Ghost BRK Ghost Review

[pan60]

Franklink has done the best job of reviewing any airgun that I’ve ever seen! And to be honest he’s partly the reason I got a ghost the other part was my reveres and seeing that solid receiver! Best airgun I’ve ever shot!

and the reason the Ghost is on my radar

 

[Danman]

Hello fellow Ghost owners, I am officially in the club!! I picked it up today and sighted it in for 40 yards. Thanks to the angled Moa rail it was pretty much dead on out of the box, never had that before. Nice! But I shot it down to about 120 bar and the reg was set to about 145 or so. Gauges are real small! Now my reg after airing up is showing about 165ish!? I had filled to 200bar and stopped. I dry fired it 3 times outside with hammer spring on min to hopefully bring g it back down. Any ideas on what is the deal with it?! I will recheck first thing tomorrow to see if things have changed...hmm. Absolutely an amazing gun to shoot offhand. My brother showed up during the plinking session and murdered 3 cans one after the other with it @40Y.

 

[Franklink]

Hello fellow Ghost owners, I am officially in the club!! I picked it up today and sighted it in for 40 yards. Thanks to the angled Moa rail it was pretty much dead on out of the box, never had that before. Nice! But I shot it down to about 120 bar and the reg was set to about 145 or so. Gauges are real small! Now my reg after airing up is showing about 165ish!? I had filled to 200bar and stopped. I dry fired it 3 times outside with hammer spring on min to hopefully bring g it back down. Any ideas on what is the deal with it?! I will recheck first thing tomorrow to see if things have changed...hmm. Absolutely an amazing gun to shoot offhand. My brother showed up during the plinking session and murdered 3 cans one after the other with it @40Y.

Always fun to see the excitement that comes with a new gun.

If you filled to 200bar and the reg gauge is showing 165 I would think your reg pressure is 165. New .22 HPs are coming with a regulator pressure right around there, or at least the one I recently experienced was.

It really is a pleasant gun for offhand shooting.

So what'd you get? Caliber? And I can't tell by the angle of the photo if that's an HP or Plus length barrel.

 

[Danman]

Always fun to see the excitement that comes with a new gun.

If you filled to 200bar and the reg gauge is showing 165 I would think your reg pressure is 165. New .22 HPs are coming with a regulator pressure right around there, or at least the one I recently experienced was.

It really is a pleasant gun for offhand shooting.

So what'd you get? Caliber? And I can't tell by the angle of the photo if that's an HP or Plus length barrel.

I got the HP IN .22! Played with some pellets from 14.3 crosmans up to 25gr MRDS. With hammer on max the MRDS were one holing @40y almost. (it was a wide one hole). The 14.3 and 16gr were supersonic at power level 10. Gonna set up the chrono for sure tmr night. The 18gr weren't to bad for accuracy either but sounded like they were going to fast for sure.

 

[Danman]

Owner of AGS said they have the .22 slug barrels all tested up and gonna ship them soon hopefully, super exciting! Also hand pumping the 480cc bottle is definitely more work than the little 280cc tank on my S510 . Sadly the 4x16 MTC scope leaves something to be desired. My 2 Hawkes @ half the money have better glass and crisper reticles, and the parallax wheel is literally a workout to adjust.Thought it would be a safe bet on quality as MTC scopes are always in the pictures on the ghost from website.

 

[tec]

Hello fellow Ghost owners, I am officially in the club!! I picked it up today and sighted it in for 40 yards. Thanks to the angled Moa rail it was pretty much dead on out of the box, never had that before. Nice! But I shot it down to about 120 bar and the reg was set to about 145 or so. Gauges are real small! Now my reg after airing up is showing about 165ish!? I had filled to 200bar and stopped. I dry fired it 3 times outside with hammer spring on min to hopefully bring g it back down. Any ideas on what is the deal with it?! I will recheck first thing tomorrow to see if things have changed...hmm. Absolutely an amazing gun to shoot offhand. My brother showed up during the plinking session and murdered 3 cans one after the other with it @40Y.

Read up on how to adjust the regulator, you can increase it under pressure, but if you want to decrease the regulator pressure you need to disconnect the bottle and dry fire until the plenum is basically empty...several posts on how to do that to prevent getting the cocking mechanism "stuck".

