A big PVC syringe that sucks pickers straight out of bedrock cracks.
Also called a Nugget Sucker, Sucker Stick, or Snipe Stick
DIY Build Plans · Real Dimensions · Sniping Technique · Prospector-Made Gear
ProspectingPA.com · The Toolshed · August 2026
What Is a Sniper Dredge?
"Bedrock is where the gold stops running. A crack in that bedrock is a bank vault. This here is the key."
A sniper dredge is a hand-powered suction tube — picture a giant syringe made of PVC pipe. You've got a length of pipe, a rubber plunger on a rod inside it, a T-handle to pull, and a narrow nozzle on the business end. Jam the nozzle into a bedrock crack, yank the handle, and the vacuum pulls gravel, sand, and gold up into the barrel. Squirt it into your pan and go again.
It is the direct big brother to the snuffer bottle. Same physics, ten times the muscle. Where a snuffer bottle picks individual flakes out of a pan, a sniper dredge rips whole packed crevices out of bedrock. And because there's no motor and no engine, it's legal in a great many waters where a real suction dredge would get you a citation — which matters an awful lot here in the Northeast.
~$15
DIY Cost
1-2 hrs
Build Time
Moderate
Difficulty
$45-54
Store-Bought
SNIPER DREDGE — CUTAWAY (not to scale)
T-handle
╤══╤
││ ← pull rod (all-thread, dowel, or PVC)
││
┌───╫╫───┐
│ ││ │
│ ┌╫╫┐ │ ← RUBBER PLUNGER on the rod.
│ │▓▓│ │ Snug against the pipe wall.
│ └╫╫┘ │ This is the whole machine.
│ │
│ │ ← VACUUM CHAMBER
│ │ 1½" PVC × ~20" long
│ │ (Magnum: 2" PVC × ~28")
│ │
│ │
├────────┤
\ / ← reducer / taper
\ /
│ │ ← NOZZLE
│ │ ~5/8" ID × ~6" long
└──┘ (Magnum: ~3/4" ID)
╲╱
↑ into the crack
PULL the handle = suction, material comes IN
PUSH the handle = ejects material into your pan
Real Dimensions — Copied From the Commercial Units
We're not guessing at these numbers. Below are the published specifications of the two nugget suckers that working prospectors have been buying for years. Build to these and you've built a proven tool.
Dimension
Standard Build
Magnum Build
Pipe size
1½" PVC
2" PVC
Total length
~30"
~36"
Vacuum chamber
1.5" × 20"
2" × 28"
Nozzle inside diameter
~5/8"
~3/4"
Nozzle (suction tip) length
~6"
~6"
Finished weight
~2 lbs
~3 lbs
Handle
T-handle, plated steel or high-density plastic
Same
Plunger
Adjustable-tension rubber
Adjustable-tension rubber
Which size should you build?
Build the 1½" Standard for the Northeast. Here's the reasoning:
Our gold is small. PA and NY glacial gold is fine to flaky; Vermont runs fine flakes with occasional small pickers. You don't need a 3/4" nozzle to pass a Northeast picker.
Our crevices are tight. A 5/8" nozzle gets into cracks the bigger one won't. Reach beats volume when you're crevicing.
Lighter is better. Two pounds at the end of your arm, held at an awkward angle underwater, for an hour. Trust me on this.
Less water to fight. A 2" barrel takes real muscle to pull under water. The 1½" is manageable all day.
Go Magnum only if you're working a big Western river with coarse gravel and chunky gold, or you specifically want the extra chamber volume so you're dumping less often.
Parts List
One trip to the hardware store. If you have a scrap PVC pile you'll spend closer to five dollars than fifteen.
Part
Spec
Notes
Cost
Barrel
1½" Schedule 40 PVC pipe, 22–24" length
Sch 40 is the standard white stuff. Clear PVC is a luxury upgrade — you can watch material come up. Cut a bit long, trim to fit.
$4–6
Nozzle
1/2"–3/4" PVC pipe, ~7" length (finishes at ~6" exposed)
1/2" pipe has roughly a 5/8" ID — that's your target. This is your crevice reach.
$2
Reducer
1½" × 1/2" PVC reducer bushing or reducing coupling
Joins barrel to nozzle. A bushing that glues inside the barrel is cleanest.
$2
Pull rod
1/4"–3/8" stainless all-thread (best), hardwood dowel, or 1/2" PVC pipe
Must be ~6" longer than the barrel. All-thread is the winner — it lets you nut-clamp the plunger and adjust tension later.
