Brocock/BRK Brocock BRK Ghost - Brilliantly Engineered...Not

Having just received my new Brocock BRK Ghost from Airguns of Arizona last Friday, I was eager to shoot it, and last night I got my first chance to do so. While sighting in my scope and immediately getting some very promising groups well under an inch at 50 yards, I decided I wanted to bring the velocity of the JSB 25.39 pellets down to about 960 fps with the power wheel set on Max. So, I carefully followed the Brocock BRK Ghost Official Handbook instructions and first removed the tank, then emptied the plenum by dry firing the air out of it...at which point the cocking lever jammed and would not cock. Brilliant!

So then, on the Airgun Nation forums I found this post by “ct6978” on May 10, 2023 (thank you!)…


*****

Chris + Shane at AoA talked me through the fix. I'm doing this from memory, so everyone help me out if you see something wrong:


Remove the cheekpiece

Remove the last 4 bolts on the rail

Loosen the nut under the magazine loading area, to the left of the 'GHOST' label on the right side, don't remove it

Undo the 2 smaller bolts holding the hammer sear cassette on the lower right side of the far rear of the frame

Be careful, there's a tiny pin connecting a brass hook/ears to the cassette, mine fell out and I almost lost it - Remove the cassette, save the pin

Slide out the back section, eyeball your stuck hammer

AoA told me to 'whack it', so I used a wooden chopstick against the hammer, hit the chopstick with a hammer a few times, then it came loose

Reassemble


Additional post by “jasperjet” in the same thread: My hammer was jamming because the hammer was buldged on both ends. Before reassembly I made sure the hammer diameter was the same for the entire length by filing it down so it wouldn’t be able to jam in the front of its runway and hold the valve open. If you don’t do this, it is likely to happen again if you empty the air.


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I have a partially paralyzed left hand that shakes, and doing something like the above is very difficult for me. I very well may not be able to do it. And my only other option is to ship my Ghost back to Airguns of Arizona to have them service my Ghost under the Brocock BRK warranty. And this after spending $2200 and attempting to change my regulator pressure for the first time within the first hour of ownership. Brilliant!

I would like to suggest that Brocock BRK make an incremental contribution to the British economy by hiring one additional employee with the job title “Do Whatever It Takes To Ensure The Cocking Lever Doesn’t Jam When Emptying The Plenum By Dry Firing The Ghost.” Brilliant!

Surely one of the brilliant Brocock BRK engineers can figure out how to eliminate this problem from happening to brand new rifles by modifying their production process. If not, I am a retired Ford Motor Company Quality Process Improvement Analyst who, for the right price, would be glad to visit the Brocock BRK production facility as a consultant to determine the process improvement necessary to eliminate the bulge at both ends of the hammer.

Come on Brocock BRK, get your act together and get rid of this problem on your end rather than expecting your customers to do it for you.

If you are considering buying a Brocock BRK Ghost, plan on the possibility of having to do the above disassembly/repair the first time you empty the plenum by dry firing the rifle to lower your regulator pressure.

A friend who was shooting with me last night and saw this happen said “That’s why they call it a Ghost...because it’s dead!” Brilliant!
 
P.S. I just found this in the Brocock BRK Ghost Official Handbook...

“There are no user-serviceable parts on the BRK Ghost air rifle. Any regular servicing or repair work must be carried out by a BRK-approved servicing agent.”

So back to Airguns of Arizona it goes. And this post is not intended to disparage Airguns of Arizona at all. They did not manufacture the Brocock BRK Ghost. But they might consider testing for this problem in their pre-shipment testing of Ghosts going forward in the future, as a number of Airgun Nation forum members have experienced it.
 
I had the same issue though I could resolve it by a really strong pull of the side cocking lever. It made me e nervous but that is what Jared at AOA advised me to try and it worked. Happened to me twice. Worked both times. No disassembly required.

What I will tell you is that it is worth working out as once I finally worked through the tune, it is an absolute tack driver.

The group shown here is 10 shots at 84 yards in a 7 mph cross wind - shooting the JSB Jumbo Monster Redesigned 25.4 Gr pellets.

8D9E5705-A566-466B-95AE-06C40903A513.jpeg
 
I read somewhere in the forums, to make sure to drop the power wheel to a MIN before lowering the reg. That's what I've been doing and so far so good on my 22 HP.

