Hit or Miss: The Training Alternatives to Live Fire, by GuerrillaLogistician

Reference – 18B

@GLogistician on X for comments, or corrections.

FUDD prevention

First, let’s get the Fudd lore out of the way.  Modern centerfire weapons can be dry-fired without extra products, safety devices, gadgets, etc.  Old guns and rim fire shouldn’t be dry-fired without a snap cap, and some older weapons systems had weak firing pins.  Most of you know this, but there is a lot of bad information about firearms for the new guy, as if the gun community watches CNN for its facts. It’s as if we are back during the 1800s, and leeches are curing everything from rickets to diarrhea.  I could go into a whole article on how much wrong information there is about firearms in general that have been passed down, and when innovations came out proliferating the industry, older common knowledge wasn’t nearly updated as fast. Mind you, not so long ago, most ammo was corrosive by its very nature, which helped produce the old myth that M-16s were highly unreliable during the Vietnam conflict. This was true, but it is no longer the case with new barrels and a change in ammunition. Modern ammo and weapons don’t have to be cleaned immediately for their protection unless you’re shooting black powder. It is an excellent idea, however, to clean your gun as soon as possible to ensure you didn’t have anything break while you were operating that weapon, and it also helps to keep it lubed up properly so you don’t have malfunctions later.

I want to explore this topic because I have been constantly searching for a decent alternative to shooting live rounds compact enough to carry while traveling for work, affordable (around a case of ammo), and can help with as much of my training as possible. Nowadays, many of these products come out as variations of a previously developed core product.  I am going to start with the cheapest and move up.  If you want an opinion on a specific product, and mind you, my opinion is just like assholes, everyone has them, and some might stink…. Including mine.  Remember, no matter how realistic dry fire is; it won’t replace actual live fire; it is to help maintain, work on fundamentals, and safely learn.

Simple Dry-fire products

These are just simple items that I would recommend everyone has for various reasons, but the top thing is they are cost effective. If you are a newer shooter with a new weapon, this is imperative for basic handling, etc. This is where people start, and unlike other things on this list, if you buy these items, you won’t kill the budget, and you may use some of these later in conjunction with other products.

ROGERS TRT Tap Rack Dry Fire

One of the items I would suggest, regardless of what you purchase in the future, is a Rogers TRT tap rack dry fire. These things have been around for quite a while, and I know there are some printable versions if you have a 3D printer. They hold down your magazine followers so you can put them in your magazine and rack the slide for training magazine reloads. The nice thing about these is they aren’t like the old dummy rounds that people used for the same purpose. There are a few ways around this, such as partially separating your magazine for cleaning purposes and leaving the follower and spring out. When I bought them, you could get 3 for seven, but right now, I’m only seeing them three for $15 on Amazon.

Snap Caps / Dummy Rounds

Snaps, Caps, or dummy rounds are almost the most common dry-firing devices I see in every store. I’ve probably been to more gun stores than most avid shooters have, and I can’t tell you how often I see these little devices sitting on some shelf or in some bag. I don’t think these things need to be used as much anymore for dry fire. As I said, your center fire weapons don’t break like the older ones. With that said, 22 and older weapons, this becomes more of a concern. The big thing here is that there is such a diverse amount of snap caps on the market today that it’s tough to tell which ones are good and which aren’t. Some of these snap caps come with little rubber back ends with firing pin strike pads, others use soft brass, and others are just straight, hard plastic. Realistically, most of the plastic ones will probably work just fine, and I have run a bag of plastic snap caps for over a decade and a half now. These are generally put into play, and their most prominent use was inducing malfunctions while training on a range. I honestly think these are things you should pass up for the dry fire experience because most of the time, you use it once and have to cycle the slide and then search for this thing around the room.  Pick these up for your live fire practice if you find a good deal because they are worth it for live fire all day long.  When you pull the trigger and watch your barrel drop like a Dauntless dive bomber, you will see why these are worth it on the live fire range.

Low to Moderate Price tech-based devices

This section goes up in price and technology, but still isn’t overly complicated, or the price isn’t extremely high.

