I posted this in the training forum before but got one response and since dry fire threads are becoming more and more popular here, I figured I would repost it under the general AR Discussion sub-forum. This has been a helpful alternative to live fire for me and doesn't bore me to death like standard dry firing tends to when done in volume. I'm not associated with either of these companies at all, I just like Mantis' product and LaserHIT's app.

Dry Fire Device
I recently purchased a Mantis Blackbeard after it was recommended by a friend and it has been an incredible dry fire training tool for the AR platform. It essentially acts as a repeating hammer that resets your trigger for you after every pull, allowing uninterrupted semi automatic dry fire, while also projecting a laser with each shot that is adjustable for windage and elevation. When it is properly charged it is fast enough that you can not outrun it, no matter how fast you pull the trigger. The best part about the system is that you actually get the feel of the normal trigger pull on whatever system you use it in. My Geissele 2-stage triggers feel like they do during normal fire during use of the Blackbeard in terms of trigger pull and reset. My milspec trigger feels the same as well. I did test it with a Geissele SSP and seemed to have a little "bounce" when the trigger was fully depressed after firing and prior to reset but it was not a gun I owned, figured I would share that if it is relevant to anyone.

iPhone/Android Dry Fire Laser App
After using the Blackbeard quite a bit, I had a friend recommend the LaserHIT app, for iPhone or Android. I downloaded it and used it with the Blackbeard for the first time today and I was amazed at how useful of a dry fire session I just had. The Blackbeard alone was great but coupled with the LaserHIT app I was able to track my exact hits on a variety of targets while doing a variety of drills, and all of it was mirrored to my TV screen for instant and easy to see feedback.

Pros
After dry firing somewhere around 1,000 times in an hour, due to the semi automatic capability of the Blackbeard, it made me think about how I used to dry fire my AR by racking the charging handle every time, which took forever. Then I eventually got a laser cartridge activated by the firing pin, which still required racking the charging handle every time but was a bit more gratifying. Dry firing 1,000 times by racking the charging handle used to be probably 4 weeks of dry fire for me personally, if not much longer depending on my schedule. Now with the combination of the Blackbeard resetting my trigger for me while simultaneously projecting a laser, combined with the LaserHIT app tracking the data (hits from the laser), it seems like dry fire just became 10x easier and about 20x more effective.

Cons
The LaserHIT app could use a few more features and I would be interested in other apps out there that perform a similar function but have more features. A longer delay prior to beginning shooting would be nice (available on Android, coming in a future update for iPhones). The app also tends to miss a laser hit every now and then or count 3 hits as 4, 4 hits as 5, etc. That being said, a good portion of the LaserHIT app is free and it works rather well so I cant really complain. If you guys have any recommendations for laser apps please let us know.

Conclusion
Anyways, I just wanted to throw this info out there because it appears to be a game changer for me personally and I think it would work well for a lot of other shooters as well, for quite a few different reasons. Whether you're a pro shooter, competition shooter, recreational shooter, complete beginner or anything in between, I could see the Mantis Blackbeard and LaserHIT (or any other good laser tracking app) being very useful to improve your skills.

Now we just need something similar to the Blackbeard for strikers/hammers on handguns, without it being an extremely expensive CO2 system that only works with one specific handgun. That being said, I still kind of want a Cool Fire Trainer .

This is what today's dry fire session looked like: scaled down targets on the wall, LaserHIT app running on my phone, phone jerry rigged in my hog saddle tripod until an iphone specific tripod gets delivered, mirroring the entire session to my TV for easy to see and immediate feedback. And like I said above, I probably got close to 1,000 trigger pulls in with about an hour of dry fire. My trigger fingers on both hands are feeling the burn, I don't usually shoot that type of volume in such a short duration! Looks like this is a (finger) strength training exercise as well.
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Thanks for posting this

That's a pretty neat setup, thanks for sharing.  I have the Mantis X10 for my pistol, but that Blackbeard is a great solution for the AR.

I don't get out to the range as much as I used to, so dry fire at home with the X10 has been helpful in keeping sharp with the pistol.  I may have to try that for the AR!

I have a Blackbeard on order now for 2 weeks and looking forward to having it.  I use the Mantis app with the $30 pistol red dot laser for now but as mentioned, have to rack the slide on the pistols every time.

Dryfireonline.com has a really neat program that I will be using when I get the Blackbeard.  Looks like a good quality program

Which laser did you go with? Any advantages of disadvantages to IR/Green/Red?

OST

I would go opposite your sighting device if you are using dot sights.  Then you will be able to see the “hit” better against your sight.  I chose green since all my dots are red.

IR would need night vision.  An intriguing addition to my shooting kit, but one damn expensive rabbit hole I’ve not fallen into.  Yet.

Thanks, very interesting

How exactly does the Mantis Blackbeard reset the trigger. I can't find anything that shows how it works.

I've already got a reliable training system.

I went with the green as I'm using Aimpoint PRO's, makes it easier to see.





I was half tempted to take mine apart, I'm really curious how things work as well but my common sense stopped me.  


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Very neat.

I understand the concern about seeing the dot but assume for a moment you want to buy based on how which laser has the best performance profile to work with the phone based app at various distances and lighting conditions...Which option do you choose?

This is a great point and I'll address it in light of everyone asking which color I went with and which color would be the best option for them.

