Ghost How Consistent/Capable Is Your Ghost?

[Billm]

I’ve been shooting my BRK Ghost a lot lately. The more familiar I am with it, the more I’ve come to appreciate how capable and consistent it is. I’ve always liked it, but I thought that I needed a custom barrel for it to shoot sub-MOA. That is just not the case. With some tuning and polishing I believe it’s very accurate and is so consistently. With a better shooter and no to little wind I’m pretty sure the ghost HP is capable of shooting sub-MOA at 100yds on a day in, day out basis. My only real point is that it is hunting capable out to 100yds, box stock. For $2200-$2400 it should be. I don’t know anything about the history of my Ghost, as I bought it used from AOA. The accuracy of my rifle seemed to improve with five things:
1, polished the barrel.
2. Lowered the reg pressure to approximately 130 bar
3. Switched to AEA pellets
4. Adjusted the hammer spring for more efficiency.
Feel free to add some of your groups and comments about your accuracy/consistency. It’s not meant as a ‘flex” thread. It’s a fair assumption that most members of this forum are good shooters.

 

[Billm]

I shot these two groups on Saturday. Then last night I was sitting outside with my Ghost DNT TNC225R NV/Thermal scope combo after midnight hoping to see the Rogue Dillo. The dillo didn’t show, but I did see two glowing eyes with the IR and night vision looking my way. A quick tap of the laser rangefinder showed 72yds. Another tap of the RF and it gave me an aim point. I put it between the glowing eyes and sent a 29.5gr its way. Gotta love infrared night vision, I saw a poof of dirt and the lights went out. I have a black bear frequenting my yard and so I waited until this morning to do some PDA (Pellet Damage Assessment) . This was a toad a little over 1” long and less than 1/2” wide. I figure a neck shot is as good as a headshot at 72yds in the dark.

 

[RobbieGio]

Great shot. I want one of those DNTs.

 

[Billm]

Great shot. I want one of those DNTs.

I love it at night. I’m having some issues with the thermal, but hopefully it’s something simple. I wish I had switched the video on.

 

[ARW]

I am very impressed with the accuracy of my Ghost but what really amazes me is when I take the barrel out to clean it and I put it back in the POI is usually very close to its original zero.

 

[Billm]

I am very impressed with the accuracy of my Ghost but what really amazes me is when I take the barrel out to clean it and I put it back in the POI is usually very close to its original zero.

I’ve experienced that too. It’s surprising really, it doesn’t have a lot of support for the barrel. But, it works.

 

[Billm]

I couldn’t shoot yesterday due to wind. I literally got eight shots off today. I moved the trap to 64yds. I shot a 3 shot sighter group and then a five shot group for my little consistency test lol. Why eight, because I was thinking that I only had 8 shots because of shooting the Sonoran so much with its eight round mag. I’m old lol. Two sub-MOA groups. That’s pretty consistent. I had been to an appointment with my wife and when I got home my grandson was in the yard shooting his Powerline 880. He loves it. Daisy, Americana at its finest. So, I didn’t want to interrupt his shooting. I put 130-140 bar because I just checked the reg and it’s around 140. I’m not sure if it has just crept up in the house.

 

[Billm]

I’m going to try and keep the targets between 75 and 100yds. This is just my personal unqualified opinion: sub-MOA groups at 50yds don’t mean a whole lot. It’s fun to shoot sub 1/2” groups at fifty yards. But, shouldn’t every current $500+ pcp rifle be capable of that with pellets? Sub-MOA at fifty yards doesn’t always equate to sub-MOA at 75yds or more.

 

[Solo1]

Mine are very consistent. My ft gun gets pulled out before a match to shoot a couple shots goes inn the case and i go to the match not much fuss.

 

[Franklink]

I have two Ghosts. First/cold shot is slow/low fps with both of them. The problem is exacerbated by how they're set up/tuned. Or rather, when set up for 19fpe my Ghost needed 6-8 shots to get up to correct speed. Now at 35fpe, it needs 2 shots to get up to speed. Similar with the one I have setup for high power .22. It needs one cold/wasted shot for th dos to get up where it should be. And it's not the regulator as I tried rebuilding with new orings and delrin disk and the problem remained. I've settled on the slow cold shots being valve stiction, as is seen with other guns that operate with similar valve stems, including other brands of airguns.

BUT, once those cold shots are out of the way, the Ghost is very dependable to consistently produce the expected fps, ie, it will produce the same fps from the previously determined combination of settings for that desired fps.

Accounting for the slow cold shots puts the Ghost as competition-worthy as any other gun.

 

[pan60]

I've settled on the slow cold shots being valve stiction

what do you think might be causing the vale stiction?
the stem or the seat?
haveing never seen one for some reason my thoughts would be very very very slight leak allowing the plenum pressure to drop so slightly and not enough for the regulator to make a recovery?

