Ghost Ghost intermittently not cocking/firing 😕

[Danman]

Good day all, I got permission to shoot at the inlaws greenhouse today so i topped the Ghost up to 250B from 220 and grabbed all my gear.
Set up everything and shot my 2 springers first, good times!

Last up was the Ghost, its been a while and I was beyond excited to lay down some groups with it. Last time I shot it everything was fine, and its been in its case in the house since. Set up @ 50Y and plopped the mag in, cocked the gun and noticed it didn't feel right. The trigger pull was kinda gross & ....no shot rang out! There I sat, indoors at a brand new permission with a gun that may or not be loaded and live. After cocking and pulling mag out so i wouldn't double feed and cycling arm & trigger a few times it finally fired the pellet out, almost hit the bull too!
I reloaded and tried again with the exact same results. Flustered I packed it all in.

Later in my shop I dry fired it probably 8 times and zero issue?!?!! Just now I retried it and its messed up again. I pulled the safety out and rear linkage cover with cassette and it looks OK.
Cocking it and listening it sounds like after the lever is back i here something engaging (delayed!) afterwards occasionally. I always wanted to get the trigger nicer but im not sure if its just a sear engagement issue? Any ideas fellow Ghosters, im at a bit of a loss!?

 

[Solo1]

Good day all, I got permission to shoot at the inlaws greenhouse today so i topped the Ghost up to 250B from 220 and grabbed all my gear.
Set up everything and shot my 2 springers first, good times!

Last up was the Ghost, its been a while and I was beyond excited to lay down some groups with it. Last time I shot it everything was fine, and its been in its case in the house since. Set up @ 50Y and plopped the mag in, cocked the gun and noticed it didn't feel right. The trigger pull was kinda gross & ....no shot rang out! There I sat, indoors at a brand new permission with a gun that may or not be loaded and live. After cocking and pulling mag out so i wouldn't double feed and cycling arm & trigger a few times it finally fired the pellet out, almost hit the bull too!
I reloaded and tried again with the exact same results. Flustered I packed it all in.

Later in my shop I dry fired it probably 8 times and zero issue?!?!! Just now I retried it and its messed up again. I pulled the safety out and rear linkage cover with cassette and it looks OK.
Cocking it and listening it sounds like after the lever is back i here something engaging (delayed!) afterwards occasionally. I always wanted to get the trigger nicer but im not sure if its just a sear engagement issue? Any ideas fellow Ghosters, im at a bit of a loss!?

It might be the lube on the sears. Mine does that first shot when it cold out. Try cleaning and don’t lube. It could also be that the rod that goes from trigger to sear is set for a bit too little engagement as the metal rod shrinks with the cold.

 

[Danman]

It might be the lube on the sears. Mine does that first shot when it cold out. Try cleaning and don’t lube. It could also be that the rod that goes from trigger to sear is set for a bit too little engagement as the metal rod shrinks with the cold.

Thats the funny thing it sat toasty in the greenhouse for at least an hour while I shot the 2 springers. Its fairly moist in there but very warm at least, probably around 70degrees. There is a fair amount of grease on the first stage spring i noticed.....I think ill pull it apart, work on the 2 springs, and set up the trigger a bit better. Is the little pin on the rear brass portion on the linkage rod supposed to be real loose? I took the rear cassette out flipped the ghost on its side and the pin slid out of one of the brass ears.
Do you think I should try unthread the brass part one turn then?

 

[Solo1]

No dont change the length of the rod! You may have just had some moisture freezing from what you describe

 

[Danman]

I'd like to clarify a bit, the rifle cocks everytime and lever stays in the latched (rear) position no problem with the hammer getting set, but it is not firing ie releasing the hammer to strike the valve. It must be linkage or trigger related im thinking....ripping in currently & i will count threads on that brass piece if i remove it!

 

[Danman]

99% sure I got it!
I've watched @Sub12airgunners Ghost vids and read all of @Franklinks and others ghost info but it never quite clicks till you take it apart yourself sometimes.
I looked at what could be hindering the trigger linkage pull-length and I noticed the safety set screw is threaded mighty far in (can see that in the 2nd picture with safety mechanism removed).

I backed it off a full turn and it cocked and reset probably a dozen times with the gun up, sideways, and upside down lol. Not convinced, I put it in timeout for 15 mins in -6C temps. Brought it back in & tried again...100% again. Shoved it over the floor register and sped up the warming process and kept cycling the action countless times - so far it has worked 100% of the time and it feels 'right' again. The safety itself is working fine still.
Why it happened now is a mystery....I have never touched the trigger till this day on it, but the screw had no resistance either, a drop of blue locktite may be in order.

 

[Danman]

Sometimes when you dont know what caused a problem or what fixed it, you try to recreate it.
I've been wanting to do-over my trigger in the worst way (most ghost owners knows what I'm talking about)
Imagine....a stiff hard first stage, a creepy gritty second stage, and as the 2 pound-ish trigger breaks the entire trigger cassette shifts in your fingers grip, giving you an even less decisive feel.
So tonight I gutted the ghost and tried getting the trigger cassette out. MAAAANNN was that little keeper pin in tight! Visegrips, lube, and some (waaaay more than I was comfortable with) rocking back and it finally came free. I replaced the 1st stage spring and took 1 full coil of the second stage spring. Getting it off took a bit of heat, counting threads, and a flat blade and she came free.
After some adjustments the trigger feels soooo much better now. Light first stage, light second stage, crisp break and ZERO CREEP!!
First time taking the rear hammer housing off and alot of the bolt threads looked angry....I rethreaded every single bolt and the holes too. In the pic you will see the 2 thread sizes. All I can say is thank you @Franklink, @Solo1, and @Sub12 airgunners for the in-depth trigger mod info, shoulda did this sooner!

