Aardvark Metal Detectors
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After metal detecting for about 5 years I gave up on the hobby mostly because metal detectors were becoming too technical and harder to understand how they worked.

I happen to luck out after seeing an ad for the Bounty Hunter Pioneer 505 and some of the things they said led me to believe that this was a nice easy detector to work with without having to read 500 pages of instructions.

I was right! This model certainly beat out some of the heavier monsters I gave up on, and I saved myself a bundle of money by not going to a more expensive machine. This baby is much lighter then I expected and I found it very easy to assemble. Cranked it up and the sound was loud and clear.

Took it to the nearest school yard and must say I managed to metal detect for about 2 hours without getting tired. Found over 40 coins some down 8 and 10 inches plus one I swear was at least 15 inches deep. Also snagged 2 rings, they don’t look valuable but who knows? I was able to easily tune out lots of junk and I can tell you that this school yard was loaded with all types of garbage, pull tabs, bottle tops, hair pins, you name it it was there. I know because I set the machine to find everything and it only took me a short time to decide I didn’t want junk so I tuned it to the discrimination setting and I tuned out just about every piece of junk except for a beer can down almost a foot. What’s a beer can doing in a school yard?

Light weight, easy to tune, a nice sized meter that identifies the finds make this detector a real winner. There are some pretty unique features especially the adjustable notch mode which let me tune to a higher level of discrimination without missing those 2 small rings I found. I understand this feature is found on more expensive detectors, but I am more then satisfied with my Bounty Hunter Pioneer 505 and would recommend it to anyone.

I would give this detector a full 5 star rating.

I bought my Pioneer 505 for my teenage son who decided he wanted to join me on my treasure hunting trips. That didn’t last too long. Teenagers seem to have so much to do especially gaming on the internet or texting to his girlfriends. So, I inherited a second metal detector and it turns out to be one of the best moves I made.

I had no idea there were so many outstanding features on this metal detector that were not available on my other detector. The 505 may not look it, but it is really a very sophisticated metal detector with a very, very accurate meter that identifies just about every target and not one but 2 discriminating circuits that will let you eliminate all of the trash targets. When I discriminated with my other detector in high discrimination I now realize that I was tuning out the smaller deeper targets. I know that because I went back to a number of my old hunting areas with the Pioneer 505 and was amazed at the number of coins I had missed, but the most important finds were the smaller, deeper coins and a ring plus a gold chain with a religious medallion, all found with the 505 in areas I thought I had hunted out.

Don’t let appearances fool you. It may not look like the larger more expensive metal detectors for a very good reason. It is made to be lighter and easier to handle. I don’t feel any arm fatigue with this detector as I did with my older model. The instructional DVD that was included was all I needed to learn everything about the metal detector. The Pioneer 505 is very automatic in every sense of the word and I love the fact that there were only 2 knobs to adjust.
I am very pleased with the Pioneer 505 and think it would be an excellent choice for anyone just starting this great hobby and as well as old grizzled guys like me that think we have the best detector but trying the 505 might prove you wrong. On a scale of 1 to 5 the Pioneer 505 deserves a 5 star rating. I’d give it a 10 if I could.

The machine is very easy to use right out of the box. After spending a little time with it you will discover little hidden bonuses this machine has that others don’t. If you really listen close you’ll notice a small click sound after a tone. I’ve found that about 9 times out of 10 that signal is a mercury dime. It seems to like silver a lot. This year I’ve dug 108 coins everything from large cents to 3 cent pieces. You ask if I would recommend this machine, you bet.. I’ve owned several detectors in the last 10 yrs, all costing more than the 505. Now i own one machine, the bountyhunter pioneer 505.

I’ve used my Pioneer 505 for close to 2 years now and am happy to say that I have enjoyed every minute of using it. I never treasure hunted before and had to read the instructions a few times to know what I was doing.

It was all pretty easy and I started finding good treasures from the very, very first time I took the machine out. I have been hunting in parks where I’ve met up with some other metal detector users and even though most of them cost more money then my Pioneer 505 I always did as well as they did in finding coins and other stuff.

I find more rings then they did so I must have a pretty good metal detector. For the price it is hard to beat and I think anyone can use it after reading the instructions. It’s a 5 star metal detector as far as I am concerned.

Bought my metal detector brand new. A friend suggested I look for a used model but I would rather have any electronic product with a good warranty.

