There is no better training than some live ammo, someone to criticize you constructively, and a range. However, that’s not always possible. Luckily the firearms community is really into training, and this need for training has built a market for training gadgets and gizmos. Today we are going to examine a number of these devices and point out what they can do to make you a better shooter and why they might have a place in your training regiment.
1. Mantis Blackbeard
I could have made this entire list of Mantis stuff, but I’ll try to avoid doing so. The Blackbeard is one of the few things I think is an absolute must-have for serious AR owners. If you compete with an AR, use one for home defense or for a duty purpose. The Blackbeard will take you to the next level. It’s a drop-in kit that has you replacing your bolt and magazine. The Blackbeard kit is compromised of a bolt and charging handle, as well as a battery that lives in your magazine well.
How does the Mantis Blackbeard work?
When you pull the trigger, the hammer hits an actuator which forcefully resets the trigger. This allows you to dry fire without the need to continually reset the trigger via the charging handle. This allows for simulated semi-auto fire so you can do actual combative and tactical drills. I love doing the 1-5 Drill, failure drills, and similar drills without spending a single dollar in ammunition.
The Blackbeard also comes with or without a laser. I like the laser variant and feel it’s worth the extra dinero. I can use the laser with various apps and just get feedback from where I’m aiming. The downsides are few and far between. The biggest would be the fact you can’t do reload drills. Even with a second battery, a reload wouldn’t be accurate because the battery doesn’t drop free.
2. Mantis Laser Academy
I promise this will be the last Mantis item on the list, but I can’t leave it off. The Laser Academy system is a combination of a laser-firing cartridge, an app, and some specialized targets. This training gizmo allows you to blend technology to get real-time feedback from your dry fire practice. The specialized targets take various forms, and the app can read where exactly you hit and score as appropriate.
The app also packs various modes to simulate reloads, draws, and more. You can practice slow fire or fast, practice your draw, one-handed technique, and so much more. It’s much more entertaining than just standard pulling the slide to the rear and then pulling the trigger over and over again. The Laser Academy can provide feedback as well as a timer to judge you as harshly as a good friend criticizing your technique.
The Laser Academy is a super useful tool that is just limited by the nature of dry fire. DAO guys won’t have any issues, but if you are rocking out with a striker-fired gun, you know you have to rack the gun for every little shot.
3. MEAN Arms Chips
The MEAN Arms DW Chips aren’t a snack you bring to the range to keep your blood sugar even. They are plastic chips designed to create complicated malfunctions during live firing. However, they can be used for dry fire if you have a handful of Snap Caps. The DW Chips require a double stack, double feed magazine, so they do not work with Glock mags but work with AR mags if that makes sense. They’ll also work with Colt SMG mags, AK mags, etc.
When inserted, they have the ability to create a complicated malfunction. This forces the user to react to the malfunction and fix it as need be. It’s not a problem, but shooters are blessed with great guns these days. Seriously, even budget weapons are pretty good, and malfunctions aren’t exactly common and may not ever occur in a training environment.
Toss a DW chip in between some of your ammunition, and bam, now you are creating a situation where things have gone wrong, and you need to learn to fix it. The only real downside is that these are disposable and will break. They might only be used once or maybe two or three times. Luckily they are cheap and come in abundant packages.
4. Infinity Targets
Infinity Targets are polymer targets designed to be used over and over and over. These self-healing targets are designed to resemble various popular competition targets. They absorb hundreds of impacts and can be used over and over, and a little spray paint can go a long way in healing and covering impacts.
These targets can be used at close ranges without a problem and are completely safe for rifles, pistols, and shotguns. However, they are caliber dependent on how they heal. A shotgun will likely wear one out a lot faster than a 9mm, and 9mm will wear one out a lot faster than a .22LR. They are also heavier, which means you might need to revisit your target posts and hanging methods.
While they are more expensive than paper targets, their reusability pays them off quickly. Plus, they are way more wind and water-resistant, which can make them quite handy on rough days.
5. .22 Conversion Kits
Converting your centerfire handgun or rifle to rimfire can be quite handy for getting some training in on the cheap. Rimfire ammo is dirt cheap and a good way to shoot live ammo at an affordable rate. Sadly we can’t easily convert everything to rimfire, but we can try! Let’s look at two companies that produce kits to make training cheap.
Advantage Arms Conversion Kits
Advantage Arms produces pistol conversion kits for a variety of popular platforms. They currently produce kits for Glock pistols, the XD lineup, and 1911s. At SHOT, they revealed that they were producing kits for the P365 and the Hellcat. These kits make it cheap and easy to train with your actual firearm and holster on the cheap. If only they had optics-ready versions.
CMMG Rifle Kit
If you want to turn your AR-15 into a .22LR slinging machine, then CMMG makes it easy. This kit replaces your bolt and magazine, and that’s it. It only works with 5.56 ARs and converts them into a direct blowback system. The magazines hold 25 rounds and allow you to train on the cheap with your rifle, your trigger, your optics, etc. It’s a handy and affordable way to save some dinero.
Training Hard
The word need is a strong one. You don’t need any of the above items to train, but they do make your training more efficient. They also stand to make it more affordable in the long run and often more entertaining. If you’re entertained, you’re more likely to keep training and keep getting better. Hopefully, we’ve given you some food for thought.
What are your favorite training tools? Let us know in the comments section.
