Garrett Scorpion Gold Stinger
Price: $550
Avg. Score: 
3.84
Based on 25 reviews
3.84Based on 25 reviews
Avg. Durability:
5.00
Avg. Ease of use:
4.00
No luck with ground balancing mine.
June 23, 2010
I bought one 2 weeks ago. As soon as I turn it on it humms and wont stop no
matter what knob I turn and no matter how many times I push the reset
button. I've spun those 10 turn knobs till the cows come home and no
change. I get 5 beeps telling me that the batteries are good so the problem
is not low batteries. Going to take it back and have the dealer I bought it
from go over it with me. Hopefully I'm stupid and the machine is ok.
Overall Rating
Chris from
Southern Calif.
2921
Gold/Coin hunter
March 07, 2010
My wife bought me a scorpion because I prospect for gold. However, I have
used it to find coins and relics. I did practice with different targets to
get a good idea of what the sounds were telling me. it does take awhile to
tune the ground balance while looking for gold.Plan to dig up a lot of trash when looking for coins. Not for the beginner.
Overall Rating
Willy from
Blackfoot ID
375
Great lil' Detector
July 09, 2009
Bought one, put in my reccomended 100 hrs learning it, liked it so well,
bought another, got 2, they work fine (NO DETECTOR WORKS FINE IF YOU DON'T
LEARN HOW TO OPERATE IT PROPERLY), It works great does what it was designed
to do very well, light, easy to use, takes bout 2 1/2 min to change the
batteries every 30 hrs or so, theyr'e OK detectors*****, five =count em
Overall Rating
Bugar from
Indiana USA
4710
Upgrade Charles!
March 28, 2009
I wish Garrett would go back to the American AM-2 or other. I do not like
plastic made Detectors or cheap made knobs that feel like they will fall
off. I also do not like the the fact that Garrett (his name on it), Does
not work smaller. Your electronics are out of the times. Get modern with
smaller knobs, box and a single 9v or two battery. This detector works ok
for the 80's and that is it! I have much repect for this man Garrett but we
need more that you have here.
Overall Rating
Bill, from
Portland Oregon
2439
High school graduate required
January 31, 2009
Its very good if you can read and follow instructions. Its the best I ever
had. It does exactly what it should do, find gold!
Overall Rating
Dave roberson from
Las vegas nv
209
Take Your Time!
December 17, 2008
I purchased the Stinger nearly 2 years ago as a first detector. Living in
California, I dreamt of finding gold in them thar hills.The Gold Stinger arrived and, per others' comments, read and re-read the manual before even turning the detector on. This helped a lot. Then, I practiced in the yard to get the feel of all metal and motion discrim. When I felt ready, I hit the hills.
After owning this detector for nearly two years, here are my thoughts:
Pros -
* Deep in All Metal. Although I haven't found any gold nuggets yet, I have hit other items like a .45 bullet at about 14". I'm confident that if there was gold, I would have found it.
* Easy Motion Discriminate. Coin hunting in parks is easy to do in this setting. Although you have to manually pinpoint, that's very simple, especially after watching the video and practicing.
* Light! This detector is very light and well balanced. I can swing for hours without my arm tiring.
* Long battery life. On (3) 9 volt batteries, I average about 25 hours, with headphones.
* Rugged! I've dropped it, stepped on it, and even got sand in the control box, and this machine kept on going.
Cons -
* Manual Ground Balance! This is an issue when searching in All Metal Mode in mineralized ground. In one area, I had to balance this machine every few steps. Finally got frustrated and switched to Motion Discriminate Mode.
* Motion Disriminate depth. If you want to hunt coins in the park, expect to get only about 6"-7" depth max. Even on quarters. DO NOT USE ALL METAL MODE IN PARKS! It will drive you nuts as it will never stop making noise.
* One tone ID. Because this machine has only one tone, expect to dig a lot of trash. When coin hunting, keep the Discrimination around 6-7 and depth at the arrow. This will help reduce bad targets. Also, listen to the beeps. Practice and get familiar with what it's telling you.
* Batteries. As stated above, this machine uses (3) 9 volt batteries. These are situated in the control box on the circuit board. To change the batteries, you must disassemble the housing. Kind of a pain! Would prefer AA batteries as they would probably be easier to replace and less expensive.
All together, I'm pleased with the machine as I'm familiar with what it can do and what its limitations are. I have found a ton of coins, jewelry, some relics and other cool items.
But, having to do it all over again, I would save my money for a better gold detector like the Whites MXT. I have tried it and feel it is better equipped to handle the mineralized ground and all around detecting.
If you buy the Garrett Scorpion Gold Stinger, just remember to practice, practice, practice. Expect to put in an easy 100 hours to get familiar with it.
I hope this info helps.
Overall Rating
Robin from
Pasadena, Ca. USA
1675
Gold stinger
November 08, 2008
The gold stinger looks easy to use and it is, But not for a beginner. The
manual says it takes 100 hours of operation to learn it. They mean it
too.That's time spent learning not just with it turned on. If your not one to put effort into learning this is not for you, but once learned it's hard to beat.
Overall Rating
Longwalker from
Tacoma, Wa.
415
Disapointed prospector
October 17, 2007
I got my stinger three years ago and have worked with it all this time, it
has never functioned properly for me, very hard to change the batts,the
discrimanator knobs are a pain have never found any thing worth while
except a metal cable buried about three inches on a nugget shot trip to Az.
wasted trip. I wouldn't recomend this machine to my worst enemy. I been
stung.
Overall Rating
Danny I've been stung from
Cedaredge Colorado
5222
GROUND BALANCE
August 16, 2007
The key to using the Scorpion to find gold is proper ground balance. It has
to be perfect. When the ground balance is adjusted correctly, it will weed
out most hot rocks, etc and respond strongly to gold.I think the detector is a little difficult to use. This is mostly due to really poor user manual instructions. I sent Garrett some emails and received brief responses that did not help much. If you purchase a stinger, do the bench testing and spend about 4 hours just learning how to use it properly before you actually go out hunting.
It is also difficult to change out the batteries, especially when you are in the field.
If you are interested in gold only, I would recommend being patient and saving your money for something in the $700-$800 range. If it is the most you can afford then go for it. The Scorpion can also be used for coin shooting and general treasure hunting which is a really nice feature. I believe it works really well when used for those purposes. I think Garrett needs to revise this detector. Remember, proper ground balance is the key.
Overall Rating
Don from
Arizona
504
Garrett should upgrade this model.
April 23, 2007
I also tried this detector all over the Rockies for 6 months, and traded it
in for a White's MXT.Scorpion lacks depth, pinpointing ability and the ability to detect small gold nuggets.
MXT is far superior in every way. Worth it to spend the extra few hundred dollars.
Overall Rating
Ken from
Colorado
359