Repeatability? Versatility? About three weeks ago it dawned on me that the upcoming weekend had a regular, sub 20fpe field target match, AND a high power, long range field target match, on the same day. And one was in the morning and one was in the evening so it’d be more than possible to make it to both matches. I live a couple hr drive from any ft matches, and the idea of getting a two-fer, (ie. two matches for the price of one, in regards to gas money) was more than just a little appealing.
After I decided to make the matches I asked Colben if he’d like to go and he responded in the affirmative. The next thing that needed to happen was deciding what guns to shoot. I’d been mostly focusing on the .22 polygonal barrel in the Ghost, with intent to shoot it at an Xtreme Field Target match, so that one was easy. I also thought it might be kinda cool to shoot another regular ft match with the Ghost in .177 configuration, and that’s where it got tricky. Since both matches were on the same day it would require a conversion from .177 to .22, which in and of itself isn’t an issue, being as though it only takes a couple minutes. The issue was whether or not dope data could be trusted and repeatable from each configuration after swapping back and forth
Arzrover must have been thinking the same thing because he asked (via text) if I was going to shoot the Ghost in .177 for low power ft and then in .22 for the high power match. I initially told him I don’t think I’m that ambitious. You see, I’m pretty particular about not messing with stuff on a field target gun once I’ve done the work to arrive at trustable and verified dope, one might even say superstitious. My modus operandi with ft guns is to figure out what they like (pellet, speed, lubed or not, barrel cleaning regimen, etc) and then zero the scope and shoot all my distances from 10-55 yards or 20-100yards. That way I collect ACTUAL dope data, get some practice with the gun, and can verify that everything is behaving as it should to continue to produce a trajectory that makes that dope data useable. Lots of work. And making changes to any of the contributing factors that create that dope data can make it null and void. As an example, I’ve used the same dope data, scope zero, etc on my personal USFT for over 2 years. I can get that gun out at a match and trust it to be capable of shooting a high score, no matter how long it has sat since I last shot it. Once I set up a gun for competition, I don’t often fiddle with things. That’s my happy place in airguns, the peace of mind that comes from a gun’s repeatability and dependability to simply shoot pellets where I want them to at any applicable distance, and to do so day-in and day-out. So, the idea of swapping barrels and probes around, messing with hammer tension, and regulator pressure, etc, to be able to shoot in a max of 20fpe match, and then a different match with a max of 100fpe later that day….well, it just didn’t sound very doable. I wasn’t sure everything could be repeated and trusted to perform at the level I expect. As I mulled over all of this for a day or two I concluded that shooting both matches with the Ghost would be an excellent test of the platform’s repeatability, and perhaps even versatility. I wasn’t overly optimistic and it would certainly get me way out of my comfort zone for a gun I’m going to compete with, but I decided to go for it. Two matches, vastly different power requirements, in the same day, from the Ghost. “The best laid schemes of mice and men…..”
The next step was to use what little time I had to build up confidence in the gun’s ability to do what I was going to ask of it. I already knew it wouldn’t be an issue to get back and forth from each power level because that has been repeatable, just a matter of replicating the reg pressure and hammer tension/throw length. And I’ve been documenting everything good enough that I already had the settings necessary. So I used an hour or two here and there for the two day’s that I was off work to shoot my distances with .177/20fpe and then .22/49fpe and then convert back to .177/20fpe and do it again, then back to .22/49fpe and repeat it all again. I only had time to go back and forth twice, but was pleased to see that the trajectory data for each tune was repeatable. The biggest factor that aided in this little process was that I didn’t have to rezero the scope between configurations. The sub 20fpe “tune” with in .177 had a 30 yard zero, and the tune for the high power match in .22 had a 45 yard zero. Not needing to rezero greatly simplified the endeavor.
On that topic of scope zero, when I decided to shoot both matches with the Ghost I concluded that it was time to put some better glass on it. I pulled an Athlon Midas Tac 6-24x50 off of a different gun and mounted it on the Ghost.