 

[Danman]

Read up on how to adjust the regulator, you can increase it under pressure, but if you want to decrease the regulator pressure you need to disconnect the bottle and dry fire until the plenum is basically empty...several posts on how to do that to prevent getting the cocking mechanism "stuck".

Yes! I've seen that. Gonna do the "usual" adjustments for now. The MRDS went from 880 on min to 980 @ max. Completely different animal on those 2 settings. On min it was enjoyable, accurate, and dead. On max it was 'flipping the muzzle' as they say and accuracy suffered a bit, and sounded harsh. However on hammer setting 15, 970ish fps it was accurate. Heres the group @970 with OF COURSE one Mrd flier. One in 5 blackbirds will escape and I can console myself and the ghost that it's just the ammo

 

[Danman]

Here's another group @ 50Y this time with the Mrds, got lucky this time?! Covered the hole with my pinky! So guys the 18grainers are just too fast out of her as you may have experienced! I was thinking go try the H&Ns 21gr pellets... thoughts?

 

[Franklink]

I tried some 21gr H&N from the 23" barrel and seems like the reg pressure was only something like 90bar and I could still get em into that (typically) magical 900fps range. That was with lighter hammer spring and lighter hammer. With a true Ghost HP you still might be a bit fast for the 21gr, since you'll have the HP hammer and likely 0.052" wire hammer spring.

But they did shoot pretty dang good from the 23 inch polygonal rifled HP barrel at about 900fps.

 

[pan60]

what about just moving to the 25g jsbs?

 

[Danman]

what about just moving to the 25g jsbs?

Yes sir. That is what I'm shooting right now along with testing 18.1 Jsbs. The .22 HP in stock form as shipped is an amazing gun but somewhat meh accuracy with the available ammo selection. You tune it way down swap/trim hammer spring and shoot 18s @ 880, get lots of shots.... but so what, my S510 does that and its already my 18gr king. Slugs are a waste of time as well, but once the 700mm slug barrel comes out man o man she will transform into the best of the 4 caliber options available I'm hoping! I've done some groups with the MRDS and today was amazing @ 970fps as per my 50Y picture. Yesterday they were doing excellent on Min going 880fps as well as at 970, today only accurate at 970fps. Looking at my groups to be honest that is a dead starling 7/8 or so out of 10 shots so not bad but will get better. Th 18s are accurate @ 40Y on min but literally fell apart badly @50Y and beyond. That tells me they spin out of control and aren't reliable at that speed. I could hear at about 1080 they were cracking the sound barrier. Again inside 40yards wasn't a problem. Beyond....yikes! Tomorrow I man up and clean the barrel. Haven't done that yet . I will pull it out of the gun to do so. I do believe the above is part of the reason Franklink is shooting (and loving) the .20. Better accuracy, more shot per fill, with decent FPE to boot! The MRDS are just less consistent. Got a tin of the originals. Will try them too!

 

[Solo1]

Glad you’re having fun!!!!

 

[Franklink]

Making some changes to my intended use with the Ghost .20.

As has been covered, for the last 10 months I've been running the Ghost as a tri-tune, utilizing the power wheel.. The .20/13.73 @ 805ish for sub 20 field target (AAFTA). The .20/15.89 @ 910-920 for high power long range pellet usage. And the .20/18.9gr NSA slug at 875ish for long range/high BC uses. Both the .20/15.89 and the .20/18.9 have been used for the long range/high power field target game.

That has worked well, but is compromises in various ways. Since all 3 used the same 128ish bar reg pressure, the sub20fpe tune required a couple wasted shots when the gun was "cold" to get fps up to the 805. And the slugs were also a bit slower than what seems to be optimal for them. I also used the same scope zero for all three, complicating matters. The sub20fpe tune was the baseline, and that meant the scope zero baseline was for it. This resulted in holdUNDERS for the 15.89 and 18.9, a fact that's been annoying me since I started doing it. I think those holdUNDERs have cost me a couple shots here and there.