Dry fire mag

The dry fire mag is interesting but only if you have select weapons.  This product comes in two formats: one with a strictly reset trigger and another with a laser system, which I will discuss in detail later. If you shoot the SIG 320, most of the Glocks, and a few other weapons, this device will reset your trigger and allow you to cycle the firing pin without racking the slide each time. For $100, it’s not that battle for a product, but I have been told that the trigger feels slightly different with this device than it usually does. You may not feel the difference for newer shooters, but I know this is generally ignored by most competition shooters and people who have been shooting for a long time. This isn’t a gimmick device, so don’t take it that way; realize if you are a reasonably competent shooter, it may bother you that your trigger does not feel like your usual trigger and resists a little bit more than it should. For the price point, if you are a new shooter and get the laser, it is a good deal, especially with some of the apps I will discuss later.

https://www.dryfiremag.com/?nab=0

Laser cartridges

There are two major laser cartridges on the market that I have found and run with. Several companies make a derivative of each of these from Pink Rhino, various knockoffs that are cheaper, and the G-Sight.  The easy way to distinguish the two is how many O rings are on the bullet cartridge. Generally speaking, most lower-end cartridges have two O-rings, but this doesn’t mean they won’t be accurate and serviceable. Honestly, these tend to be a crapshoot, whether they’re going to shoot straight or not, and most of the time, this depends on the distance to which you’re shooting the laser. The G-Sight laser cartridges have three O rings, which seem to make them a little bit more stable in the chamber but are slightly more complicated to get out, in my opinion. With all these devices, the O rings engaging in your chamber can sometimes make these lasers shoot a little off of the actual point of aim and of impact. With that in mind, they are generally under $50 products, and sometimes you’ll find them for as low as 25 to $30. These are not confused with bore sighting lasers, which only have a continuous on. These little laser products have a button on the back that allows your firing pin to activate it briefly, which you will see on most light surfaces like the wall of your house or some target you put up.  The biggest issue with these is that so many people don’t know how to train properly with them, so spend some time researching how to get the most out of the laser cartridge, or you will toss them in a drawer.  More on how to get these to shine later, but if you don’t want to pull out your phone and buy extra stuff, they are useful, especially in drawing from a holster training.

Laser cartridges combined with reactive targets

You can now buy a laser cartridge and some form of reactive target for the price of some of the laser cartridges. These range everywhere from little square boxes with a circle on them to other targets with rings, and we’ll stay glowing for a little bit longer where you hit with your laser. They also tend to have some sensor that gives you a response when you hit it, such as a noise or a light. These are excellent little devices you can set up in your house on a shelf and shoot at safely; these products also used to be a lot more expensive, ranging in the 100 to $150.00 range, but can now be found for around 50 to 60 bucks on Amazon. I think these aren’t worth your time due to the advancement in technology on cell phones and how we use them for the lasers.

Advanced technology-heavy products

These products are higher priced or heavily invested in design or technology, meaning they cost more. Also, these items start breaking the bank, costing a lot more than the above sections.

COOLFIRE

Coolfire is a very odd product in the dry fire line. You’ll get a mag worth of shooting for each reload of gas. The concept behind the project is to have a complete cycling weapon as if you were shooting live ammunition, which induces recoil and muzzle control, which many of the other products can’t do. The initial product costs $389, and the most expensive part of the line is almost $1000. It also has a laser feature. Honestly, I don’t know if this product is worth it, and I would never purchase it because of the price. While ammo has gotten extremely expensive, I still think this is a bit out of the range of most people’s pocketbooks for your limited training. Plus, you’ll have to get gas, which is a separate cost. I’ve seen these touted by several shooters on several YouTube channels, and I honestly can’t give you a good suggestion on this; if you get a chance actually to run one of these, then by all means, see if it’s worth it.  I can’t see the value of this when there are things, but maybe I am wrong.  This is a complex product to sell compared to the products below that I see more value in just from the technology standpoint. However, It is unique in being one of the few devices that induces recoil, at least comparable to that you would experience shooting actual ammunition.

