Brocock/BRK Ghost Barrel Woes

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Jay308

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Sep 30, 2023
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Raleigh, NC, USA
My Ghost .25 is a well built and amazing rifle but I have had a issue since new.

I thought it was my new Hawke Sidewinder as the groups would move around the target or I would adjust and it would keep shooting to the right or keeping rising. I swapped to the Athlon Heras and the same thing was happening. It will shoot 5 into a one hole group about a pellet and 1/4 big at 25 yards when clean. It will do this for about 50-60 shots then it starts to move and/or string. If I use JSB the groups are slightly bigger and maybe get 80 shots compared to the AEA. If you shoot it the next day it will shoot decent for maybe 20 then start acting up again, I guess the lead in the barrel gets warm?

Cleaning at this interval is dumb as it’s a bottle full then re-season/sight in and shoot for a minute then start over.

It’s obviously the barrel at this point, so I have JB bore paste(blue label) and a few 3packs of the Tipton .22-25 bore mops on the way. The plan is to do about 200 full strokes and hopefully this stops it from fouling so damn soon. If I fook it up, I guess I’ll get the .30 Sub Moa barrel from AoA.
 
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Franklink said:
Have you tried to shoot it without the shroud? Just to rule out shroud alignment issues versus barrel issues.
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I have not, only without the mod. I did look down the shroud and I didn’t see any signs of clipping. When I take the shroud off to polish, I’ll inspect it, thanks for the idea. The patches are black and have glitter on them after 60 shots.

We talked earlier about polishing, do you think 200 full strokes will be ok? It has a tighter spot at the beginning and towards the end of the barrel.
 
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Franklink said:
Have you tried to shoot it without the shroud? Just to rule out shroud alignment issues versus barrel issues.
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If the shroud is off wouldn’t it affect all the shots from beginning? Dunno just asking. I did receive a Redwolf with a cracked shroud from shipping damage.
I generally clean all my barrels with a pull through patch at the end of every shoot or pellet tin, I also use this time to inspect the gun from muzzle to butt.
 
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Jay308 said:
I have not, only without the mod. I did look down the shroud and I didn’t see any signs of clipping. When I take the shroud off to polish, I’ll inspect it, thanks for the idea. The patches are black and have glitter on them after 60 shots.

We talked earlier about polishing, do you think 200 full strokes will be ok? It has a tighter spot at the beginning and towards the end of the barrel.
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Do you ever wash or lube your pellets?
 
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Jay308 said:
I have not, only without the mod. I did look down the shroud and I didn’t see any signs of clipping. When I take the shroud off to polish, I’ll inspect it, thanks for the idea. The patches are black and have glitter on them after 60 shots.

We talked earlier about polishing, do you think 200 full strokes will be ok? It has a tighter spot at the beginning and towards the end of the barrel.
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The glittery flecks of lead on your patches are not good. That means the barrel is picking them up.

Yeah, ideally polish to minimize that leading up. You may have to switch pellet brands. And/or start lubing them, as @cavedweller alluded to.

It's hard to get yourself in trouble with JB bore paste, it's pretty gentle. Focus your polishing efforts on the tight spots.
 
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Franklink said:
Probably.

Just had the thought that maybe something is floating around in there, like a lost patch or something. And sometimes it's in the pellet path, and sometimes it isnt.
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I did buy a used AA once that had a couple of cleaning pellets caught in the shroud. I’m very interested in this particular topic.
 
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I just reread you OP and I missed that you're using AEA pellets the first time I read it.

Screenshot_20250928-164445.png

That hard lead is a B. And potentially the root of your problems.
 
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Personally I wouldn’t go 200 strokes right off the bat -it may do no harm but is probably not necessary. Id start with 50. Also when you put the shroud back on be sure to put some silicone grease on the orings this makes it easier on and off and vibration won’t let it stick in any other position
 
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Franklink said:
I just reread you OP and I missed that you're using AEA pellets the first time I read it.

View attachment 597319

That hard lead is a B. And potentially the root of your problems.
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I did switch to JSB and got 20 more shots until it fouled, the 1 hole groups were a little bigger with them as well but that was expected.
 
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Jay308 said:
I did switch to JSB and got 20 more shots until it fouled, the 1 hole groups were a little bigger with them as well but that was expected.
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Was it already fouled up from the tin AEA pellets before you switched to JSB? Or it was a clean/fresh start with the JSB?

Whether it's the barely lead AEA pellets or not, a polishing with JB bore paste (at minimum) wont hurt. I've yet to see a barrel it didn't improve, if nothing else, at least in stretching out cleaning frequency.
 
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Franklink said:
Was it already fouled up from the tin AEA pellets before you switched to JSB? Or it was a clean/fresh start with the JSB?

Whether it's the barley lead AEA pellets or not, a polishing with JB bore paste (at minimum) wont hurt. I've yet to see a barrel it didn't improve, if nothing else, at least in stretching out cleaning frequency.
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Fully cleaned when I switched back to JSB
 
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One problem with the AEA and JTS and old Crosman and similar HIGH antimony content pellets is that switching back to actual high quality lead pellets is not a simple task. It take a barrel a long time to be happy with lead again, after hard crap has been shot through it. People use the word "seasoning" a lot in reference to barrels. It applies pretty well in your situation.

My guess for best chances of success.....polish the barrel, and then shoot many hundreds of JSB pellets. Eventually it'll season back to quality lead pellets and accuracy will be as good as it's going to be with your particular barrel.

If you're absolutely dead set on the AEA, start lubing them with Gunzilla. It'll help, but not likely completely solve the problem.
 
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The rough bore and tight choke theories are distinct possibilities. When dealing with a problem barrel, I always like to start by pushing through a few pellets by hand to get a sense of what areas need attention.

Barrel troubleshooting and accurizing guide

The following article is intended for the do-it-yourselfer that is interested in either finding and fixing a problem with a barrel, or improving the accuracy of an already good performer. You don't have to be a master machinist to get excellent results. The techniques described here can be...
www.airgunnation.com www.airgunnation.com
 
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