The .177 tune used the FX branded 10.34s that the barrel seems to like. I used these for the Founders Cup match that I reported on earlier in the review. I did slow them down a bit more than I shot them at the last match though, as a bit of an experiment. They were doing 880-885fps for about 18foot pounds. These were shot dry (no lube) straight from the tin. Reg pressure of just over 110 and the 0.047” hammer spring with the skeletonized (light weight) hammer. I omitted the OEM short shroud for the Ghost Carbine and went with a personal 7 inch moderator.
The .22 tune used the 25.4gr Monster Redesigns, specifically from a couple sleeves I bought about 6 months ago at AOA. This batch produced the fewest flyers. They were shot at speeds of 925-930fps. These were also not sorted or head-sized, but were lubed with Slick 50 One lube, as that produced fewer flyers than dry or lubed with Gunzilla. Reg pressure was just under 140, I called it 138bar. This was also with the 0.047wire hammer spring and skeletonized hammer. I did have to add the 38grain hammer weight (again, mentioned earlier in review) to get the oomph I wanted, and at a relatively docile shot cycle. I used the custom shroud with brass end caps (photos earlier in review) and the 4inch 0db moderator.
I also decided to compete in Hunter class for the low power match (the only legal position in XFT is also "bucket and sticks"). I’ve not done that for a very long time. In fact, I’d never shot a low power match in Hunter at 16x, since all my time in Hunter was when the limit for scope magnification was 12x. So I also had to cram in getting yardage marks on the sidewheel for the scope at 16x.
The match in the morning was the low power, AAFTA type match. Colben and I arrived at the Ben Avery facility with about 45 minutes to chat and verify dope. We stepped out of the vehicle and got hit with some serious wind gusts, mostly coming out of the northeast. As we were getting our gear out and generally getting ready we both decided it was CHILLY. Wasn’t long before we were wearing heavier jackets. Sight-in/verification was uneventful. We were able to satisfy our curiosity that both guns were shooting as they should, but we certainly noted how much drift we were going to be dealing with. I was seeing as much as 6 inches of left to right drift on the far shots, which is all fine and dandy, until it switches and goes the other way right when you didn’t expect it to do so. It was the kind of wind that makes your eyes water like a ride on a motorcycle without eye protection. Strong enough on the body to push the crosshairs off the entire target at the gusts, so then you push against the wind, and then right when you break the trigger you fly past the kill zone b/c the gust quits. We knew then that we were going to be challenged by the conditions. We were assigned to start on a lane right next to one of the berms and I missed both long shots due to wind misreads. Not very confidence instilling to go 50% on the first lane. We ultimately shot a 48 shot match. I went 39/48 with the Ghost and Colben went 31/48 with his favorite FT gun. I couldn’t ever quite get a handle on the wind and 8 of my 9 misses were simply wind misreads, the 9th being an offhand shot that I simply missed due to breaking the trigger at the wrong time in the drive-by action that is an offhand shot, especially one you're getting buffeted by 25mph winds. . I did get the other 3 offhand shots and went 3 for 4 overall. Of the 16 shooters, 5 had higher or equal scores than my 39/48. The bulk of the guys that had higher scores shoot 4 to 5 matches a month there at Ben Avery. They put in the time to know how to read that places crazy winds.
Here’s the match report for that morning sub 20fpe match.
We then had some time to kill before the night match at Phoenix Rod and Gun Club. We met up with, and took my dad out to lunch and killed a bit more time swinging by Airguns of Arizona and running an errand for my wife (wife’s errand was NOT at AOA, lol).