Laser cartridges combined with cell phone technology

Many companies, such as the cartridge companies I mentioned above, now have an app integration with your laser. These programs allow you to place and sometimes shoot multiple targets you’re instructed to shoot. Not only does the app calculate and show you where all your hits landed, but it also tends to give you some instruction and challenge beyond that of just pulling the trigger at your leisure. While this is all good, the big drawback of all the laser cartridge systems is that you usually have to cycle the slide to reset your weapon or pull on a double-action trigger. I won’t even go into the poor souls who buy six of these to run in a wheel gun. This advancement can go from fundamental applications that merely rack up scores and tell you where you hit to dynamic training with multiple targets on a wall. Your phone calls out where to hit when to hit, and when that target can no longer be shot. Even with a slow cadence of having to rack the slide, this still puts some artificial stress, which I think is very useful. I will touch on the ones I’ve used beyond the generics a little later, but it’s not easy to find out which ones are good or not just by reading some of the reviews on Amazon.  A few apps that charge a substantial amount also require a tablet or TV. These fall into a very niche style of shooting where you have interactive videos that you shoot at. The downside is you’ll need both your phone and a tablet or screen, and I’ve heard from many people that these things tend not to work very well unless perfectly set up with the correct lighting, etc.

https://www.strikeman.io/
http://shootoffapp.com/
https://mantisx.com/pages/laser-academy

Special laser pistols

The next thing in laser technology goes towards a self-resetting laser pistol. These have multiple uses that I’m going to review here. Not only do they operate your cell phone apps, but many laser ranges that have popped up across the United States use these instead of the little bullet-style cartridges. Sometimes, these are preferred because you can pull the trigger as fast as you want; some also come with a mag reload and a slide, depending on how much you want to spend. While not one-for-one when it comes to shooting your pistol, these draw in the gaming-style shooting galleries where threats pop up, and you have to make decisions. I also think of the $300.00 for the laser gun along with a system that may cost you plus hundreds of dollars for a projector etc as prohibitive for most. This would only be good for a group of friends, a rich guy with a nice movie room, or the businesses that get customers coming in for training. The shooting galleries with decision-making shoot or no shoot problems are worth going to if you have one nearby; I just don’t think this is worth it for the average person or even enthusiast at home. The software setup and technology that goes into these systems are highly overblown most of the time. In the next several years, I think we’ll start seeing these more integrated into computers and gaming with laser pistols, but until then, pay your fee and have a nice, fun day with some friends at a commercial laser range.

SCATT The progenitor of most of this technology

SCATT is one of the premier technology systems everyone uses, from professional competition shooters to Olympic shooters.  Not only does the laser system we discussed before exist because of companies like this, but they continue to push accuracy and feedback. Most of these technologies we see in the average gun owner’s hands are derived from these unique Olympic systems. I will say that systems like the SCATT are highly tuned to be very accurate and assist great shooters to get even better; the downside is that most of these products range in price from 1500 to $2000 for a starting system. I bring these up to show you where the original technologies came from and that there is a reason beyond scamming you out of your money that these things exist. This particular device tracks your movements and shoots a very accurate laser a long distance if necessary. In addition, some systems go for even more money and can track more information with a camera. I will never recommend this product to any of my friends, but if you are a competition shooter, you may have seen these.  Also, if you are buying products like this, you don’t need to read this article.

https://www.scatt.com/

Motion tracking devices

I’m going to be honest here: I don’t know any other product besides Mantis X that tracks the weapon’s motion and gives you feedback, which is under $1000. I’ve seen some of the older Olympic-style devices go for about that, but generally, they require clamping onto certain portions of your weapon. This is probably one of my favorite devices for almost every shooter. Unfortunately, there are several different versions of this. So you’ll have to make a little decision when purchasing this. There are subtle differences in how the app gives you information between the X3 and the X10. These devices work the same way; they track motion sensing and can sense when your trigger is being pulled, when the hammer or striker moves forward, and when the trigger is released and reset. Like the SCATT, these little devices are pretty accurate, although they will miss a live shot or even a dry fire occasionally. The X10 itself does several more things than track what your weapon is doing. It will also allow you to do holster draw and recoil analyses for about 100 more dollars.

