Garrett ACE 300 Metal Detector with 7x10 Coil

The Garrett ACE 300 is the workhorse single-frequency VLF that we recommend when a detectorist wants real iron handling, an adjustable 8 kHz frequency, and a 0 to 99 digital target ID, without paying for features they will not use yet. It sits in a sweet spot inside the Garrett lineup: more capable than the ACE 200, simpler and lighter than the AT or Apex platforms, and built around a 7 by 10 inch concentric search coil that pulls clean signals out of mineralized turf and worked-over coin sites. We sell the Garrett ACE 300 to detectorists who already know what they want from a midweight VLF and want to stop fighting their machine.

Why Detectorists Choose the Garrett ACE 300

• Adjustable 8 kHz operating frequency lets us shift off interference from power lines, club hunts, and nearby detectors without losing depth on common coin and jewelry targets.
• Four-segment iron discrimination, twice the resolution of the ACE 250, lets us notch out bottle caps and rusted nails while keeping nickels, small jewelry, and brass buttons in the audio.
• 0 to 99 digital target ID with a three-tone audio scheme gives us enough resolution to call quarters from copper pennies before the coil leaves the target.
• Eight sensitivity levels paired with an adjustable notch let us tune for hot dirt, EMI-heavy parks, and quieter relic ground without leaving the menu.
• Cam-lock stem and a 2.8 lb total weight let us swing the Garrett ACE 300 for several hours without the wrist fatigue that older ACE shafts caused.
• Waterproof 7 by 10 inch concentric coil handles wet grass, stream banks, and shallow freshwater without babying the coil.

What Ships in the Box

• Garrett ACE 300 control housing on a cam-lock adjustable stem
• 7 by 10 inch PROformance concentric searchcoil with rubber coil cover
• Environmental control housing cover
• Four AA batteries (installed)
• English owner's manual and Garrett product registration card
• 3-year Garrett limited parts and labor warranty (US)

Where the Garrett ACE 300 Earns Its Keep

Old Parks, Turf, and Town Greens

Mature park turf is where this machine shines. The 8 kHz frequency reads US silver coinage with stable target IDs in the high 70s through high 80s, and the concentric coil's cone-shaped detection field gives a tight, predictable footprint when we are working between tree roots and irrigation lines. Old picnic areas, demolished bandstands, and fenceline strips around historic greens are realistic targets. We have found that switching off Coins mode and dropping into Custom with one extra notch closed lets us pull deeper wheat cents past pulltab depth.

• Search Mode: Coins, then Custom for selective digs
• Sensitivity: 6 to 7 (drop to 5 in EMI-heavy lots)
• Iron Discrimination: 2 segments closed
• Pinpoint: short pulses, 45 degree X-pattern over the strongest tone
• Coil: stock 7 by 10 inch concentric, kept low and level

Park hunters who want consistent target ID at depth without learning multi-frequency menus get a workable, repeatable setup here.

Old Homesites, Cellar Holes, and Relic Fields

The Garrett ACE 300 is not a relic-only machine, but on plowed fields and old homestead sites the Iron Check graphic and 4-segment iron resolution earn their reputation. We watch the discrimination pattern while we sweep, and we dig anything with a non-iron pixel mixed in. Brass buttons, large copper, and broken silver come up readable on the scale, and the 7 by 10 inch concentric coil separates targets cleanly when iron trash is heavy.

• Search Mode: Relics
• Sensitivity: 7 (lower in mineralized red dirt)
• Iron Discrimination: open all iron, watch Iron Check pixels
• Audio: standard three-tone, listen for mixed signals
• Coil: stock 7 by 10 inch concentric, slow overlapping sweeps

Freshwater Shorelines and Wet Grass

The 7 by 10 inch concentric coil is fully submersible, so we run the Garrett ACE 300 right up to lake edges, creek banks, and saturated turf after rain. The control housing itself is not waterproof, so we keep the housing dry above the splash line and rinse the coil at the end of the day. The detector is not engineered for saltwater or wet salt sand, where mineralization will overwhelm the fixed factory ground balance, and we steer customers to an AT-series machine when surf hunting is the goal.

