Tag Archives: training

Practice with the Mantis Titan X Dry Fire Training Pistol

February 2, 2026Electronics and Tech, pistols, Product reviewdry fire, mantis, mantis titan x, mantis x, titan, trainingcoldboremiracle

Introduction

Mantis is a firearms training tool manufacturer, the Illinois company manufactures a variety of differing products all designed to help gun owners improve their skills. Today we are taking a look at one of those products, the Mantis Titan X. Like other Mantis products, the Titan X uses both technology and props to help you sharpen your practice. By adding some technology to dry firing and some structure to training, Mantis offers a great value in practice and savings in ammunition.

mantis, titan x, glock, model 701, training pistol, dry fire, magazine

Mantis Background

The Titan X is a polymer training pistol that can be had in various copies of popular pistols like the Glock 19 used here today. The pistol has onboard electronics to monitor the movements and trigger manipulation by the user. This and other data is sent by bluetooth to your phone, where the Mantis app analyzes and gives you feedback on every aspect of your draw, presentation, and trigger pulls. The whole idea is to perfect dry-fire training, and improve your handling.

mantis, titan x, glock, model 701, training pistol, dry fire, — the Titan fir perfectly into my **Safariland Holsters**

This is the trend with Mantis products; using their technology to give excruciating detail of firearms handling. Giving you the ability to watch your own movements and replay every trigger pull. Additionally, the Titan X has an adjustable laser that fires when the trigger breaks, illuminating the “impact” of your shot. This alone is extremely helpful in dry fire practice.

Mantis Features

The Titan X comes in a padded soft-case, with the instructions, charging cable and two magazines for reloading drills. As a copy of Glock pistols, it can accept your favorite weapon lights and lasers. And it has an optics cut to accept RMR and RMSc red dots on top of its immovable slide.

mantis, titan x, glock, model 701, training pistol, dry fire, optic, red dot, optics cut, rmr, rmsc, — the Titan is optics ready for your RMR and RMSc red dots

The weighted magazines offer a realistic feel and fit to the whole ensemble. It really feels just like a Glock in your hand, and sure to fit in your holsters just like your live fire pistol.

The Mantis App was free to download, and very simple to connect to the Titan X. Charging the Titan X pistol is done using a micro USB cable that plugs in where the chamber would be (if it had one). There is a single button on top of the chamber used for syncing the pistol and other operations.

mantis, titan x, glock, model 701, training pistol, dry fire, app, mantis x app, — the Mantis X app gives you feedback on your trigger finger movement, and how it moves the pistol upon firing

The Titan’s internal sensor can tell exactly what direction the pistol is pointed. It can tell where the gun is aimed and any movement between shots, as well as trigger inputs. This is all recorded and can be replayed in real time or slow motion so you can see your overtravel on the target, as well as the movements you put in while pulling the trigger. You can even watch live as you shoot with the gun to see all the right and wrong inputs you are doing. Or have a partner watch on your phone and give you coaching.

Other Mantis Products

Other products from Mantis are in a similar style of training but offer different use cases. The Mantis X system is a phone based app training module that uses a sensor attached to your firearm. It gives feedback on handling and aiming while using your actual firearm. The X2 version of the product is designed for use as dry fire practice only. Adding live fire to the training is done with the X3 version, which allows the same drills and skill practice while running live ammunition on the range.

The Mantis 10X version combines all features of the X series products, and maximizes your ability to train both on the range and at home. And not just handguns either, it can be used with long-guns and even archery tackle.

The Mantis Laser Academy is another training module, again using your phone and other props in addition to a laser cartridge chambered in your gun to practice shooting. Its quick and easy setup allows you time on the trigger of your favorite gun without leaving home and saving ammunition costs along the way.

The Mantis Blackbeard system is a product you install on your AR15 rifle, it allows you to dry fire the rifle without having to recharge the rifle every shot. The Blackbeard resets the trigger for you, and its optional laser also gives you a witness of the impact from each trigger pull. This helps build handling skill and again saves ammo costs. There is another model called the BlackbeardX that combines the Blackbeard system with the MantisX technology giving you the best of both.

