Just spent some quality time with the Ghost.
I had three goals
- gun has sat since March 3rd when I last had it out and got lucky on the 187 yard shot, so I wanted to cold chrono test one last time before pulling the .22 barrel and changing the settings
- swap out parts to the current design of the hammer spring tension adjust (power wheel)
- convert to .177 and see if my tuning data from back in October would carry over.
Cold chrono test (again) I keep playing this game because a gun that can be relied upon to produce consistent fps, no matter how long it has been sitting, is very important to me. A gun that wont do that goes down the road. My life's too stressful in other areas to deal with that silliness. This is a hobby, and meant to be fun. Needing to re-tune/re-adjust each time I get a gun out is for the birds. I want to be able to trust a gun, 100%.
(At this point, gun is still in .22 HP config, as it has been since roughly early December, using the .22/25.4grain Monster RD, power wheel on "10" which is also what I've been using for months)
So, 20 days since the gun was last shot, 10 "cold" shots over the chronograph:
High of 938.2
Low of 933.2
Average of 935.6
ES of 4.99
SD of 1.73
This is right where it's been for the high power matches I've competed in over the last couple months. That'll do, that'll do just fine! (trustable to consistently "hold" the tune, producing the same fps as it did when last shot, even if it's been 3 weeks).
I also gathered MAX and MIN fps with this "tune" using the power wheel so that I could compare the MAX and MIN fps from the new power wheel.
FPS from this tune with old power wheel on MIN: 896.3, 890.1, 893.2
FPS from this tune with old power wheel on MAX: 937.8, 936.3, 938
Hammer (spring tension adjust) TIME! (This may not affect many, since the current production Ghost is shipping with the update, but I'm sharing my thoughts and impressions anyway since I know there are a few original design's floating around out there.)
For anybody joining in, there was an updated hammer spring tension adjustment (power wheel) released shortly after the Ghost was launched. The review Ghost has had the original design the entire time that I've had it. Until this evening.
Quality machined and anodized parts just make me smile. BEEFY.
The new parts required that I swap over the hammer and hammer spring and re-use the fasteners. This photo makes it look worse than it was.
The first difference I noted (and was excited about) was that the buttpad can be adjusted up and down more with the new design. Buttpad rides in this slot, new on the right, old on the left. This was sorely needed and a VERY welcome change.
Here's the difference, max and min travel with the old one:
Max and min travel with the new one:
In the photo above, that shows the slot for the buttpad travel adjustment, you'll also notice a new hole in the upper portion of the slot. That's an additional bolt to hold the aluminum drop down (that the buttpad attaches to) to the rear sub assembly. That makes a total of 4 bolts holding the new one on, while the original version only had 3 bolts. The fourth/new bolt is also larger than the other three and placed lower (the original three were clustered near the top). Having 4, and placing one lower, results in a more solid connection than the original design. Also, the metal drop down can now be removed from the rear sub assembly without requiring complete removal of the buttpad (previous design required complete removal of buttpad).
BRK retained the tapered cone for the integral spring guide.
They also retained the ability to access the hammer throw adjustment from the rear of the gun.
The new and old wheel both have MIN, 1=18, and then MAX markings. The surface of the new wheel that contains the anodized marks for the settings is just shy of twice as wide as the old one.
As I grabbed it here to flip the gun over to get the trigger cassette back in, I instantly noticed how I could grip it here without accidentally adjusting the wheel. The previous design left the wheel much more exposed and it sometimes be a couple clicks from where I wanted it to be, having been inadvertently moved.
The process to convert over to the new hammer spring tension was relatively straight forward. I was impressed with how the old parts and new parts mated together so well. One of the last steps is dropping the trigger cassette into the new rear sub-assembly. And while I say "dropping" the tolerances are tight enough that its a snug fit. Nothing needs forced or tapped in, but just carefully aligned. When it slipped into its home, the word "snick" came to mind. Really small gaps all the way around that trigger cassette!
And the final product (with the buttpad adjusted all the way down!!!)
My initial thoughts on the pros of this new wheel are that it is better protected (requiring deliberate adjustments to move), overall smoother, and that the detents for each setting are more distinct, However, the biggest win in my eyes is that the buttpad can be adjusted further down. I had wanted that peg I added to sit on the top of my shoulder and it wouldn't before, but will now!