So, on the expensive side, you’re looking at about 250 out the door for the X10. What I love about this product is that it tracks so much information, but you can also use this with friends who buy similar products from Mantis and compete with one another.  I guess the biggest drawback of this device overall is that you need a cell phone and internet connectivity to draw out all the potential. Mantis is a very robust company and has been developing several drills to help you go from being dull and incapable to engaging in more exciting training that may help you save your life. One of the best things about this product is that it sets up your training for the weapons platform you are using. If you operate a rifle, the daily exercise will differ from that for a pistol. Every one of these devices has some exciting technology and data inside. I won’t go into the details, but I highly recommend you check out their site for this article, which would probably be several more pages of discussion.  Overall, I recommend the X10 because of its unique holster draw and recoil analysis, and the nice thing is this product goes on any weapon with a Picatinny rail.  Mantis also sells a bunch of magazines and weapons mount adapters in case you have a nonstandard firearm to attach to.

https://mantisx.com/pages/how-mantisx-works

Mantis Laser Academy

I will add a little bit about their laser Academy to this. I haven’t run their Academy for quite a while personally, and one of the downsides of the laser Academy, in my opinion, is the overwhelming price.  When the Laser Academy first came out, they were charging a hell of a lot for what it was, and I still think, at this point, they’re charging a little bit higher than they should. You’re almost ready to run the Laser Academy if you get any laser shooting products and a cell phone holder that doesn’t block your camera. I will say this about Laser Academy that they have done a lot of work to make things far more interactive and exciting than most other apps on the market. While all of the targets I know of can be printed out personally, they sell some for a reasonably high price, although they’re printed out on tough paper, and I believe they are water resistant.  This is a product that I would recommend putting together yourself and then getting the app later. I’m unsure how much they charge for this app because I got it heavily discounted several years ago and haven’t used it since due to my traveling.

https://mantisx.com/pages/laser-academy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-WO5bGXwSE

The last mention from the mantis family is the Blackbeard X.  This is a purely AR15, or Sig MCX device incorporating both the laser Academy system and the motion tracking all in one. In addition, it also resets the actual trigger on your weapon mechanically. This device replaces your bolt and has a battery that goes into the receiver through the mag well. This is one of the products that I would like to recommend as much as I would tell you to hesitate at the same time. If you are doing nothing else but running your rifle and training with it, then this product is absolutely a must-have at $300. The training from this product will save you a lot of money on live fire and help you increase your capabilities when you go to the range. I don’t want to go into the details of this product completely. I will leave the videos to their advertisements, but I will say this device works very well. I also use this device to ensure my installed triggers work correctly before going to the range.  It was very comical to have a trigger that didn’t want to reset properly and find it with this product before even wasting time to pay for a range. The one downside I would say with this product is that the laser isn’t always as accurate as I wish, although it is adjustable. Overall, the laser system is interesting but unnecessary for most benefits. However, I will admit that Mantis is developing more and more apps that make this dual laser motion system more of a combat trainer than the thousands of dollars you would spend on a SCATT system.

What would I buy if I was starting?

Without a doubt, Rogers TRT is worth the money, and I absolutely must recommend it to budget-conscious people also it makes is a great addition to the other devices. I suggest looking into the laser cartridges if you don’t have much money, say 100$. Remember, you need something to knock those things out of the chamber, generally a cleaning rod. These things can be temperamental at best, and the rifle cartridges are not as valuable as the ones in your pistol. My biggest question is what kind of dry fire training you will be doing most of, and I assume most of you will be running pistols quite heavily. The Mantis X10 shines as it can operate on rifles and pistols. This is where I would probably invest my money and time initially, as the $250 price is far less than ammunition these days. If, however, you’re running an AR15 and want to train with just that, then the Blackbeard X is the way to go.