Dry weapons training is an important pillar of mastery. But, if you have ever stood in a room alone racking rifle actions between each shot you know what tedium means. Not to mention the training scars it can and does create. And it can be lonely.
Enter the Blackbeard X Dry Fire Training System(BBX). (Use Code SAJNOG23 for $20 off)
The BlackbeardX is a trigger resetting device that also has the MantisX shot analytics that their other offerings/app provides. With each press of the trigger, the device resets the trigger and emits a laser down the bore. While you are plugging away, the app is tracking and analyzing your shots, giving possible causes of not so good shots, and positive feedback when the shot is good.
With the addition of the new device comes new drills and challenges, just a simple download from the app store of your choice.
When I opened the box I was pleasantly greeted by a softshell zipper case to store the red bolt carrier replacement and red magazine. The case includes a charging cable, hex wrench, instruction cards and a sticker. The magazine is the battery pack and MantisX device while the bolt is the laser and trigger reset mechanism. There are a few platform/magazine options. AR-15, Sig MCX/SCAR light, AR-10 and SCAR heavy.
The website states that more models are in the pipeline. There are fit requirements on the website so make sure to look there and choose wisely. The model I have is the AR-15 option and the bolt went into my upper without issue but was a snug fit when I closed the upper. I opened and looked for any wear from the “snugness” but didn’t see any damage or scratching. The magazine fit as expected and without any issue.
Charge time for the 2Ah, 11.4V battery seems a bit long at 13 hours if the battery is empty according to the website. The other end of that wait time is 50K+ shots before the next charge. That’s about 15,000 usd depending on what and where you buy. Additional magazines/batteries can be purchased on the website for reloads and magazine manipulations.
The included info cards got me up and running in no time. It stated that the laser should be “close” for most uppers. I had to adjust windage about 4 inches at 100 yards. The windage adjustment is on the ejection port side and is easily adjusted while looking through your sight. This wasn’t a problem to adjust.
One thing I did notice was the adjustment felt like it turned real easy making me worry about holding the laser impact in relation to my sight*. A small switch on the bolt group will turn the laser on full time(Helpful for zeroing), or activate when the trigger is pressed. The laser is green and can be clearly seen outside.
The red color of the magazine and bolt group will clearly indicate that the weapon is not operational. I like this a lot since my family can sometimes catch me dry firing and they can see straight away that the “range is cold”.
As stated above the app allows for more rifle specific drills. With this it also opens more challenges and the ability to work toward getting patches for different levels of completion.
What does all this do other than reset a trigger?
- Provides laser visualization
- Analyzes on-target delay score
- Assesses over travel score for multiple targets
- Helps you find effective transition paths when shooting
- Makes a wicked cool “PEW!” noise when you press the trigger!
Pros:
- Use YOUR trigger and YOUR rifle
- Active instant feedback and data collection
- Works with MantisX Laser Academy
- Less than a minute to install
- 50 k shots on a single charge
- App allows groups for friendly competition or team tracking
- Improve trigger control
- Improve grip
Cons:
A little cost prohibitive for the average shooter, $349 for the green laser as well as IR model, $319 for the red laser, $299 for the no laser. Mags are $175 each. The device will pay for itself if used regularly in place of live fire training. The laser adjustment screw was loose on the test model.
Conclusion:
This without a doubt will save you tons of money, and I think it is the best thing for rifle practice in many years. The diagnostic capabilities, training log and resetting trigger are worth their weight in gold. The app keeps you engaged with daily drills and challenges and allows users to create teams. This makes dry weapons training less lonely.
Add on the laser and it opens even more possibilities with Mantis other training apps.
* I continued this review knowing the laser was not at the point of impact that I would expect. I was hopeful for this to be accurate for use with Mantis Laser Academy as well as other laser activated apps. Although this was disappointing, The rest of the features were flawless and as expected from MantisX.
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