Mantis Titan X Review

I dry fire a LOT, ask anyone who knows or works with me. I am always practicing my draw from holsters, and presentation of whatever gun I happen to be carrying that day. Up until now, the only feedback I could give myself was based on the sights location when the trigger breaks. Watching to see where my red dot is on my point of aim as the striker snaps, as I’d imagine many of you do as well.

The Titan X is perfect for this practice as it adds something you can’t do with a real firearm, at least not safely. The laser impact on your aimpoint serves the same purpose as a bullet when you shoot. After all; shooting is simply a process of aligning sights, cleanly breaking the trigger, seeing the impact and adjusting accordingly for the next shot. The Titan X allows you to do all those things without ear protection, without leaving home, and most importantly without blowing through your ammo stash.

mantis, titan x, glock, model 701, training pistol, dry fire, case

Operation

With the Titan X you can practice with the pistol, complete with your favorite accessories such as red dots, weapon lights, holsters and such. And execute the same training by drawing, aligning the sights, and breaking the trigger. Seeing the laser as the impact gives you the exact same ability to analyze your sight alignment, trigger pull and more. The only thing missing is the recoil and noise. Add to that the data record captured by the Mantis app, that allows you to analyze every aspect of your shooting and trigger pull. Additionally, the laser is far more consistent than even quality ammo can be. That translates to better training because your gun is literally a laser beam, and the “hits” will be more valuable because you are removing the anomaly of variations in ammunition. Sim guns, rubber bullet guns, and even airsoft can offer some of the same training aspects, but some of those are semi-destructive to your home decor. And none of them are as accurate as the laser.

Shooting the pistol right out of the box I found it immediately useful. Seeing the laser “impact” right where the sights lined up gives you that immediate feedback much like a bullet does. I had no reason to adjust the laser out of the box as it lined up great with the sights.

But because I usually shoot with a red dot it wasn’t long before I decided to install one. For that purpose I went with an easy choice, the Gideon Optics Alpha red dot. Its RMR footprint which would make it easy to attach. At that point you could either adjust the red dot to match the laser impact. Or vice versa adjusting the laser with an Allen wrench to match the red dot.

In Business

With the sight mounted and everything lined up, I got busy shooting the Titan X. The very best part of this product is you can train at home in your pj’s if thats what you desire. I found a spot in the house with roughly 8-10 yards from a wall. Then got to work making my way through the various drills included in the Mantis app.

Following the training regimen in the Mantis app, I found a variety of drills that were both fun and educational. Drawing from both CCW holsters and OBW holsters gave good insight to my draw and first shots after. The realistic weight and feel of the Titan made it very natural. It should have come as no surprise to me how much better you can focus on your trigger control when it isn’t covered up by noise and recoil. And if you add to that the impressive after analysis with the app you can really quickly find what you need to improve on. The Titan gives you the ability to really shoot without burning up ammunition. This gives you much better insight on what happens before the bullet leaves the muzzle.

It only gives you analysis after the fact, so don’t expect the Mantis Titan to make any corrections to your execution (it’s not a training wheels). You will still have to do everything but load magazines. So don’t count on the Titan to correct your finger placement or grip angle, you will still need to know the fundamentals. What it will do is show you if your finger placement is causing you to pull one direction or another.

Lessons Learned

The more I used the Titan, the more holes I found in my shooting. And if nothing else, the Titan did an excellent job showing me what I’m doing wrong. So I know what to work on. Much like an honest friend, the Mantis Titan will tell you what you suck at. No sugar coating here, just the straight truth of how your handling flows. And the Mantis app keeps a history of your training, so you can go back and see how you’ve improved over time.

Obviously there is never any danger with the Titan, as it cannot be loaded. This also makes it very useful for training. Whether you are at home, in the office, or elsewhere you don’t have to worry about office pops. Which is a concern with dry firing your regular pistol. The bright red color also gives the impression of a training pistol. I doubt it would keep an unlearned cop from turning you into a deadly training story.