I personally went with the green laser because I felt it would be the most useful for dry fire training without a laser tracking app (which I never used prior to the purchase of the Mantis Blackbeard). After buying the green laser and subsequently starting to use laser tracking apps this is what I have learned:

1) Green contrasts better against red dots/reticles for calling and tracking shots yourself.

2) Red lasers have better compatibility with nearly all laser tracking apps. Almost all the apps I have tried seemed to have more difficulty recognizing hits, especially in rapid succession, using green lasers. That being said, the LaserHIT app has settings you can tweak that seem to work perfectly with the green laser. While red would have been easier with no tweaking required, the green laser now works great with this app and like I said above, green is easier to use (for me personally) when shooting without the app and just calling my own shots.

3) Laser targets that track your hits for you, like the LaserLyte targets, will not recognize hits from a green laser. I did not know that prior to purchase and if I was someone who was more heavily invested in those types of targets and that training system I would definitely go with the red laser option.

4) If you want to scale down your targets and shoot at 20-25 feet or less, a dedicated optic and/or upper would be great for this system because the laser device only has so much elevation adjustment and if your rifle is already zeroed for 50/100/200m it can be hard to scale down targets and distance without decently significant holdover. This is totally unnecessary, but some people with limited space may have no choice but to scale down targets and distance so figured it was worth mentioning.

5) Casting your phone to Roku/Chromecast/other streaming devices with this app is insanely cool! You get really accurate immediate feedback and your iphone/android can be pretty far away looking at the targets while simultaneously providing you feedback on a TV you can see. You can also plug your phone directly into your TV for feedback but this potentially limits the distance you can put your targets at.

6) LaserHIT saves all of your strings of fire and related data so at the end of a session you can see a ton of information about how your dry fire went, how fast you shot and where your shots were going.

7) If the Blackbeard could somehow accurately simulate recoil I don't know what they could really improve about it. The CO2 systems can do that but they are more expensive, require refills and have a host of other things that make them more complicated/difficult to use.

8) The Blackbeard and this app have really kept my shooting sharp with much less range time recently. Not being able to train with recoil makes this system less than perfect but honestly there is so much that can "go wrong" apart from recoil so I think this system is totally worth the money. It's interesting doing different drills, like 2-2-2s, 2-2-4-2-2, bill drills, etc. and seeing how you can mess up (pretty consistently) with certain drills before you even bring recoil into the equation.

9) Like I said above, this has been great for me as an experienced shooter, it's been great to teach friends and family who have never shot before and it appears it would be just as useful for any skill level.

10) I enjoy dry firing again! No more endless racking, which can be especially deterring for new shooters who are less dedicated to practicing.


*I'll get you guys a video of the Blackbeard & LaserHIT app working in conjunction tonight or tomorrow. My phone camera is busted and I've never posted a video on ARF before so I need a minute over here...

I have the exact same setup. Mantis Blackbeard and DryFireMag. The Blackbeard ruined the DryFireMag for me . It's still better than nothing but it's definitely not the actual trigger pull like the Blackbeard.

With regards to rifle/optic offset issue and closer distances.

Why not make mirrored target placements on top of each other with the measured off set. Shoot the top ones and the app shows the true hits on the bottom targets.

I will try that when I get my laser version ( I have had the non laser version on loan from a buddy )

Can you show us a picture of the bottom of the bolt carrier thing?

I beleive there is a small  electric motor in the insert that pushed the hammer back after it release. the Hammer is not allowed it's full travel. Just enough to rest against the insert which inturn, fires a lever/cam and forces the hammer back into engagment.

I think it's cool, but I'm still in debate if it's $250 cool. Sure I get the ammo savings. But your getting a resettable trigger, nothing else.

$150 cool, I would be down.

I don't see anything that moves on that fake bolt that can move the hammer back to reset the trigger. Something else must be going on.

I suspect the hammer never moves instead the trigger is being reset by the white plunger on the fake bolt and the white plunger is taking the place of the hammer and the click of the trigger release is from inside the fake bolt.

But I don't have one, I am just looking at the videos.


ETA: rereading what you said, the hammer only moving enough to release then be reset is very likely. That makes sense and why the white thing out the bottom is shaped with a ramp the hammer is probably only moving 1/4 of an inch. the white thing plunges down, pushes the hammer 1/4 inch into the reset and the white thing retracks just enough so the hammer can move slightly forward when released and stopped by the white thing. When the hammer hits the white thing, the motor pushes the white thing down, the ramped shape moves the hammer back into the reset.

Looks like a great idea!

Any ideas on whether it's compatible with the SCATT system? If not, it could maybe be used in conjunction with SCATT, to reset the trigger without breaking position.

On a different training note: does the strength of the Mantis Blackbeard laser permit it to be used for force-on-force laser training, like with the MILES system? I.e., is it optically safe? Or can protective glasses be worn?

Any ideas on off-the-shelf laser tag receivers that will work with the Blackbeard, for that purpose?

If so, wrap the flash-hider in orange electrical tape; put in the Blackbeard, and you're in business.

I just picked one up. Holy crap is all I can say. This thing is invaluable alone for the ability to test bore offset at conversational distances. I just cleared my house repeatedly with it and it's very eye opening. This is going to open up a lot of training for me and save me so much money at the same time. These things will sell like crazy.