Mastering the Hunt: A Guide to Bounty Hunter Discovery 3300 Metal Detector

Here is the review of Bounty Hunter Discovery 3300 metal detector. The article has information about the operating frequency of the device, the kind of coil it has, if the headphones are included into the device package set, how long it works using one battery set, etc.

What was the device designed for?

Bounty Hunter metal detectors manufacturer belongs to First Texas Products corporation and its headquarters is in El Paso, Texas. Bounty Hunter company mainly specializes on manufacturing reliable inexpensive metal detectors of beginner and intermediate level.

Discovery product line begins with Bounty Hunter metal detectors. The product line consists of three devices. Except 3300 model it also has earlier models – Bounty Hunter Discovery 2200 and Bounty Hunter Discovery 1100.

Unlike the earlier models, this metal detector has manual adjustment of ground balance function, a processor to handle the signal, precise target detection mode called PinPoint as well as a possibility to create user’s own discrimination patterns.

Metal detector produced by Bounty Hunter model Discovery 3300 is a decent metal detector for those, who decided to try on the role of treasure hunter, but don’t want to spend money on expensive devices offered by other manufacturers.

As of my last knowledge update in January 2022, the Bounty Hunter Discovery 3300 is a metal detector manufactured by First Texas Products under the Bounty Hunter brand. Here are some key features and information about the Bounty Hunter Discovery 3300:

1. Advanced Target Identification: The Discovery 3300 offers advanced target identification features, allowing users to discern different types of metals based on audio tones, visual displays, or numeric values.
2. Digital Target ID: Discovery 3300 feature a digital target identification system, providing a numerical value on the display to help users identify the probable type of metal detected.
3. Multiple Search Modes: The detector includes multiple search modes, such as discrimination and all-metal mode, providing versatility in different detecting environments.
4. Adjustable Sensitivity: Users can adjust the sensitivity of the detector to customize its performance based on ground conditions and target sizes.
5. Depth Indicator: The Discovery 3300 comes with a depth indicator, providing an estimate of how deep a target is buried. This information assists users in planning the excavation process.
6. Visual Target System: Some models may feature a visual target system, offering a graphical representation of the detected target’s characteristics on an LCD screen.
7. Audio Discrimination: The metal detector employs audio discrimination, producing different tones for various types of metals, helping users identify targets without looking at the display.
8. Ground Balance Control: The Discovery 3300 has a ground balance control feature, allowing users to adjust the detector’s sensitivity to the mineralization of the soil.
9. Lightweight Design: The detector is designed to be lightweight, enhancing user comfort during extended detecting sessions.
10. Battery Life: The Bounty Hunter Discovery 3300 operates on batteries, and the battery life can vary based on usage. It’s advisable to have spare batteries on hand for longer detecting sessions.

Last update on 2024-04-07 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API / Source: Amazon Affiliates

Model	Bounty Hunter Discovery 3300
Weight	2.5 pounds
Batteries	2x9V
Headphones	No
Warranty	5 years
Operating Principle	VLF
Standard Searchcoil	8″ Mono (concentric)
Operating Frequencies (kHz)	6.6
Water resistance	Waterproof coil
Submersion Depth	No
Discrimination	Yes
Ground Balance	Auto, manual
Audio Threshold	No
Sensitivity	Yes
Electronic Pinpointing	Yes
VDI (0 to 99 scale)	Yes
Build-in flashlight	No

The review

So, this what you’ll find in the box:

1. A handler with a control unit and an armrest.
2. Two shaft sections.
3. Fixation system for a coil.
4. The coil and the cable.
5. User’s manual.

The shaft

All Bounty Hunter metal detectors of Discovery product line have the same design. Their shafts and armrests look the same. Only the color of plastic differs and the control unit appearance.

Bounty Hunter Discovery 3300 has adopted the design from the previous models. It has two shaft sections: 8” search coil is attached to the bottom section and on the upper one you will see the control unit, the armrest and the handle, which is rather convenient by the way.

The bend of the upper shaft enables using the device conveniently. The armrest can be shifted along the shaft. The bottom support allows to put the metal detector on the ground and make sure that it stays clean.

You can adjust the device length to your individual parameters by means of the adjustment holes on the shaft section.

The coil

Bounty Hunter Discovery 3300 metal detector has 8” concentric search coil. It demonstrates rather stable performance on most of ground types and it easily stands temperature differences.

Another important property of Discovery 3300 search coil is its waterproofness. Due to this fact underwater treasure hunting is possible as well as beach hunting, but you should keep in mind that you can submerge the metal detector, but the control unit should be kept above water.

The search coil shell is made from solid plastic, which is a durable synthetic material. It is wearproof and impact-resistant, however getting a protection case for the coil will be a good idea.