Well a few weeks ago I added in the 38grain hammer weight, bringing the .20/18.9 up to about 910-915fps, but leaving the reg pressure at that 128bar. So now the slugs are going 910-915fps. I shot the last Ultimate Field Target manner like this, using the holdUNDERS. And after doing so, I've decided to abandon the .20/13.73 in the Ghost, and make it a dedicated 30ish fpe hunter/pester/high power field target'er. So I'm making the .20/18.9grain NSA slug the "primary" or baseline projectile for the Ghost .20. I will also be able to use the .20/15.89s with the same set up. That means that yesterday evening I rezeroed the scope for a 30 yard zero with the 18.9grain slugs, and will no longer have to deal with the frustrating holdUNDERS. The 30 yard slug zero was within a few 1/10mil clicks for a 30 yard zero with the 15.89 JSBs also.

So, long story short, the Ghost .20 will now have dual usage, instead of triple usage. I'm doing away with the ability to (easily) use it for AAFTA field target, but also doing away with some annoyances that I've dealt with for the two long range uses. Yes, I could still pull the hammer weight and rezero to use it for a sub20fpe match, but I REALLY hate rezeroing scopes. AND I've got some other really great sub20fpe options in my gunroom that will go back into rotation for AAFTA type matches.

With how incredibly well this gun/barrel shoots those .20/18.9grain NSA slugs, they really deserve to be this Ghost's primary projectile. This was 10 consecutive shots taken yesterday at 100 yards with a tricky 10-16mph headwind. Two of the ten share a hole, I think the one just to the right and above the printed "9." Anyway, it measures 1 and 5/16" which makes it a 1.2533MOA group. And the large vertical is the headwind. Again, a barrel and non-benchrest gun that shoots a projectile like that needs to be dedicated to THAT projectile.

Calling that highest shot an 8 (might plug up to a 9) and assuming that two shots in one hole situation is the one I think it is...makes this a 92/100, which would be a 230/250. I've shot quite a few 230+s with the .20/18.9 from the Ghost, so that seems reasonable.

 

[Solo1]

Making some changes to my intended use with the Ghost .20.

As has been covered, for the last 10 months I've been running the Ghost as a tri-tune, utilizing the power wheel.. The .20/13.73 @ 805ish for sub 20 field target (AAFTA). The .20/15.89 @ 910-920 for high power long range pellet usage. And the .20/18.9gr NSA slug at 875ish for long range/high BC uses. Both the .20/15.89 and the .20/18.9 have been used for the long range/high power field target game.

That has worked well, but is compromises in various ways. Since all 3 used the same 128ish bar reg pressure, the sub20fpe tune required a couple wasted shots when the gun was "cold" to get fps up to the 805. And the slugs were also a bit slower than what seems to be optimal for them. I also used the same scope zero for all three, complicating matters. The sub20fpe tune was the baseline, and that meant the scope zero baseline was for it. This resulted in holdUNDERS for the 15.89 and 18.9, a fact that's been annoying me since I started doing it. I think those holdUNDERs have cost me a couple shots here and there.

Well a few weeks ago I added in the 38grain hammer weight, bringing the .20/18.9 up to about 910-915fps, but leaving the reg pressure at that 128bar. So now the slugs are going 910-915fps. I shot the last Ultimate Field Target manner like this, using the holdUNDERS. And after doing so, I've decided to abandon the .20/13.73 in the Ghost, and make it a dedicated 30ish fpe hunter/pester/high power field target'er. So I'm making the .20/18.9grain NSA slug the "primary" or baseline projectile for the Ghost .20. I will also be able to use the .20/15.89s with the same set up. That means that yesterday evening I rezeroed the scope for a 30 yard zero with the 18.9grain slugs, and will no longer have to deal with the frustrating holdUNDERS. The 30 yard slug zero was within a few 1/10mil clicks for a 30 yard zero with the 15.89 JSBs also.

So, long story short, the Ghost .20 will now have dual usage, instead of triple usage. I'm doing away with the ability to (easily) use it for AAFTA field target, but also doing away with some annoyances that I've dealt with for the two long range uses. Yes, I could still pull the hammer weight and rezero to use it for a sub20fpe match, but I REALLY hate rezeroing scopes. AND I've got some other really great sub20fpe options in my gunroom that will go back into rotation for AAFTA type matches.

