficulty in saltwater hunting, or there is a need to silence the interfering chatter in rocky, sandy, or salty terrains. In that case, the manual option of calibrating the ground balance to quell the possibility of false signals is available for you.

Manual ground balancing may sometimes pose an easy mastering, but you get to have a hang of its operation with subsequent usage.

Bounty Hunter Discovery 3300 Design and Appearance

The Bounty Hunter Discovery 3300 is a lightweight metal detector with a unique feature of a digital coin depth indicator. This feature helps the user to identify how deep a target is buried while you can identify the value of the target in numbers with its digital 11-segment target ID.

These values are easily seen on the visual target system LCD. The device is waterproof with 8 interchangeable waterproof coils with which you can go detecting in damp or shallow wet terrains.

The device is designed with four audio tones that provide the user feedback on accurate target verification. In terrains with electromagnetic interference, the detector features touch sensitivity to curtail the interferences. In terrains with mineral composition, the detector features ground balance to offset its effect; this applies to saltwater, for instance.

Its four operating modes thus exist to eliminate undesired items. There is the presence of a headphone jack, which is compatible with most headphones. Even though you get a padded armrest and a detector stand to make your usage easy and comfortable, the detector is a standalone device that is not supplied with accessories, such as headphones.

Bounty Hunter Discovery 3300 Performance

The Bounty Hunter Discovery 3300 is a VLF single frequency unit, operating a frequency of 6.6 kHz. At that low frequency, the detector can penetrate the ground to a deep level. You can detect coins as deep as 8″ but do you desire to go even deeper, then you can adjust the device’s sensitivity, discrimination, and ground balance to search at greater depth and discover items that haven’t been dug up for too long a while.

Now, if you’re new to this metal detector, there are a few recommendations you should have in mind before starting to use it:

• It is wise to always begin your usage of the device at a reduced sensitivity level. This implies that you should probably adjust the sensitivity to a low setting if you’re getting a false signal. You should only use full sensitivity as you become familiar with the detector.
• It’s common knowledge that metal detectors are for the field, not for indoor use. Does it become useless when used indoors? Not entirely, but you could say it becomes inefficient. Why? Most household appliances emit electromagnetic energy, which produces interference to metal detecting.
  However, if you desire to use the device for indoor detecting, turn down the sensitivity and keep appliances such as televisions, computers, and microwave ovens far away from the search coil. If your metal detector keeps signally erratically, you should also consider turning off other appliances and lights. Areas containing metals, such as floors and walls, should also be avoided.
• Heavy-duty batteries are not advisable. Most metal detectors run on alkaline batteries only.
• Read the User’s Manual.

Bounty Hunter Discovery 3300 Pros and Cons

While the overall quality of the Discovery 3300 is something to write home about, its build quality is somewhat compromising. It may feel flimsy in hand, but this is not a general issue with all users. But if we must do an honest review, the metal detector is quite fragile, considering the extreme carefulness required in extending the shaft to full-length or the issues that arise with its battery compartment.

This limitation may not be a raise a cause for alarm due to its 5-year warranty. Within these years after purchase, you can have your detector repaired or replaced should any critical issue arise.

Bounty Hunter Discovery 3300 FAQs

Conclusion

The First Texas Products Company owns Bounty Hunter metal detector technology, including Fisher Labs and Teknetics, to name a few. As earlier opined, the Discovery 3300 is the most advanced of the Bounty Hunter Discovery series. It is designed with advanced features that make it worthwhile for advanced or professional users; this is not to exclude new detectorists from purchasing the device, but they may find it challenging to operate these features. Nevertheless, with practice, a newbie will find it easy to handle.

Three features of the Discovery 3300 put together make for excellent differentiating between valuable targets and undesired items. These features include the Target ID, Zap mode, and the operating modes (especially the Discrimination mode). While “zapping” makes it possible for the device to keep in memory targets to avoid signaling on in the offing, Discrimination mode silences out ferrous objects from disturbing your detection speed, and the Target ID helps you to pick out the exact target for which you went out detecting.

The additional beauty is you can control all the features present in this detector using its simple and clear operating system. I bet your interest is now peaked up to try out this product; you can check it out by clicking here.