The metal detector has 6.7 kHz operating frequency. This is a multi-purpose frequency, which to the same extent enables searching for small and rather large targets. This means that Bounty Hunter Discovery 3300 should be considered a multi-purpose metal detector model adapted to any treasure hunting types.

Unlike 1100 metal detector model, models 2200 and 3300 enable using other search coil types — 10-inches and 4-inches coils.

Headphones

Headphones are not included into the device package set. However, you can connect headphones to the device, since it has a 1/4″ jack plug for them.

The battery

The metal detector uses two 9 V batteries as a power supply. Under normal conditions of operation this energy is enough for 30-40 hours of continuous device work.

There is a way how you can prolongate the metal detector operation time – this is to use headphones; there is a special jack plug for them on the control unit. You can also use accumulator batteries as a power supply for the device, there is a wide variety of them on the market nowadays.

The control unit

The front panel of the control unit has a large high contrast LCD display on it, touch-sensitive keys for settings and navigation as well as a switch for ground balance function adjustment.

Bounty Hunter Discovery 3300 control unit is rather small sized and light weighted, which doesn’t disturb the device balance and makes the treasure hunting process quite convenient.

There are three indicators for target identification. These are: discrimination scale, that demonstrates to which specific segment the target belongs; digital indicator of the target electrical conductivity to specify the object type; 4 tones of target sound response, though mostly experienced diggers rely on them.

Search modes

The metal detector has two search modes: the main one – dynamic mode with discrimination, which is used constantly.

But you can switch to the static mode ‘all metal’, this is when the device will provide a bit higher detection depth, but you’ll here signals from completely all ferrous objects in the ground.

This mode is basically to detect the target center and it is used when digging the target, since it guarantees that you won’t damage a valuable thing with a shovel.

Discovery 3300 has several modes of operation. Together with standard discrimination and All-Metal, it has Notch and Zap modes. They can help to exclude some unwanted groups of objects.

Discovery 3300 is even more advanced. It has 11 segments discrimination scale, VDI numbers displayed and possibility of manual ground balance adjustment.

Displaying possible target detection depth and PinPointer function make this device the most professional one in the whole Bounty Hunter Discovery product line.

All the device models have discrimination adjustment and a filter, which is called «Notch». By means of it you can exclude the selected segments from the whole discrimination scale, regardless of their number except the far-right segment. Function Zap is responsible for it.

Discrimination

However, besides the detection depth there are other important parameters. For example, you should avoid objects which you don’t want to detect. Bottle caps, nails and other unwanted targets can be ignored by Bounty Hunter Discovery 3300, since it has an excellent adjustable discrimination scale consisting of 11 segments.

Each segment corresponds to a metal type or a target type that has some specific individual physical properties.

At that the sector corresponding to iron has three segments and this was done for a reason.

Gold as a low conductivity metal can get into the iron discrimination sector, that’s why you can adjust your Bounty Hunter Discovery 3300 so that it’ll ignore ferrous targets, but it will still receive signals from golden objects, especially from those that are often found in a controversial discrimination sector – chains, earrings, etc.

Bounty Hunter Discovery 3300 has three target identification indicators, that are used by detectorists to decide if the target is valuable or not. Marker on the discrimination scale shows to which segment the target belongs.

The digital indicator (3 digits) displays conventional electrical conductivity value of the detected object and it becomes rather useful when verifying the target.

To make the metal detector ignore repeated unwanted objects you should use ZAP button, after waving the coil above this object. Such a function will be especially useful during beach hunting, where such targets as bottle caps will be encountered quite often.

Tones

Sound indication of the device uses 4 sounds with different height of pitch. So, sound response from the target is the third indicator. As a rule, experienced diggers base their judgments on the latter. To take full advantage of this indication type, the metal detector has 4 target response tones!

Depending on the tone you hear, you can quickly understand what is under the device search coil and whether this object is worth digging.

Ground balance

The ground balance function has both manual and automatic adjustment. Bounty Hunter Discovery 3300 are using Squelch-Tech® system aimed at decreasing and elimination of noises on ground with complicated conditions.

Ground balance function in the earlier models is adjusted automatically, while in 3300 you can do it manually as well.

Conclusions

The device advantage is its sufficient detection depth (considering its price), it is rather light-weighted and perfectly balanced. This metal detector is easy to master even for beginner detectorist, it doesn’t have any complicated settings or adjustments.

It’s plain and simple, turn on the metal detector and start to wave the coil. That’s it. Let’s take a look at the device characteristics in detail.

If comparing this metal detector with Teknetics devices, 3300 model is close to Teknetics Eurotek. However, the device control is more complicated, so it won’t do as one’s first metal detector or a device for a kid.