$3–4
Plunger
Rubber — see the plunger section below for the four options
The heart of the tool. Get this right and everything works.
$1–4
T-handle
1½" or 1/2" PVC tee + two short stub pieces, OR a steel T-handle
A PVC tee glued on the rod end costs almost nothing and works fine.
$1–2
End cap (guide)
1½" PVC cap with a hole drilled for the rod
Keeps the rod centered and stops the plunger pulling clean out. Highly recommended.
$1
Hardware
Washers + nuts to match your all-thread, PVC cement, sandpaper
Stainless or brass hardware only. Plain steel will rust solid in one season.
$2
Use stainless or brass hardware. Period.
Plain steel nuts and washers sitting in creek water will be a rusted lump by your third trip, and you'll never adjust that plunger again. Spend the extra dollar at the hardware store. Ask me how I know.
Build It — Step by Step
1Cut and deburr the barrel
Cut your 1½" PVC to about 22". Square cuts matter here — a crooked cut makes a bad glue joint. Then sand the inside of the pipe smooth with fine sandpaper wrapped around a dowel, and chamfer the inside edges. Any ridge, burr, or mold seam inside the barrel will chew up your plunger's rubber seal over time. Five minutes of sanding now buys you a season of good suction.
2Glue the reducer and nozzle
Dry-fit first, always. Then prime and cement the reducer bushing into one end of the barrel, and the nozzle pipe into the reducer. Leave about 6 inches of nozzle exposed. Give the cement the full cure time on the can — usually 15 minutes to handle, 2 hours before real force. Rushing PVC cement is how you get a joint that blows apart mid-pull.
3Shape the nozzle tip
Cut the very tip of the nozzle at roughly a 45° angle and sand it smooth. The angled tip is what lets you work the nozzle down into a narrow crack and scrape material toward the opening. Round over all the sharp edges — you'll be handling this thing underwater with cold, clumsy fingers.
4Build the plunger assembly
See the dedicated plunger section below — this is the make-or-break part of the build. Short version: rubber disc(s) sandwiched between two washers on the all-thread, clamped with nuts, sized to press snugly but not tightly against the barrel wall.
5Drill the end cap and fit the rod
Drill a centered hole in the 1½" end cap, sized so your rod slides through freely but without much slop. This cap is your rod guide — it keeps the plunger square in the barrel so it seals evenly. Do not glue this cap on permanently. Friction-fit it, or drill a small hole and use a stainless screw. You will need to get in there to service the plunger, guaranteed.
6Attach the T-handle
Glue a PVC tee onto the top of the rod with two short stubs for grips, or fit a steel T-handle. Test the ergonomics before you commit: hold the tool like you're pulling hard, and make sure you can grip it comfortably with wet hands and get real pulling force behind it. A handle that's too narrow will blister your palm in an hour.
7Drill relief holes (optional but smart)
Drill two or three small (1/8") holes through the barrel wall near the handle end, above where the plunger travels. These let trapped air and excess water escape on the push stroke instead of fighting you. Keep them well above the plunger's top-of-stroke position or you'll break your own vacuum.
8Test in a bucket, then a driveway puddle
Fill a bucket with water and some pea gravel and sand. Pull. You should feel real resistance and see material shoot up into the barrel. If suction is weak, your plunger isn't sealing — go back to step 4. Once it pulls gravel reliably in a bucket, it'll pull gravel out of bedrock. Test at home, not at the creek. There's nothing worse than a two-hour drive to discover your plunger doesn't seal.
The Plunger — The Part That Matters
"Everything else on this tool is a pipe. The plunger is the machine."
The commercial units advertise an adjustable-tension rubber plunger, and the adjustment method is worth understanding because you'll want the same capability: on the store-bought sucker, you open the nozzle end, hold the plunger firmly, and twist the T-handle to tighten or loosen it. Tightening compresses the rubber disc so it spreads wider against the pipe wall — more seal, more suction, more effort. Loosening does the reverse.
Build yours on all-thread with nuts and washers and you get that same adjustment for free. That's the single best reason to choose all-thread over a wooden dowel.
Four plunger options, worst to best
Option
How
Verdict
Toilet plunger cup
Cut a disc from a cheap rubber plunger head
Works, cheap, thick rubber that seals well. Awkward to cut to a clean circle. Perfectly serviceable starter option.
