Bounty Hunter Time Ranger Pro Metal Detector Review

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The Time Ranger Pro is a coin, relic, jewelry, and gold hunter.

Some have assumed it’s a redone Gold Bug in new clothing and others are comparing it to the Fisher F19 – all of which are made by First Texas.

Are the rumors true?

Is the Time Ranger Pro any good?

Let’s take a sweep at the new metal detector and see if we can find any depth to discriminate the truth.

Contents show

At a Glance…

✔️ Best Feature: New frequency

❌ Worst Feature: Similar to Fisher F19

👌 Ideal For: Shallow Water, Beach, Coins, Relics, Jewelry, Beginners, Intermediates, Older Kids

Our Verdict: The Time Ranger Pro is definitely an upgraded Time Ranger model. It has a new 19kHz frequency with many new features that makes it a pro at what it’s supposed to do – detect treasure.

Bounty Hunter Time Ranger Pro Metal Detector

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Who is the Bounty Hunter Time Ranger Pro Best Suited to?

The beautiful thing about the Time Ranger Pro is its simplicity. Even with all the new features, it’s still within the learning grasp of a beginner and older child. The convenient features of the new and improved version actually makes it easier to use for all sorts of targets including those small and elusive ones like gold nuggets.

It also does double duty to entice experienced users into using this lightweight platform as it’s not without the features that helps to improve performance in any given terrain. At its low price point, it’s a detector that’s worth adding to the collection for all-round performance.

How Does the Bounty Hunter Time Ranger Pro Perform?

The Pro model performs exceptionally better on low conductivity targets and good performance on high targets. Even though the searchcoil is pretty large, you have greater sensitivity of 19kHz to separate between ferrous and non-ferrous targets.

The entire platform is only 2.5 lbs, so shoulder pain is a thing of the past with the Time Ranger Pro. With Ground Grab, you can let the machine do its thing automatically, or you can override it with manual data to ground balance to some of the harder terrains like saltwater.

As a general-purpose metal detector, it has the basics plus some equipped into a lightweight and high-performing package. Its price point brings it into the affordable market for many, and as such, it should be at the top of the shortlist.

Features & Benefits

New Frequency

The first noticeable upgrade is the 19kHz from the older 6.9kHz. With the higher frequency, you have better target separation and finer tuning for gold prospecting.

The 19kHz can be considered an all-purpose frequency for detecting both relics and small gold nuggets, especially so for gold if you can equip a smaller searchcoil to it. But, because it’s a general-purpose detector, it can provide low sensitivity to highly conductive targets like modern coins and then high sensitivity to smaller, low conductive targets like gold and relics.

With the higher frequency and 11” searchcoil, you’ll be able to cover a ton of ground with good separation needed for effective detecting.

11” Searchcoil

The Time Ranger came with a concentric searchcoil, so the improvement is the larger 11” DD searchcoil included with the Time Ranger Pro.

You have two things under your belt with the 11” coil – ground coverage and sensitivity. Generally, a larger searchcoil is better suited to detecting large targets at extreme depths, but with the 19kHz frequency, you’re not compromising on detection and sensitivity of small targets.

The DD shape is better suited to mineralized conditions and can separate better than the previously used concentric coils.

Ground Grab

The Pro model has One Touch Computerized Ground Grab. This enables you to match the internal ground balance setting to the ground phase as much as possible. Numbers may vary slightly, but performance will be improved even if there is still some noise heard.

Essentially, you’re going into All-Metal mode to perform ground balancing. You are eliminating signals from the minerals in the ground so that you only hear signals from the targets buried within. This automatic process may very well prove helpful to beginners that find ground balancing a difficult process to achieve.

The Bounty Hunter metal detector also claims that Ground Grab is so good that it can balance to saltwater.

Enhanced V Break & Tone Adjustments

V-Break is the feature that allows you to change the audio tone for certain targets along the Target ID scale. You can set all targets to sound off with a low tone at a “break” in the Target ID. For example, if you set it to 80, all targets with an ID under 80 will have a low tone.

You also have FeTone which is the Adjustable Iron Audio feature. It allows you to adjust the volume on iron targets without it affecting other targets so that you don’t get worn out by too many hits on iron objects and junk.

FeTone volume control starts at volume 10 as silent, and at max volume of 20, ferrous items will be at max volume of 10, same with non-ferrous targets.

Adjustable Notch

Not only can you notch out certain types of targets, you can also adjust the length of the notch “window.” This means that you can notch in or out specific target IDs to widen or narrow the notch category to further customize your hunting parameters.

It’s much more flexible than the “Blanker” feature on the old Time Ranger.

Limitations

Similar to Fisher F19

The Fisher F19 and Bounty Hunter Time Ranger Pro are very similar in features. In fact, they could be the exact same product with different labeling. It’s not a criticism but an observation. Obviously, they’re using two different searchcoils and there may be some difference in extended shaft lengths.

Other than that, performance will be comparable because they share the same features right down to the 19kHz frequency.

The other difference to point out is price. Which one’s cheaper? As it stands, the Bounty Hunter Time Ranger Pro comes in at a more affordable price point.

Conclusion

The Time Ranger Pro may not be new in terms of features, but it is a new metal detector to the brand. If you want to get the most bang for your buck for what is a similar product to other more expensive options, Bounty Hunter is the way to go.

With multiple, upgraded features from the old Time Ranger, you can expect improved performance with better target separation. The Time Ranger Pro is designed to be your go-to, grab-n-go metal detector for all types of hunting.