• Search Mode: Jewelry
• Sensitivity: 6, drop to 4 if the coil is fully wet and chatter starts
• Iron Discrimination: 1 segment closed to keep small gold in
• Pinpoint: use sparingly in soft sand to avoid drift
• Coil: stock 7 by 10 inch concentric, fully submersible to coil cable joint

Technology Under the Hood

Adjustable 8 kHz Single-Frequency VLF

Garrett's adjustable frequency on the Garrett ACE 300 is not a multi-frequency engine, it is a fine tuning control on the same 8 kHz core. When two detectors are within a few feet of each other, or when overhead power is bleeding into the coil, we step the frequency a notch and the chatter drops out. For a single-frequency machine, 8 kHz is a good general purpose choice that covers US clad, copper, and most small to mid-size jewelry without giving up too much depth on silver.

Iron Check and Graphic Target Analyzing

The Iron Check feature lights up the iron pixels on the screen even when the audio has been notched out. We use it on relic ground to confirm that a high-tone dig is not actually a wraparound from a deep iron mass. Graphic Target Analyzing layers the discrimination pattern onto the target ID readout, so we can see at a glance which segments the detector is rejecting and adjust on the fly without diving into a settings tree.

Build Quality and Ergonomics

Shaft, Cam-Locks, and Carrying Weight

The cam-lock stem is the upgrade ACE 250 owners notice first. Lock the upper and lower sections in once, and the assembled length stays put through a full hunt instead of slowly collapsing under weight. Total assembled weight of the Garrett ACE 300 is 2.8 lbs, and the adjustable length runs from 42 to 51 inches, which fits hunters from roughly 5 foot 2 to 6 foot 5.

Battery and Power

The detector runs on 4 AA batteries, included from the factory. We tell customers to plan for 20 to 40 hours of runtime depending on volume and headphone use, and to carry a spare set of lithium AAs for cold-weather hunts where alkaline performance falls off.

Audio Output and Headphones

Three-Tone Audio and 1/4 Inch Jack

The ACE 300 outputs three audio tones tied to the target ID scale, low for iron, mid for nickels and pulltabs, high for copper and silver. The 1/4 inch headphone jack lives on the back of the control housing under a rubber boot. Headphones are not included on this configuration, and we recommend any standard 1/4 inch detector headphone for tone separation in noisy parks.

Coil Options

The Stock 7 by 10 Inch Concentric

The included coil is a 7 by 10 inch PROformance concentric, not a DD. Concentric coils give a cone-shaped detection field that is very accurate for pinpointing and target ID, with slightly less ground coverage per sweep than an equivalent DD design. For most coin, jewelry, and shallow relic hunting on cleaner ground, this is the coil we would recommend out of the box. Detectorists weighing the trade-off between coil shapes can read our DD vs concentric coil guide before adding aftermarket options.

Optional Coils for the ACE Platform

The Garrett ACE 300 accepts the full ACE family of swappable coils. A 4.5 inch Super Sniper helps us pick targets out of trashy boot-stomp areas around old foundations. A 9 by 12 inch concentric or 8.5 by 11 inch DD Raider gives more ground coverage on open turf and beach edges, at the cost of some pinpointing precision. All ACE searchcoils are submersible to the coil cable connection.

Garrett ACE 300 Specifications

• Operating Frequency: 8 kHz, adjustable
• Search Modes: 5 (Zero, Jewelry, Custom, Relics, Coins) plus Pinpoint
• Target ID: Digital 0 to 99
• Audio Tone ID: 3 tones
• Iron Discrimination Segments: 4
• Notch Discrimination: Adjustable
• Sensitivity / Depth Adjustments: 8 levels
• Pinpoint Mode: Yes, non-motion all-metal
• Standard Searchcoil: 7 by 10 inch concentric PROformance, submersible
• Adjustable Length: 42 to 51 inches (1.06 m to 1.29 m)
• Total Weight: 2.8 lbs (1.27 kg)
• Power: 4 AA batteries (included)
• Battery Condition Indicator: Yes
• Stem Hardware: Cam-locks for stem stability
• Headphones: Not included, 1/4 inch jack on housing
• Warranty: 3-year Garrett limited parts and labor

Why Buy the Garrett ACE 300 from Serious Detecting

We are an authorized Garrett dealer, so every Garrett ACE 300 we ship is covered by the full 3-year Garrett limited warranty, registered against your name, and bench-checked before it leaves our Michigan warehouse. We stand behind the price with our price-match policy, free US shipping, and 30-day returns. Our team detects on weekends with these machines, so when a customer calls about ground balance behavior, headphone compatibility, or stepping up to the Garrett ACE 400 for iron audio and a DD coil, we answer from the field, not from a script. We pair a lot of ACE 300s with the Garrett Pro-Pointer AT, and we will help size the right bundle before checkout.