Rubber sheet stack
Cut 2–3 discs from 1/8" rubber sheet or an old inner tube, stack between washers
Very adjustable, cheap, easy to replace in the field if you carry spares. Cutting perfect circles takes patience.
Rubber stopper / cork
Drill a tapered rubber stopper, size it to the pipe ID
Clean and simple. Hard to find the exact right size, and less adjustable once it's set.
O-ring on a plastic disc
Cut a rigid plastic or PVC disc slightly undersize, cut a groove in the edge, seat an O-ring in the groove
Best performance. Smooth action, excellent seal, long life. Most work to build. This is the upgrade you make after your first plunger wears out.
Sizing the plunger — the feel test
Cut or set your plunger so that pushing it down the dry barrel by hand takes steady, firm effort but doesn't require both hands and a grunt. If it slides freely, no suction. If you can barely move it, you'll exhaust yourself in twenty minutes and you'll tear the rubber. Snug, not tight. And remember it'll get a bit easier once wet.
Carry a spare plunger
Cut two or three extra rubber discs when you build and stash them in your pack with a small wrench. A worn plunger is the only failure this tool really has, and it's a five-minute streamside fix if you brought the parts. This is the kind of thing that separates a good day from a ruined one.
Sniping Technique — How to Actually Use It
Sniping is visual prospecting: you get in the water with a mask and snorkel (or just work exposed bedrock at low water), you find the cracks where gold has been trapped, and you extract it directly. No shoveling blind into a sluice. You see the ground you're working. It's the most targeted, most rewarding, and frankly most fun way to chase gold.
Finding the right crack
Bedrock, bedrock, bedrock. Gold stops when it hits something it can't get past. Exposed bedrock in the streambed is the number one target.
Cracks running across the current beat cracks running with it — a perpendicular crack is a trap, a parallel one is a highway.
Upstream side of boulders and behind any obstruction where flow slows down and drops its heavy load.
Packed, compacted material in a crevice is a very good sign. Loose clean gravel means recent high water flushed it. You want the hard-packed stuff with clay and rust staining.
Go deep. Documented accounts have nuggets sitting as much as 18 inches below the surface of a crevice. Don't quit at two inches.
The extraction sequence
Clear the overburden. Move the loose rocks and cobbles off the bedrock by hand. Fan the light sand away with your hand so you can see the crack.
Open the crack with a crevice tool. A pry bar, screwdriver, or geology chisel to break the outer lip and give yourself room to reach deeper. Bedrock often comes apart in sheets — and there's gold between those sheets.
Work the nozzle in and pull. Angled tip into the crack, then steady firm pulls on the handle. Short strokes work better than one heroic yank.
Dump into your pan or a bucket. Push the handle down to eject. Keep a floating pan or a bucket nearby so you're not swimming to shore every load.
Re-work the crack. Scrape again, suck again. A good crevice will produce on the third and fourth pass. Most people quit far too early.
Check your tailings. Pan what you pulled before you move on — it tells you whether this crack is worth another twenty minutes.
The underwater viewer — build this too, it's free
A "periscope" or snipe scope lets you see the bottom clearly through broken surface water, and you can build one from scrap in twenty minutes: take a foot-long piece of 3" ABS or PVC pipe, silicone a piece of plexiglass across one end (sandwiched between the pipe and a union ring for protection), and file a few small channels around the rim so trapped air can escape when you set it in the water. Keep the big one to about 12" long — the deeper you plunge it, the more it fights to float. A narrower 1½" or 2" version at ~18" long gets you into shallow cracks the big one won't reach. This tip comes courtesy of a California prospector via the Gold Fever reader library, and it's one of the best free upgrades in prospecting.
The hoof pick trick
The best cheap crevice tool going is a horse hoof-cleaning pick from a pet or farm supply store. A few dollars, perfect shape for scraping crevices and cleaning bedrock. Get one with a bright handle so you don't lose it in the creek. Word of caution from the prospector who shared this one: the cheap pet-store versions have softer metal that bends more easily than the farm-supply ones — but at that price, buy two.
Safety in the water
Never move a boulder that could roll onto you or trap a hand or foot. Ever. Gold isn't worth a crushed hand miles from a road.
Cold water saps you fast. Northeast creeks run cold well into summer. Wetsuit or drysuit if you're submerged for any length of time; watch for shivering and get out early.