With how incredibly well this gun/barrel shoots those .20/18.9grain NSA slugs, they really deserve to be this Ghost's primary projectile. This was 10 consecutive shots taken yesterday at 100 yards with a tricky 10-16mph headwind. Two of the ten share a hole, I think the one just to the right and above the printed "9." Anyway, it measures 1 and 5/16" which makes it a 1.2533MOA group. And the large vertical is the headwind. Again, a barrel and non-benchrest gun that shoots a projectile like that needs to be dedicated to THAT projectile.

Calling that highest shot an 8 (might plug up to a 9) and assuming that two shots in one hole situation is the one I think it is...makes this a 92/100, which would be a 230/250. I've shot quite a few 230+s with the .20/18.9 from the Ghost, so that seems reasonable.

View attachment 5293View attachment 5292

That barrel is something else!

 

[Danman]

Making some changes to my intended use with the Ghost .20.

As has been covered, for the last 10 months I've been running the Ghost as a tri-tune, utilizing the power wheel.. The .20/13.73 @ 805ish for sub 20 field target (AAFTA). The .20/15.89 @ 910-920 for high power long range pellet usage. And the .20/18.9gr NSA slug at 875ish for long range/high BC uses. Both the .20/15.89 and the .20/18.9 have been used for the long range/high power field target game.

That has worked well, but is compromises in various ways. Since all 3 used the same 128ish bar reg pressure, the sub20fpe tune required a couple wasted shots when the gun was "cold" to get fps up to the 805. And the slugs were also a bit slower than what seems to be optimal for them. I also used the same scope zero for all three, complicating matters. The sub20fpe tune was the baseline, and that meant the scope zero baseline was for it. This resulted in holdUNDERS for the 15.89 and 18.9, a fact that's been annoying me since I started doing it. I think those holdUNDERs have cost me a couple shots here and there.

Well a few weeks ago I added in the 38grain hammer weight, bringing the .20/18.9 up to about 910-915fps, but leaving the reg pressure at that 128bar. So now the slugs are going 910-915fps. I shot the last Ultimate Field Target manner like this, using the holdUNDERS. And after doing so, I've decided to abandon the .20/13.73 in the Ghost, and make it a dedicated 30ish fpe hunter/pester/high power field target'er. So I'm making the .20/18.9grain NSA slug the "primary" or baseline projectile for the Ghost .20. I will also be able to use the .20/15.89s with the same set up. That means that yesterday evening I rezeroed the scope for a 30 yard zero with the 18.9grain slugs, and will no longer have to deal with the frustrating holdUNDERS. The 30 yard slug zero was within a few 1/10mil clicks for a 30 yard zero with the 15.89 JSBs also.

So, long story short, the Ghost .20 will now have dual usage, instead of triple usage. I'm doing away with the ability to (easily) use it for AAFTA field target, but also doing away with some annoyances that I've dealt with for the two long range uses. Yes, I could still pull the hammer weight and rezero to use it for a sub20fpe match, but I REALLY hate rezeroing scopes. AND I've got some other really great sub20fpe options in my gunroom that will go back into rotation for AAFTA type matches.

With how incredibly well this gun/barrel shoots those .20/18.9grain NSA slugs, they really deserve to be this Ghost's primary projectile. This was 10 consecutive shots taken yesterday at 100 yards with a tricky 10-16mph headwind. Two of the ten share a hole, I think the one just to the right and above the printed "9." Anyway, it measures 1 and 5/16" which makes it a 1.2533MOA group. And the large vertical is the headwind. Again, a barrel and non-benchrest gun that shoots a projectile like that needs to be dedicated to THAT projectile.

Calling that highest shot an 8 (might plug up to a 9) and assuming that two shots in one hole situation is the one I think it is...makes this a 92/100, which would be a 230/250. I've shot quite a few 230+s with the .20/18.9 from the Ghost, so that seems reasonable.