For the high power match we got to PRGC about an hr before dark. I swapped over to the 24 inch .22 barrel and made the other necessary adjustments. Took all of five minutes. I was ecstatic to then shoot at the paper on the sight-in range and have MOST of my dope data line up. Everything was spot-on up to and including 50 yards, but my dope data/trajectory past that wasn’t what I had gathered at home. In retrospect I realized that my trajectory gathering session at home was done with a pretty stiff quartering in head-wind that had effected my far impact points rather seriously. I adjusted for it and was able to shoot 10 shots into what looked to be around 1.5 inches at the 100 yard paper, but the damage was done mentally as I didn’t trust the dope on the far ones after that. Couldn’t decide if I should trust the home dope or the dope right there that evening right before the match. We ultimately had 3 rimfire shooters and 10 pellet shooters at the high power/long range night match. I shot a 40/48 which was a tie for the second highest score of all 13 shooters. Tie was broken by longest string and so it went to Mike, making my 40/48 officially 3rd place. Wes (1st place) was the Extreme Field Target champ at EBR in .22 class in Oct. And Mike (2nd place) currently holds the record for best knockdown percentage at an XFT match @ PRGC.
And here’s the match report for the high power night match.
3 rimfire and 10 pellet shooters competed at the November match. Top 3 from Pellet class, (left to right) Cole R. Mike S. Wes C. (photo credit to Peykan...or maybe Wayne) The sun is setting around 5:25 this time of year. This was just as it settled down behind the small mountain to the west...
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The Ghost seems easier to shoot offhand than what I’m used to competing with. I don’t know why and can’t pinpoint a specific feature but I think it’s just the general ergonomics. I was 75% on the offhands in low power and 75% on the offhands on high power. And I’m pleased with that as there were folks that missed all of them.
I need to spend some time with that .177 barrel with a couple goals in mind, mostly how to get more out of it in the wind. My misses in the low power match were almost entirely wind related. The .177 Carbine config is VERY accurate at sub 20 fpe but I need to experiment with it from about 18-20fpe and see if there’s a node in there somewhere that helps it resist wind deflection. I think I’ve determined that in no wind situations, 880fps is the peak of accuracy and that above 915-920 is where accuracy really goes south. So, it shoots very accurately with the 10.34s from 880-915fps. I suspect within that narrow window of fps there won’t be any noticeable improvements in wind resistance so I will probably need to simply shoot the gun a lot as a sub 20fpe/.177 Carbine to “learn” the barrel and how much hold off is necessary for various wind speeds.
The Ghost is a very stable platform to shoot from the “Hunter” position (stool or bucket and sticks or bipod). I shot from that position in both matches and, while I still prefer my Open class bumbag and harness, I was stable enough from the stool/sticks that I couldn’t blame any misses on my position being unsteady. The other gun I have shot a lot from stool/sticks is the Veteran Long and I’ve got much less scope wobble with the Ghost from the same position than I’m used to with the Vet Long.
I need better long range trajectory data on the Ghost in .22 HP configuration, simple as that. I was 24/24 on the “near” shots at the high power match. The only shooter to do so. Even with the head wind during dope gathering at home confounding things, you’ll notice that the Ghost scored better than 3 high-end rimfires at this 20-100 yard match. And those rimfires were shot by some pretty talented marksmen. That the Ghost HP did better…..THAT is saying something. I’m not trying to say the Ghost is always going to best rimfires from 20-100 yards, but it was able to do so two weeks ago at this particular match where we were all shooting in the same conditions.
As for the repeatability and versatility of the Delta/Alpha/Ghost chassis system? It definitely performed better than I expected. I thought that I would surely deal with different impact points with each barrel swap but that was not the case. Really cool that the Ghost was able to be competitive at both matches, especially when considering the complete change over of caliber and power output.
So how’s the Ghost as a field target rig? Well I’ve shot 3 matches with it, 2 sub 20fpe matches and one high power. Scores so far have been 47/48 and 39/48 in the low power matches, and 40/48 in the high power match. That’s a cumulative 87.5% knock down ratio. I was recently told that a 92-93% knockdown at AAFTA Nationals will usually put somebody at, or very near the top. Not too shabby performance from the Ghost in field target so far, especially considering the misses have been operator error. It’s nice to not have the gun causing misses, since we humans create enough of those ourselves. Simply put, the Ghost has more than met my expectations for a field target gun and I have every intention of shooting it in more ft matches in the future (both high and low power).
I was thoroughly confused for a split second, thinking, "that's too many digits without a decimal." BOOM, it hit me, "oh, I'm over 1000fps!!!"