Never snipe alone in moving water. Bring a partner or at minimum tell someone your exact plan and return time.
Watch the water level — upstream rain can raise a creek surprisingly fast, and check USGS streamflow gauges before you go.
Footing. Wet bedrock and algae are treacherous. Felt or studded boots earn their money.
Legal — Read This Before You Build
The good news: no motor, no engine
A sniper dredge is hand-powered. It has no motor, no pump, no engine, and no sluice. That's exactly why prospectors buy them — as the vendors put it, a non-motorized dredge is "perfect for places where you cannot use motorized dredges." That covers a lot of water in the Northeast.
But "hand dredge" is still the word "dredge" — and that matters
Regulations vary hard by state and by individual water body, and the terminology in the statutes doesn't always distinguish neatly between a motorized suction dredge and a hand-powered sucker tube. Some specifics we know:
Vermont: dredges are BANNED. Hand panning is free on state land with no permit; a sluice requires a permit ($25/$50). Do not take a hand dredge to a Vermont stream assuming the no-motor exemption covers you — it does not.
Pennsylvania and New York: hand panning is the safe, established activity. Anything that disturbs the streambed more aggressively moves you into permit territory. Check current PA DEP / NY DEC rules for the specific water.
Always check the specific water body, not just the state. Wild & Scenic designations, state parks, fish habitat protections, and stocked trout waters all carry extra restrictions.
Our code: we prospect free and legal on public land, and we stay out of trouble. Call the state agency and ask before you use a hand dredge in a new water. One phone call, and you never have to look over your shoulder.
Where this tool really shines legally
Low-water sniping on exposed bedrock. Late summer, water's down, bedrock is dry or ankle-deep. You're not in the stream channel disturbing habitat — you're working rock that's out of the water. That's the least-regulated, lowest-impact, and often most productive way to use this tool. It's also just a beautiful way to spend a day.
Pitfalls & Fixes
Problem
Cause
Fix
Weak or no suction
Plunger not sealing against the barrel wall
Tighten the nuts to compress and spread the rubber. If it's worn or torn, replace the disc.
Plunger sticks and binds
Over-tightened, or grit inside the barrel scoring the rubber
Back the nuts off slightly. Flush the barrel with clean water after every session.
Nozzle clogs solid
Sucking oversize gravel; nozzle ID too small for the material
Clear cobbles by hand before you suck. Push-eject to blow the clog back out. Don't try to inhale rocks.
Glue joint failed
Rushed cement cure, or dirty/unprimed joint
Cut it out and redo with primer + full cure time. This is a high-force tool; joints must be right.
Rod bent or snapped
Wooden dowel, or undersized all-thread, plus a hard yank on a stuck nozzle
Step up to 3/8" stainless all-thread. Never yank hard on a jammed nozzle — work it loose first.
Hardware rusted solid
Plain steel nuts and washers
Stainless or brass only. Rebuild the plunger assembly with proper hardware.
Exhausting to use
Barrel too big (2" underwater is real work) or plunger too tight
Loosen the plunger a touch. If you built the Magnum and regret it, build a 1½" — you'll use it more.
Tool floated away
PVC floats. Obviously.
Lanyard it to your wrist or your float. Ask any sniper how they learned this.
Losing gold on the eject
Ejecting into moving water instead of a pan
Always eject into a pan, bucket, or floating tub. Never straight into the current.
Buy It Right — Prospector-Made Only
"Made by gold prospectors for gold prospectors." That's the phrase we look for.
If you'd rather buy than build, these are the outfits we'll point you at. The commercial nugget suckers run $45–54, and every one below comes from a shop with prospectors in it.
Gold Buddy — Sniper / Magnum Nugget Sucker
The original. This is the unit whose specs this whole build guide is based on.
Prospector-MadeUSA
Gold Buddy's Nugget Sucker is the reference standard: 1½" PVC, ~30" long, 20" vacuum chamber, 5/8" sucker, adjustable-tension rubber plunger, plated steel T-handle, 2 lbs. The Magnum steps up to 2" pipe / 36" / 28" chamber / 3/4" sucker at ~3 lbs for about nine dollars more. Available through Gold Fever Prospecting and other independent outfitters. These sell out regularly — a good sign.
High Plains Prospectors — Nugget Sucker Hand Suction Dredge
"Made by gold prospectors for gold prospectors." Small Kansas family shop.