 

[Dogowski]

Sometimes when you dont know what caused a problem or what fixed it, you try to recreate it.
I've been wanting to do-over my trigger in the worst way (most ghost owners knows what I'm talking about)
Imagine....a stiff hard first stage, a creepy gritty second stage, and as the 2 pound-ish trigger breaks the entire trigger cassette shifts in your fingers grip, giving you an even less decisive feel.
So tonight I gutted the ghost and tried getting the trigger cassette out. MAAAANNN was that little keeper pin in tight! Visegrips, lube, and some (waaaay more than I was comfortable with) rocking back and it finally came free. I replaced the 1st stage spring and took 1 full coil of the second stage spring. Getting it off took a bit of heat, counting threads, and a flat blade and she came free.
After some adjustments the trigger feels soooo much better now. Light first stage, light second stage, crisp break and ZERO CREEP!!
First time taking the rear hammer housing off and alot of the bolt threads looked angry....I rethreaded every single bolt and the holes too. In the pic you will see the 2 thread sizes. All I can say is thank you @Franklink, @Solo1, and @Sub12 airgunners for the in-depth trigger mod info, shoulda did this sooner!

Wow Danman what an epic tuning and repair project my friend. Great to see you tackling this big project. Bravo!

 

[duchunter007]

What do you have your trigger pull set at now? Good job with all of that work on the trigger.
Idaho Airguns polished the triggers for me, but I still couldn't get them under 1.2oz; they felt way better after polishing. I then sent my Ghosts to Tenious Airguns to have them work on my tiggers, and they are working awesome now. I had them set to 8oz.

 

[Danman]

What do you have your trigger pull set at now? Good job with all of that work on the trigger.
Idaho Airguns polished the triggers for me, but I still couldn't get them under 1.2oz; they felt way better after polishing. I then sent my Ghosts to Tenious Airguns to have them work on my tiggers, and they are working awesome now. I had them set to 8oz.

Oh wow, I dont shoot anything under a pound as i pest mostly.
In the one pic I show my digital trigger gauge showing the average of 5 pulls on screen (1lb 3oz) It was averaging just under 2pounds before and it was a bit much. Not my worst complaint though with it, mostly that heavy first stage spring and the creep...so much creep. All gone now!
The Ghost is staying in pieces for now as my dad (also my machinist) is making me a new pin for the trigger cassette a couple thou thicker.

I went a little cross-eyed last night unthreading that brass link and went a half turn too much....guess what; trigger didn't work again, backed it off half a turn and its firing perfectly. Problem recreated. I'll shoot it at this weight and if I want lighter i'll clip 1 more coil (spring in first pic).

 

[duchunter007]

Oh wow, I dont shoot anything under a pound as i pest mostly.
In the one pic I show my digital trigger gauge showing the average of 5 pulls on screen (1lb 3oz) It was averaging just under 2pounds before and it was a bit much. Not my worst complaint though with it, mostly that heavy first stage spring and the creep...so much creep. All gone now!
The Ghost is staying in pieces for now as my dad (also my machinist) is making me a new pin for the trigger cassette a couple thou thicker.

I went a little cross-eyed last night unthreading that brass link and went a half turn too much....guess what; trigger didn't work again, backed it off half a turn and its firing perfectly. Problem recreated. I'll shoot it at this weight and if I want lighter i'll clip 1 more coil (spring in first pic).

I picked 8oz as I shot mostly bench with them, but it will still work for pesting as well.

 

[Solo1]

Oh wow, I dont shoot anything under a pound as i pest mostly.
In the one pic I show my digital trigger gauge showing the average of 5 pulls on screen (1lb 3oz) It was averaging just under 2pounds before and it was a bit much. Not my worst complaint though with it, mostly that heavy first stage spring and the creep...so much creep. All gone now!
The Ghost is staying in pieces for now as my dad (also my machinist) is making me a new pin for the trigger cassette a couple thou thicker.

I went a little cross-eyed last night unthreading that brass link and went a half turn too much....guess what; trigger didn't work again, backed it off half a turn and its firing perfectly. Problem recreated. I'll shoot it at this weight and if I want lighter i'll clip 1 more coil (spring in first pic).

Don’t cut too much or youll be in the no fire zone again

 

[Danman]

Don’t cut too much or youll be in the no fire zone again

Yeah over an hour of work to get access just to cut this coil off that spring, figured better safe then sorry and cut conservatively. I got to the point to chop and all i had was my massive 8inch knipex side cutters...lol way too clumsy so I pullet the brass piece for easier access.

 

[Danman]

And the icing on the cake! New oversized trigger (keeper) pin made and installed with a dab of moly grease. Literally ZERO sideplay in the cassette, other than the blade the trigger feels like its on a whole different gun now. I did have to drill out the hole a size or 2 bigger on the safety block for the pin to fit. Much much better, for a bullpup trigger I think its as good as it gets. Now....I just need this minus 10deg weather to end so i can shoot it again.