Can you ever really practice shooting enough? 

What we're really asking is, how much shooting practice is actually enough?

If you're going to carry a concealed pistol or expect to protect your home and family with an AR-15, shouldn't you be consistently training? I don't know about you, but my family is worth the time, money, and effort that I spend in training.

But, it's no secret, the more time you spend shooting, the more money you spend shooting as well. In case you don't know, ammo prices are quite a bit higher than they were even five to six years ago. Thankfully though, they've held fairly steady recently, and as long as you watch the sales, you can still get some good deals.

As of the writing of this article, there are some good deals on 5.56 ammo over at Palmetto State Armory. In fact, these are probably some of the lowest prices I've seen in a while. After shipping and tax though, they still end up being about $.59/round. And depending on how many rounds you'd like to shoot a week, that can get pricy fast!

If we do the math quickly, let's say you wanted to shoot at least five rounds of a drill that requires six shots. That's 30 rounds total or a full magazine. If you only shot 30 rounds, two days per week, that's roughly 240 rounds per month or 2,880 rounds per year. When you multiply that by the $.59/round, you can see just how expensive shooting only a few drills per week could possibly get ($1700 so you don't have to do the math).

And in my opinion, that's where dry fire training comes in handy.

Now, there are a lot of varying opinions about different ways that you can accomplish dry fire training. Just so you know, this article isn't going to cover all of those different scenarios. But what it is going to cover is a safe way to get as close as you can to live-fire simulation training. And, you can even train in the comfort of your own home.

And that's where the Mantis Blackbeard X comes on the scene. It is a dry-fire training tool that will significantly enhance your training experience. Not only will it allow you to dry fire safely, but it automatically resets the trigger on your AR-15 allowing you to keep your hands in position on the gun and ready for a fast follow up shot.

In addition to providing you with the opportunity to handle, fire, and maneuver your rifle in training drills without the cost of live rounds, according to Mantis,

Mantis Blackbeard X Specs:

• Two piece system: a magazine, which is also the battery, and a replacement for your Bolt Carrier Group (BCG), which is what resets the trigger

• Components are solid plastic and heavy duty
• Should fit most AR's. Check HERE, about half way down the page for full list of compatibility
• Red, Green, Infrared, and no laser options available
• No gun modifications needed
• Up to 10 shots per second possible
• Up to 50,000 shots per full charge of battery

• Comes with firm, zippered carry case that has foam cutouts for protecting the components
• Easy connection to the Mantis App and a multitude of possible training drills

In case you are seeing the Mantis platform for the first time, make sure to check out our FULL REVIEW on the MantisX 10 Elite system that can be used with all grades of weapons. That's not necessarily a product that can reset a trigger like this Blackbeard system can, but the information you can learn about your shooting form, trigger pull, grip, and even accuracy is second to none.

The Blackbeard X system just builds upon that same technology and allows for static and dynamic shooting analysis with your AR-15. I continue to be impressed with the feedback that I've gotten through the app and the many training drills that are available.

At this point, I do feel the need to say that dry fire training can't fully take the place of live fire training. To me, there's just no way it can replicate recoil and, therefore, how your body will react to that recoil. How and when you pull the trigger after recovering from a shot while getting back on target for a follow up round can only be determined with live fire.

But, if you're interested in improving your shooting form, trigger squeeze, and even the opportunity to easily try different shooting styles without the extra ammo costs, then keep reading.

Our Testing Experience

For our testing purposes, we made up a shooting drill that consisted of eight rounds total - two targets with four aiming points. Here's where the fun began! Off to the range we went!

Of course, we timed the drill and shot two sequences after warming up a little. Afterwards, we measured group sizes and compared my times for the two different sequences. I'm sure you guessed it, but we didn't then just go back home. We kept shooting for a while, but those main two trials were what we would use for comparison.

Next up, dry fire training with the Mantis Blackbeard X. We removed the BCG and charging handle from my rifle and replaced it with the Mantis BCG/Charging handle piece. Then, after making sure the battery/magazine was fully charged, we inserted it into place and commenced to training.