Family BusinessOlathe, KS
The High Plains hand-held suction dredge: 2" PVC, ~39" total, 2" × 25" vacuum chamber, 1" × 8.5" nozzle, high-density plastic ball handle, 2 lbs, around $50. They also carry a Backpacker version sized for a pack. A genuinely small operation run by folks who describe themselves as "a couple Midwest boys and girls who enjoy getting out there." highplainsprospectors.com
Gold-N-Sand — Quick Sniper Hand Dredge
Purpose-built for deep cracks and crevices. Ergonomic, low-cost, environmentally-minded design.
Prospector-MadeOregon
Gold-N-Sand has been manufacturing effective, low-cost, ergonomic prospecting tools for years out of Oregon. The Quick Sniper is a non-motorized hand tool made specifically for getting gold out of deep cracks and crevices. Available through independent dealers like Prospecting Supplies.
Proline Mining Equipment
Founded by a working miner. Three decades of building gear that survives real use.
Prospector-FoundedCoulterville, CA
Founded by Mike Kuykendall, who's been mining and developing products for well over three decades. Proline was "born out of a need for durable prospecting and small scale alluvial mining products" — the classic story of a prospector who got fed up with gear that broke and started building his own. Worth knowing for when you graduate to bigger equipment. prolinemining.com
Honest math: build vs. buy
A commercial nugget sucker is $45–54. Your DIY version runs about $15 in parts and 1–2 hours of shop time. The commercial units are genuinely good tools — properly molded plungers, better handles, and they last. But this is a simple machine, and a careful home build performs the same. Build first. If you fall in love with sniping, buy a good one as your primary and keep the homemade one as your backup and loaner. That's how you get a friend into prospecting.
Quick Reference Card
🎯 Sniper Dredge — Field Card
BUILD SPECS (Standard — recommended for the Northeast)
Barrel: 1½" Sch 40 PVC, ~22" (chamber ~20")
Nozzle: 1/2" PVC (~5/8" ID), 6" exposed, tip cut at 45°
Gold Fever Prospecting (Motherlode Outfitters) — "Sniper Gold Nugget Sucker Stick" product specifications (Gold Buddy Standard and Magnum dimensions, plunger tension-adjustment method, stroke-frequency guidance), plus "Crevicing + Sniping for Gold Nuggets" and "Low Water Sniping for Gold" technique articles. goldfeverprospecting.com/snipersuction.html
Gold Fever Prospecting — "Build Your Own Gold Prospecting Equipment - Plans" — Reader-submitted DIY library. Source of the underwater viewer/periscope build (Roy Madewell, CA), the hoof-pick crevice tool tip (Bill Westcott, CA), and the bedrock-sheet prying insight (Dave Peck, NV). goldfeverprospecting.com/mayoowngopre.html
High Plains Prospectors / High Plains Wholesale — Nugget Sucker and Backpacker Nugget Sucker published specifications (2" PVC, 39" total, 2"×25" chamber, 1"×8.5" nozzle, high-density plastic ball handle, 2 lbs). highplainsprospectors.com
Nevada Outback Gems — "Build Your Own Homemade Mining Equipment," fabrication guidance from a Mackay School of Mines-trained mining engineer and ICMJ Mining Journal columnist. nevada-outback-gems.com
Mother Earth News — "An Introduction to Gold Sniping." Source of the crevice-lip breaking technique and the documented depth of nuggets (as much as 18 inches below the crevice surface). motherearthnews.com
Gold Rush Nuggets — "Sniping for gold. Placer gold prospecting" — mask-and-snorkel visual prospecting methodology and high-grade pocket evaluation. goldrushnuggets.com
Gold-N-Sand — Quick Sniper Hand Dredge, manufacturer description. gold-n-sand.com
Proline Mining Equipment — Company background and founder history (Mike Kuykendall, Coulterville CA). prolinemining.com
TreasureNet & Colorado Prospector forums — "Classic Gold Snuffing Bulb or Homemade PVC Pipe Sucker?", "Anyone have experience making a hand dredge for cleaning out cracks?", and "DIY PVC Crevicing Hand Dredge Pump" threads — community plunger designs and PVC fitting salvage practice.
Vermont DEC — Vermont gold panning legal framework (hand pan free on state land; sluice permit $25/$50; dredges banned). Cross-referenced in our Vermont Gold Package.
Build dimensions are derived from the published specifications of the Gold Buddy and High Plains commercial nugget suckers. Photos of our own build coming soon.