First post!
Good point. It would seem common sense that if you are degassing there is no reason to smack the valve as if you have full pressure to it. Imagine almost emptying the back pressure to the valve (source; plenum volume), and you drive the hammer forcefully into the valve as if it were going to give a full power shot! Dial it down, it's easy.....
 
It it is bulging at both ends it suggests that the material is unsuitable for the desired function. 50 years of correcting MFG screw ups in commercial applications so i do have a bit of insight on this, just no fancy titles.
Yes, bulging indicates that the striker steel is not hard enough to withstand the impact forces on the valve. I wonder what the valve stem looks like after doing this. Hopefully this will be resolved by BRK with an update to the hammer. New products almost always have some bugs in them.
 
It it is bulging at both ends it suggests that the material is unsuitable for the desired function. 50 years of correcting MFG screw ups in commercial applications so i do have a bit of insight on this, just no fancy titles.

Neither of the two hammers I have has any bulging. But both of mine are from early batches of production.

I've seen photos of the newer batches and they have a protruded "nipple" of sorts that contacts the valve stem. The older versions that I have have a threaded insert instead of the nipple.

In both cases (due to that extension at the center and front of the hammer) the outer circumference of the hammer isn't repeatedly hitting anything, at either end of its travel.

There's simply no way that this reported bulge is deformation, but would have had to have been manufactured that way. Either way it sounds like it needs addressed though.
 
I read somewhere in the forums, to make sure to drop the power wheel to a MIN before lowering the reg. That's what I've been doing and so far so good on my 22 HP.

First post!

Agreed. I had the power wheel at 8 when it happened. After it happened, my friend pointed out that FX recommends always dropping the power wheel to Min whenever emptying the plenum through dry firing on FX rifles. But by then it was too late. I double checked the Brocock BRK Ghost Official Handbook (which I had read in its entirety) and there was no mention of dropping the power wheel to minimum before emptying the plenum. But that extra step should be there, as that would at least minimize the risk of the hammer getting stuck. And of course, that is what I'll do in the future after Airguns of Arizona fixes my Ghost.
 
I read somewhere in the forums, to make sure to drop the power wheel to a MIN before lowering the reg. That's what I've been doing and so far so good on my 22 HP.

First post!
It probably isnt a bad idea. However they make zero mention of it in their video. At the 140 mark they show adjusting the pressure up and down.

 
Just talked to Darren at Airguns of Arizona and in working with him on the phone I was able to free up my jammed hammer. Pulling back harder than normal on the cocking lever didn't do the trick, but pushing the cocking lever full forward and then snapping it back as far as possible a couple of times freed the hammer on the second try.

And now Ariguns of Arizona is advising to never dry fire the BRK Ghost to a fully empty plenum, but rather dry firing it down to the 50 to 70 BAR range and stopping there to adjust the regulator down. They are going to contact Brocock BRK and ask them to modify the BRK Ghost Official Handbook to this procedure.
 
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Update

Just talked to Darren at Airguns of Arizona and in working with him on the phone I was able to free up my jammed hammer. Pulling back harder than normal on the cocking lever didn't do the trick, but pushing the cocking lever full forward and then snapping it back as far as possible a couple of times freed the hammer on the second try.

And now Ariguns of Arizona is advising to never dry fire the BRK Ghost to a fully empty plenum, but rather dry firing it down to the 50 to 70 BAR range and stopping there to adjust the regulator down. They are going to contact Brocock BRK and ask them to modify the BRK Ghost Official Handbook to this procedure.
nice to hear that you got it fixed.
 
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nice to hear that you got it fixed.

Thanks. And this was never about Airguns of Arizona. They were great to work with and sounded proactive about getting back to Brocock BRK on modifying their Ghost Official Handbook with new instructions on lowering the regulator pressure. I could tell AoA didn't want their customers having this problem.
 
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Thanks. And this was never about Airguns of Arizona. They were great to work with and sounded proactive about getting back to Brocock BRK on modifying their Ghost Official Handbook with new instructions on lowering the regulator pressure. I could tell AoA didn't want their customers having this problem.
They seem great to deal with.

I actually posted the fix they gave you in the comments on the video by them that I linked. I hope you dont mind. I said that I saw it in a forum and the feedback from them.
 
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They seem great to deal with.

I actually posted the fix they gave you in the comments on the video by them that I linked. I hope you dont mind. I said that I saw it in a forum and the feedback from them.

Good on you! This is information that all Ghost owners should know! (y)