 

[Franklink]

what do you think might be causing the vale stiction?

Physics.

haveing never seen one for some reason my thoughts would be very very very slight leak allowing the plenum pressure to drop so slightly and not enough for the regulator to make a recovery?

I've investigated it pretty extensively in my 3+ years with the platform. 5 different Ghost valves have exhibited this behavior. Regulator rebuild didn't solve it. Tried special grease on the oring on the valve stem that's in the environment chamber (suspected to be the area of stiction). Tried valve return springs of various strengths. It's simply inherent. But again, some diligent chronographing to figure out how many cold shots it takes to "warm up" the Ghost, and remembering to take those warm up shots each time the gun has sat, and all is well.

 

[Billm]

I have two Ghosts. First/cold shot is slow/low fps with both of them. The problem is exacerbated by how they're set up/tuned. Or rather, when set up for 19fpe my Ghost needed 6-8 shots to get up to correct speed. Now at 35fpe, it needs 2 shots to get up to speed. Similar with the one I have setup for high power .22. It needs one cold/wasted shot for th dos to get up where it should be. And it's not the regulator as I tried rebuilding with new orings and delrin disk and the problem remained. I've settled on the slow cold shots being valve stiction, as is seen with other guns that operate with similar valve stems, including other brands of airguns.

BUT, once those cold shots are out of the way, the Ghost is very dependable to consistently produce the expected fps, ie, it will produce the same fps from the previously determined combination of settings for that desired fps.

Accounting for the slow cold shots puts the Ghost as competition-worthy as any other gun.

I don’t think mine takes six shots to warm up, but maybe I’ll track that more closely. I usually shoot three shots and call them sighters, but I honestly do it because the first couple of shots are off speed and I don’t want them to mess up a group.

 

[Billm]

I always assumed the cold shots were just from the temperature difference from taking the rifle from a climate controlled house to outside. I allow my rifle to sit outside and acclimate before I shoot it. But that’s more to ensure everything is consistent with expansion/contraction etc.. I never thought about it being an inherent mechanical trait. I thought my Sonoran also threw away the first shots. Now, I am going to have to pay attention to those first shots.

 

[Billm]

Interestingly, I watched a UK YouTube review of the Blackwolf this morning. In that review the reviewer specifically tested whether or not the BW required warm up shots, it did not. I know he owns a Ghost and now I’m wondering if that is why he wanted to explore that aspect. I don’t think I’ve ever noticed a reviewer testing cold shot performance before.

 

[pan60]

Physics.


I've investigated it pretty extensively in my 3+ years with the platform. 5 different Ghost valves have exhibited this behavior. Regulator rebuild didn't solve it. Tried special grease on the oring on the valve stem that's in the environment chamber (suspected to be the area of stiction). Tried valve return springs of various strengths. It's simply inherent. But again, some diligent chronographing to figure out how many cold shots it takes to "warm up" the Ghost, and remembering to take those warm up shots each time the gun has sat, and all is well.

slight edit on my post.
so I know you have a LOT of time with these would polishing the stem help in any way?
do you think the issue could be cured or do you think it is and no hope? LOL

 

[Franklink]

slight edit on my post.
so I know you have a LOT of time with these would polishing the stem help in any way?
do you think the issue could be cured or do you think it is and no hope? LOL

Don't think so, as it's the oring friction, not the metal stem friction that's causing the "stiction."

 

[Franklink]

I don’t think mine takes six shots to warm up, but maybe I’ll track that more closely. I usually shoot three shots and call them sighters, but I honestly do it because the first couple of shots are off speed and I don’t want them to mess up a group.

I alluded to it but didn't state it clearly in my description above ...the trend I've seen is that lower fpe needs more warmup shots than higher fpe. Thought being here that a stronger hammer hit (like from a higher power tune) breaks the friction more fully than a light hammer hit (like from a lower power tune).

If you're set up for high fpe, you may not be experiencing it at all.

 

[pan60]

Don't think so, as it's the oring friction, not the metal stem friction that's causing the "stiction."

so in the end it would boil down to a redesign that would elemate the o-ring
I would be curious to see if that could be done with out to much headache may some day I will grab one

 

[Billm]

I just went out and shot a shotgun pattern of five pellets - too windy to shoot groups. But I wanted to see what the first few shots were like. My reg is set at 130 bar, but rises to 140 bar in the house. I let it sit outside for 15 mins and let the reg drop to about 135 bar. Now I would expect that extra reg pressure to increase the velocity, it did not. I also pulled the Chrono results from a couple of sessions. The first shot is always a little lower. Ghost HP .25 130 bar, 5% tune, AEA 29.5gr pellets.