As for the effect the new wheel has on FPS....at this point the Ghost still had the .22 barrel, and a reg pressure of 138-140. This allowed me to take some shots over the chrono to compare the effect on fps (new wheel versus old wheel).
- With the new wheel and a setting of "10" I took 10 shots, low of 924.1, high of 933.7, average of 927.7, ES of 9.55, SD of 2.44. The old power wheel on "10" produced FPS of 935 so "10" on the new wheel is not same fps as "10" on the old one, but it is close.
- With the new wheel, "MIN" produced 852.7, 864.7, 863.1
- With the old wheel, "MIN" produced 896.3, 890.1, 893.2
- With the new wheel, "MAX" produced 939.8, 939.9, 940.6
- With the old wheel, "MAX" produced 937.8, 936.3, 938
With this particular "tune" the new wheel allows a low of about 860, all the way up to a high of about 940. The old wheel (all other settings being the same) produced a range of 890-938. In short, with this particular reg setting, barrel, and pellet, the new wheel allows a greater variation in speeds than the old wheel did.
Convert back to .177 The .22 HP barrel is essentially going back into the ART program at this time. They received some new barrels and they need to compare this one to the new ones, in similar conditions. That's no a problem though, as I've been wanting to get the Ghost back under 20 fpe so I can use it for the summer field target matches. For now that will be with the 17 inch .177 barrel the Ghost was wearing when originally delivered to me as the Carbine configuration.
I reviewed my notes and of course wanted to replicate the "tune" I used when the Ghost shot the 47/48 at that very first match. A reg setting between 105 and 110 was what I've got written down from back in October so I assumed that's where I'd end up. But I worked up to that point slowly.
(I'll be using the 10.34 grain .177 pellets, since they did so well before)
Reg pressure of 95 bar and MIN on the wheel got me 862fps, MAX on the wheel got me 870.
Reg pressure of 105 bar and MIN on the wheel got me 893fps, MAX got me 897
Reg pressure of 110 bar and MIN on the wheel got me 900fpe, MAX got me 902fps
It is interesting to me how the new wheel allowed for a larger difference between MIN and MAX with the 50 fpe tune and the .22 HP barrel, but still produces very little variation with the .177 barrel. I'm almost positive that the difference here is the port sizes in the barrel. The port on the .177 is teeny tiny, and restricts the entire system. Increasing the regulator past 108 BAR, or hitting the hammer harder won't increase the fps b/c there's only so much air that can get through that tiny port.
So anyway, I reduced the regulator back to 108 bar, power wheel on MIN, and shot one magazine, producing fps of 896.2 to 903.8. That's where accuracy seemed to be the best from the .177 barrel back in the fall and that'll be my starting point for now.
Thoughts on the length: Ghost HP with the 23 inch shrouded .22 barrel and 110C ODB moderator measured 37 and 7/8inches. Ghost Carbine with the Hogan Decimeater moderator (sans shroud) and 17 inch .177 barrel measures 30.5inches. It's crazy how much shorter a gun feels when it loses only a couple inches. And it's downright eye-brow raising to "feel" how compact a gun seems when it loses about 7 inches. It wasn't even that long as a HP, but man o man does it feel short as a Carbine!
I don't think I mentioned it in that competition summary post that I did a few weeks back but I didn't change the scope zero for any of those competitions. In fact, I shot it in a high power and low power match the same day in November without changing the scope zero, just swapped barrels and made the regulator and hammer spring tension adjustments. So it maintained the scope zero over 4 months, shooting in multiple competitions. It'll be interesting to see where the pellets are hitting now that I put the .177 barrel back on. From everything I've seen from the gun so far, I expect it to be close to dead on at 30 yards.
I'm excited to do a bunch of sub 20fpe, 10-55 yards field target shooting with the Ghost over the next 6 months. It is a thoroughly enjoyable gun to shoot. And also a fun little gun to play with, even for tinkering/tuning sessions in the gunroom. All of the swapping out of parts and caliber conversion and chrono testing took about 1/4 as much time as it took to type this all out and crop photos, etc. The design of the Ghost is just simple and straightforward.
I haven't had much airgun time lately and the last few hours with the Ghost was entirely satisfying.