I had previously downloaded and signed into the Mantis app from using it with the 10 Elite system. When the app opens, a connect button is in the middle of the screen. After pressing the small button on the magazine to get the blue light to flash, I hit the connect button on the app, and it was easily connected.

Here's where our options began. I chose to keep it simple and found a few drills that I repeated throughout my training.

The drills I used are:

• BBX Dynamics
• Transitions -> Box Drill
• Shot Timer
• MantisX Benchmark
• Timed Benchmark
• Compressed Surprise Break

I trained for a total of 20 days with 11 sessions (days) of training. During that 20-day period, I performed 2,520 trigger pulls without recharging the battery and learned far more about my shooting form than I could even begin to describe here.

One of the main things that impressed me was based on my trigger pull. I have a red dot mounted to the rail of my AR, so it's really easy to get on target. Based on the dry fire training, I could also see any red dot movement throughout my trigger pull. The Blackbeard X system quickly resets the trigger and allowed me to easily test different finger positions and grip positions until I found one that kept any extra movement during trigger pull to a minimum.

Like I've mentioned, I learned a lot from using the Mantis app with the Blackbeard X system, but a significant amount was also learned even outside what the app was telling me.

After those 11 training sessions, back to the range we went! Hopefully, we would see some differences in my shooting ability.

While I was 0.5 seconds slower on one round and almost 2 seconds slower on the second round, my overall accuracy improved significantly on 2 out of the 4 targets. And that was with just 11 days of training with the Blackbeard X. Think about how much it could change if you I had been training on an ongoing basis.

And what's even more, think about the money saved in dry fire vs live fire trigger pulls. Based on the price above, we saved $1,486.80 over those 20 days!

Q: Is it safe to dry fire with my firearm? Will dry fire break my firearm?

A: Please consult the owner's manual for your firearm. If the owner's manual does not specify, we recommend contacting the manufacturer of your firearm. In cases where the firearm may be damaged or unsafe as a result of dry fire, using dummy rounds is usually a safe solution. Please contact sales@mantisx.com to purchase dummy rounds.

Q: Will the Mantis product automatically reset the trigger on my firearm?

A: Yes, for Blackbeard. Otherwise, MantisX and Laser Academy will not automatically reset the trigger on firearms that are not double action. As such, manually resetting the trigger for each shot will be required.

Q: Which configuration/laser is best for my needs?

A: Get the non-laser version if you do not plan to use a laser enabled training system.

Get the red laser version if you want a visual signature and/or you plan to train with a laser based training system (such as Laser Academy).

Get the green laser version for increased visible distance over the red laser variant. In equal lighting conditions, you can see the green laser at further distances compared to the red laser. This version is also compatible with Laser Academy.

Get the IR laser version if you are using an IR-based training system or if you are using night vision.

Q: Are Mantis products Made in the USA?

A: Yes, Mantis products are proudly made in the United States of America. They do all the assembly, programming, testing, and shipping out of our offices in Illinois.

Normally at this point I would say that it depends on what you’re looking for and what kind of training you prefer.

That’s basically true here, except I would say that if you want a way to practice shooting your AR a lot more frequently without having to go to the range and spend money on ammo, then just the trigger reset capability is worth it. 

If you have no desire whatsoever to perform dry fire training and think there's really nothing that you will learn from it, then I wouldn't suggest you spend your dollars here.

Now, if you're interested in the trigger resetting capability of this system for dry fire training, the ManitsX function is like icing on the cake. Once you dive into the information the Mantis app is able to provide and feedback that can improve your shooting form, it becomes even more worth it.

Like we mentioned in the Cons section, pricing varies from $299-349 depending on the laser you go with.

But, even at $350, you’ve made your money back on ammo after only about 600 trigger pulls. 

So, I’ll make this short and sweet - if you want to squeeze the trigger a lot more on your AR and figure out ways to be a more efficient and effective shooter, then Should I Buy This Thing gets a 5/5 from the Review This Thing crew!