Garrett ACE 300 Metal Detector with 7x10 Coil

The Garrett ACE 300 is a straightforward land metal detector for coins, jewelry and general detecting, built around an adjustable 8 kHz frequency, a 0 to 99 Digital Target ID and a 7 x 10 inch PROformance concentric searchcoil. Garrett describes it as having more modes than the ACE 200 and enhanced features to help find more treasure. Our Garrett ACE 300 collection has the coils and accessories for it.

What is in the box with the Garrett ACE 300

Garrett's standard contents for the ACE 300 (Garrett part 1141150)

• Garrett ACE 300 control housing with S-shaped stem, upper and lower stem with camlocks
• Adjustable arm cuff and arm strap
• 7 x 10 inch PROformance concentric searchcoil (submersible)
• Coil cover
• Searchcoil hardware: bolt, nut and mounting washers
• 4 AA batteries (installed)
• Owner's manual

Why we like the Garrett ACE 300

What we like about the ACE 300 is its straightforward operation: numeric target identification, useful discrimination, multiple search modes and electronic pinpointing, without overwhelming a beginner. The controls are easy to understand, so a first-time owner can concentrate on learning target responses and proper search technique. We recommend the ACE 300 to beginners and occasional detectorists searching parks, yards and relatively mild ground. We would choose it for affordable, straightforward recreational metal detecting.

Garrett ACE 300 frequency and frequency adjust

The ACE 300 operates at 8 kHz. Frequency adjust offers four minor settings, F1 to F4, which Garrett provides to eliminate or minimize interference from electrical sources or other detectors, for example near power lines or at a crowded club hunt. The ACE 300 remains an 8 kHz detector: frequency adjust manages interference and does not select different operating frequencies for different targets.

Digital Target ID, Iron Check and discrimination

• Digital Target ID: a numeric scale from 0 to 99 that identifies a target's conductivity, with a legend running from ferrous (iron) to thick silver and three audio tone ID levels. The most common mistake we see is assuming that a high numerical target ID guarantees a valuable coin: the number reports conductivity, not value. Target ID can vary widely with a target's size and thickness, and mineralized soils can cause Target ID errors, especially on small targets.
• Iron Check: four iron discrimination segments give more precise control of how much iron discrimination to apply, which Garrett says is very useful where treasure targets are masked by iron trash. To keep iron from masking a good target next to it, Garrett's manual recommends using just enough discrimination to barely reject the iron trash, so the coin and the nail are detected together.
• Notch discrimination: a 12-pixel discrimination bar, adjusted with DISCRIM (+/-) and the ELIM button.
• Graphic Target Analyzing: the display shows a target's conductivity and the detector's discrimination pattern at the same time.
• Depth indicator: shows the depth of a coin-sized target.

Five search modes on the Garrett ACE 300

The ACE 300 has five search modes, Zero-Disc, Jewelry, Custom, Relics and Coins, plus Pinpoint. Garrett designed Coins mode to find coins and eliminate common trash such as iron, foil and pull tabs, and the manual warns that medium-sized jewelry may be missed with that discrimination pattern. Jewelry mode is designed to find rings, bracelets, watches and necklaces while ignoring most iron trash, and Relics mode eliminates small iron pieces while detecting good targets in the lower conductivity range.

Electronic pinpointing and recovery

Press and hold PINPOINT and the ACE 300 switches to a non-motion all-metal mode that helps locate a detected target's exact position; the center of the 7 x 10 inch coil is marked. Accurate target location reduces unnecessary digging, which matters in maintained parks and lawns, and good recovery technique helps protect the location. The detector's pinpoint and a handheld pinpointer serve related but different purposes. See our Garrett pinpointers.

The 7 x 10 inch PROformance concentric searchcoil

The ACE 300 comes with a 7 x 10 inch concentric PROformance searchcoil, and it adjusts automatically for ground minerals, without the ground balance adjustments of Garrett's AT series. We recommend it for parks, yards and relatively mild ground. Garrett's searchcoil guidance says a concentric coil is the most susceptible to interference from ground minerals, and a Double-D coil significantly outperforms it over mineralized ground. For trashy areas, Garrett's manual suggests the Super Sniper or a 5 x 8 inch DD searchcoil.

Water, beaches and the ACE 300

The ACE 300 is not a fully waterproof detector. Garrett's manual says the searchcoil is submersible, but the control housing and connectors are not, and it advises protecting the control housing from heavy mist, rain and blowing surf. On a freshwater beach you can use the detector along the shoreline and place the coil in shallow water, but do not submerge the control housing. For someone regularly searching wet saltwater beaches, we would recommend the Garrett ACE Apex, the Garrett Vortex VX7 or the Garrett Vortex VX9; see also our beach metal detectors.

Sensitivity on the Garrett ACE 300

The ACE 300 has eight sensitivity levels. Garrett's manual recommends higher sensitivity for very small or very deep targets, and lower sensitivity when the detector behaves erratically because of heavy trash, highly mineralized soil, electrical interference or other detectors nearby.

Garrett ACE 300 compared with the ACE 400 and ACE Apex

The Garrett ACE 400 operates at 10 kHz, adds Iron Audio and comes with a larger 8.5 x 11 inch Double-D coil. For someone who wants Iron Audio, we would point to the ACE 400; for affordable, straightforward recreational detecting, the ACE 300 remains our pick. The Garrett ACE Apex offers four selectable single frequencies (5, 10, 15 and 20 kHz) plus Multi-Frequency and Multi-Salt, and adds eight iron discrimination segments and Iron Audio. The differences below come from Garrett's published specifications.

Getting started with the Garrett ACE 300

Picture a teenager searching the backyard for lost coins. We would start in Coins mode at a moderate sensitivity and teach them to investigate each repeatable signal from different directions. Use frequency adjust if another detector or a power line causes chatter.

Garrett ACE 300 specifications

Garrett covers the ACE 300 with a 3-year limited parts and labor warranty.

See all our Garrett metal detectors, or compare beginner and intermediate metal detectors.