The Ghost HP is definitely worth a second look (as in Part II) because it is a piece of elite airgun engineering that should appeal to a myriad of enthusiasts within our hobby. To the folks that like high-powered, heavy-hitting air rifles for hunting medium-sized quarry, it certainly fills the bill with an output of around 70fpe in the .25 caliber. Plus, it is also offered in a .30 caliber configuration (always a bit of a dichotomy in my mind as the Ghost is produced in England where our counterparts are limited to a measly 12fpe to avoid having to jump through government hoops, so the majority of these beasts are shipped to other countries.) For the folks that have become enamored with all the new airgun slugs hitting the market, read on as I share some excellent accuracy results with the Ghost HP. Those that are interested in long-range/extreme benchrest shooting should definitely give serious consideration to this platform. And, while I’m not a Field Target guy, with its tunability, I’m betting FT folks would find it fits their needs very nicely as well.
In Part I, a negative I pointed out was the loud report even though the barrel is shrouded. Of course, the muzzle is threaded so aftermarket suppressors can be installed. However, that adds additional muzzle weight and barrel length which kind of defeats the purpose of a bullpup configuration. Also, while the long, skeletonized cocking knob is a nice feature, I found it too long as it interfered with getting to the crossbolt safety. Also, while the toe of the buttstock did provide a two-slot picatinny rail for attachments such as the Adjustable Bag Rider or a monopod, I would like to see that expanded with additional slots. Plus, attaching a device to the toe of the stock precludes adjusting the sliding buttpad. And, as also mentioned in Part I, in order to use the nifty feature of “twinning” a pair of magazines it requires the purchase of a “lift” for the cheekrest to clear the magazine opening on each side of the gun. Perhaps I sound nit-picky because all of these perceived issues taken together would not constitute a deal breaker as there are just too many positives with this airgun. Additionally, many folks out there are into modding and will take the basic gun and make it their own thereby alleviating or circumventing these things I noted.
Now on to the positives. I had experienced Brocock offerings in the past and knew they could really deliver. The Ghost has one of the smoothest actions you’ll come across. My sample Ghost had been through other reviewer’s hands so I can’t say for sure if the trigger had been adjusted, however, at an average trigger pull of 2 pounds, 11.3 ounces, it worked just fine for me and I left it alone. Since I was mostly shooting from a bench, the 0dB Magnum suppressor I added worked like a charm and made the Ghost even more pleasant to shoot. The MTC King Cobra optic was an excellent pairing with the Ghost if you are in the market for a new scope. Adjustable Bag Rider now makes a lower profile/lighter version that I attached to the toe of the buttstock for long-range work.
While I chose not to play with the HUMA regulator adjustment as it was set at 1900psi and logically, the power wheel can dial down the power level to 60% so I didn’t see the need. I started out with pellets, shooting at 25 yards. The Ghost HP appeared to like the variety of domed pellets I fed it, providing excellent accuracy. The best of the lot, resulting in a single, ragged hole, was the JSB Exact King Heavy 33.95 grains. They averaged 917fps at power wheel setting 15 with an extreme spread of 8.9 and standard deviation of 3.8 yielding an approximate 63fpe knockdown power. Predator Pellets also made a very good showing with their Polymag polymer pointed tips at 26 grains averaging 1004fps and developing 58fpe with a standard deviation of 12fps. For those needing or wanting to shoot lead-frees, Predator’s GTOs at 16.54 grains yielded excellent accuracy as well, zipping along at a brisk 1137fps and having an extreme spread of only 7.9fps. At that velocity they naturally increase the bark of the Ghost HP, even with the silencer onboard. Keep in mind the power wheel setting of 15, so there was room to experiment with even faster speeds and find the point of diminishing returns.
Three different slugs were used with the Predator Knock-Outs at 34 grains coming out on top, with another single, ragged hole. They averaged 903fps with an extreme spread of 16, yielding 62fpe. Next came H&N Slug HPs at 36 grains, averaging 875fps with an ES of 15.5 and FPE of 61. The last slug in this series was from Apollo pellets – their Slug HP at 33 grains. The accuracy was good, easily enough for hunting applications and they averaged 916fps with an ES of only 5.4 and SD of 2.2, so they gave great shot-to-shot consistency. It yielded an average FPE of 62. Alas, so many pellets and slugs out there and so little time…
I was able to spend a short amount of time at the 100-yard range before bad weather shut me down and was close to zeroing in the Knock-Outs. It gave me confidence this combo would be an excellent competition rig, which I plan to test further.
I get to experiment with a lot of airguns and I have to say that shooting the Ghost is a truly pleasurable experience. The range and ease of adjustability coupled with the smooth cocking effort and flip-open magazine loading, and of course, the accuracy out to at least 100 yards; it’s no wonder this Ghost series has built such positive energy in a short period of time.
If you ain’t afraid of no ghosts (apologies to the movie “Ghostbusters”) then don’t let the thought of missing out on owning a Ghost “haunt” your dreams. Get over to AofA and let them help you trap your own Ghost.
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