Not knowing what to do or never using a metal detector had me a little nervous but after I opened the box and found the DVD with all the instructions I felt a little better and after looking at the DVD I was very confident. The Pioneer 505 was very simple to put together and had adjustments for different heights which made it real nice. I took it on my front lawn and tried to get the feel of the detector and on my third sweep I had a loud beep and darned it the meter didn’t say a penny. Had to run back in the house and got a shovel and sure enough, it was a penny. Great way to start treasure hunting.

I have visited a number of parks and some lake fronts and even found some places that old buildings had been torn down. I have found lots and lots of coins plus jewelry of all kinds, rings, necklaces, and such and even some strange finds like an old door knob down very deep as well as old locks and keys, old toys and even some lead soldiers. I’m keeping everything until I find out which are more valuable.

The Pioneer 505 is a Very Low Frequency metal detector which lets it search very deep. The identification meter is easy to read and tells me what is under my searchcoil and how deep it is. There is a ground balancing control that lets me use the detector in any type of soil even in what they call mineralized soil. I can make the 505 hunt shallow or deep and can adjust the discrimination to keep in or tune out different targets. Lots of features that I now know are found on more expensive metal detectors. But I’m very satisfied with my Pioneer 505 and have no desire to change.
People rate equipment for many different reasons. I rated this 505 by how easy it is to use, how comfortable it felt and how accurate were the meter readings. For all of the above I feel this metal detector should have 5 stars.

I have owned the Bounty Hunter Pioneer 505 detector for about six years and it has has worked very well without breaking down.

I like all of the features of this unit. The ID is right on and so is the tone ID, rejects iron and aluminum very well. It has a all metal no motion mode, easy pin pointing, and a water proof coil. It thinks that most galvanized steel is a coin, but so do most detectors.

This is a great beginners machine, it is easy to learn and fun to use.

This Pioneer 505 was the second detector I have ever owned. It was sure easy to use and I found lots of things with it. First thing I would suggest is read the instructions and watch the DVD. It will let you understand how easy the 505 is to use. Makes it a lot easier for you when you are out using it and might wonder what the sounds mean.

I did find a lot of good stuff including silver coins, Indian head pennies, a silver dollar, and a US gold coin and a school ring. The Pioneer 505 is a good machine for anyone wanting to have fun with an easy to use metal detector that really finds lots of good stuff. I think is deserves all 5 stars.

I bought this detector to use mostly at the beach and lakes where I live. I’ve found it pretty easy to use. In discrimination it will tune out junk like iron, pull tabs. When it finds something it gives you pretty reliable information.

I found a problem on a salt water beach where the detector seemed to give me a lot of false signals. It would sound off and I would dig and nothing was there. I called the company and they were very helpful.

Over all I’m happy. I think the 505 is worth the money. I would rate it a 4 star

I have about 40 years experience with metal detecting, having started with a home made radio tube type all metal tone detector. I bought the Bounty Hunter Pioneer 505 as a backup to my Fisher CZ-5. My detecting consists of mostly relic hunting of Civil War sites and colonial home sites. This new detector is light ,and very easy to tune and operate. The first day out, on a destroyed colonial plantation home site, I was hunting a plowed field area with brick and ceramic debris. After finding several colonial buttons, a strong silver signal sound. Upon digging, I found a silver Spanish Cobb = 1/2 Real, fully marked and dated 1693. Yep, that's 1693 treasure coin. This is one of my best finds ever and it is worth about $200. - $400. dollars. The next weekend I was hunting another plantation site nearby, which we thought was hunted out. After about 35 minutes, I received a strong reading in the middle range and a alas, upon digging dug a 1798 U.S. large cent in VF condition. Research has shown a value between $400 and $4,000. This is a great detector out of the box. I would recommend this detector for new detectorist and old. It is light enough and easy enough to tune for older children to use. It is great for coin hunting and with some practice, I find it works fine for relics. After 2 days use I have paid for the detector, then some.

I have used the Bounty Hunter Pioneer 505 for more than 6 months from parks to beaches and have found a bunch of different things. This metal detector works great anywhere but salt water beaches. I've used different settings and adjusted the ground balancing with no effect. I would say that if you don't plan on using this detector at a salt water beach, then buy it and it will work great for you, but if you want a beach metal detector than you should look elsewhere. I do use it a lot in parks and schools, and everywhere I go I always leave with some change and other items.