View attachment 5293View attachment 5292

Yeah when it's shooting that well it's hard to mess around with lower performing ammo for sure! I just got a new scope for my Ghost after ditching the crappy (1 week old) MTC and have to rezero again ☹. The other option vs figure out your holdover/under would definitely be too much work after a while; figure optimal reg pressure for lighter ammo, test it, record it, maybe mess with spring/hammer weights, rezero scope, then change it all back again...all for what? So you can shoot the lower performing ammo decently close to the heavier stuff? Definitely prefer the 'I have a different gun for that power level' scenario for sure. Also, very nice group, can't wait to push mine out past 50Y!

 

[Franklink]

Yeah when it's shooting that well it's hard to mess around with lower performing ammo for sure! I just got a new scope for my Ghost after ditching the crappy (1 week old) MTC and have to rezero again ☹. The other option vs figure out your holdover/under would definitely be too much work after a while; figure optimal reg pressure for lighter ammo, test it, record it, maybe mess with spring/hammer weights, rezero scope, then change it all back again...all for what? So you can shoot the lower performing ammo decently close to the heavier stuff? Definitely prefer the 'I have a different gun for that power level' scenario for sure. Also, very nice group, can't wait to push mine out past 50Y!

It wasn't that it performed poorly with the. 20/13.73, quite the contrary actually. But more of the fact that I've got other guns that are also REALLY good for the sub20fpe game, but I don't have other guns that shoot the .20/18.9gr slug like the Ghost .20 does.

 

[Franklink]

Added another box of slugs to the empty pile this morning and decided to lay these out for a photo.

This is since Sept of 2022. It represents entire tins or boxes shot solely by the Ghost. Shots taken when experimenting with other possible pellets are not here.

There are...
4x500 of the FX .177/10.34
8x200 of the JSB .22/25.4 Monster RD
11x300 of the NSA .20/18.9 slugs
8x500 of the JSB .20/15.89
13x500 of the JSB .20/13.73
I'm totaling that out to 17,400. I'd guess that the testing of various other pellets and slugs would get it closer to 18,000.

I've enjoyed every shot.

 

[Solo1]

Added another box of slugs to the empty pile this morning and decided to lay these out for a photo.

This is since Sept of 2022. It represents entire tins or boxes shot solely by the Ghost. Shots taken when experimenting with other possible pellets are not here.

There are...
4x500 of the FX .177/10.34
8x200 of the JSB .22/25.4 Monster RD
11x300 of the NSA .20/18.9 slugs
8x500 of the JSB .20/15.89
13x500 of the JSB .20/13.73
I'm totaling that out to 17,400. I'd guess that the testing of various other pellets and slugs would get it closer to 18,000.

I've enjoyed every shot.
View attachment 5507

Its a tough job but someone had to do it! Lol

 

[Danman]

Added another box of slugs to the empty pile this morning and decided to lay these out for a photo.

This is since Sept of 2022. It represents entire tins or boxes shot solely by the Ghost. Shots taken when experimenting with other possible pellets are not here.

There are...
4x500 of the FX .177/10.34
8x200 of the JSB .22/25.4 Monster RD
11x300 of the NSA .20/18.9 slugs
8x500 of the JSB .20/15.89
13x500 of the JSB .20/13.73
I'm totaling that out to 17,400. I'd guess that the testing of various other pellets and slugs would get it closer to 18,000.

I've enjoyed every shot.
View attachment 5507

Would you say that consistency wise the Mrds were the worst out of all them? I mean they'll buck the wind better than any .177 pellet I'm thinking but minus that....

 

[Franklink]

The .22 MRDs were shot for a couple of Ultimate Field Target matches last winter season. At targets out to 100 yards, the .177 isn't an option.

Generally, yes the .22 MRD is JSBs worst offering, when consistency and accuracy are the metric. But for some unknown reason, they shot fairly well out of that BRK barrel. THAT barrel was the best experience I've had from .22 MRDs, and that's across probably 40ish barrels, across various manufacturers and from various guns.

With the .177 and .20 projectiles listed above, they've all been shot straight out of the tin. The closest to a perfect score using the Ghost in a field target match was with the .177/10.34, and it was a 47/48. And I had quite a few matches with scores like 58/60 from the .20/13.73 out of the Ghost, also straight from the tin.

Generally speaking, sorting high quality pellets like JSB is not something that I've found to be worth my time. The .22 MRDs are their outlier-And even sorting won't eliminate subpar accuracy from them.