The Mantis X App

Not only does the app come with a list of various popular drills, but additionally several courses of training. They are set up in progressive sections, finishing one with a high enough score opens the next. You can create a profile, and the app will track your progress and scores.

mantis, titan x, glock, model 701, training pistol, dry fire, app,

Much like a video game you can configure the drills depending on skill level. With difficulty levels of beginner, intermediate, advanced, and even a custom setting.

The drills have a shot timer built in that signals you to fire just like at the range. And you can adjust the delay to your liking as well.

The app helps you analyze your own handling of the pistol. Giving you times from the holster to breaking the trigger, and your time between shots etc. You can watch every draw and watch the muzzle tracking as you do, and every trigger pull is also shown allowing you to see what needs work. What it doesn’t do is give you a target, anything you choose can be an aimpoint. The Titan tracks the aimpoint based on where you shoot. You could quite literally set up targets in your house and run drills on them. There is really a lot more to the app than I can go over here, but I found it to be very helpful in analyzing my shooting.

Mantis Titan X Pros and Cons

There is very little I can judge against the Titan based on its purpose. It does what I expected it to do, even better than I thought it would. I didn’t really think I would like a training pistol this much, the immediate feedback of my shooting really blew my mind. I suppose if I had to say something I’d like improved on the pistol it might be this; I would like it if the slide was operational, even though it’s not really necessary. I’d like it for the reloading drills, so you could actually operate the slide lock and such. The adjustment screws for the laser were slightly janky. I never did figure out exactly which size Allen wrench I used to adjust it, but I made it work. The battery life lasts longer than expected which means you can get a lot of trigger time on the gun.

As it is there are a few different pistol models of the Titan. Mantis is also taking what appears to be suggestions on their website. I expect they are looking to see what the next most popular model is that should be produced.

Mantis Titan X Report Card

Shootability (A) it feels like every other Glock 19 clone you’ve handled and shot

Reliability (B+) I seems like the laser wandered slightly with use, but the laser never didn’t go bang

Ergonomics (B+) Gen5 Glock feel, no finger grooves and undercut trigger guard

Accuracy (A) The laser can’t miss when you aim properly

Value (A) For the amount of training the Titan is an exceptional value

mantis, titan x, glock, model 701, training pistol, dry fire, surefire x300, gideon alpha — the Titan worked great with the **Gideon Optics Alpha red dot** and **Surefire X300 weapon light**

Mantis Titan X FAQ’s

How realistic is the trigger?

I found the trigger to feel very comparable to the Glock and Glock clone pistols that the Titan is designed to mimic. The take up and snap of the trigger feels close enough that if blindfolded I would likely not distinguish it from any other random Glock copy.

Does the slide move on the Titan?

The slide of the Titan is fixed, and not meant to move as far as I can tell. There is no need to operate the pistol slide anyways, as all operations are done without it.

Is it compatible with standard holsters?

In my experience, the Titan fit perfectly in my various collection of Glock 19/17 holsters. Several different Safariland ALS holsters, as well as the IncogX and Gravity holsters.

How do the smart magazines work?

The Titan senses the magazine when seated, which is used during various reloading drills. I also found that standard Glock magazines will fit in the Titan as well for additional training.

Accessories for the Mantis

I used several accessories together with the Mantis Titan X, for starters a Gideon Optics Alpha red dot. I also used my Surefire X300 weapon light because I wanted to run the gun from my Safariland holsters. And the Titan X fits perfectly with the holster and light combo.

mantis, titan x, glock, model 701, training pistol, dry fire, safariland, holster

It’s nice that the Titan X uses the popular RMR and RMSc footprint, and since the gun doesn’t recoil you needn’t worry about it shifting on the base plate. And using the Titan together with my holsters that I use every day make drawing practice more valuable. And reloads can be performed using the mag-caddy’s on my gun-belt.

Final Thoughts

For the asking price of $199 I think the Mantis Titan X is a great deal. Sure you can argue that you can get something like a PSA Dagger for just $50 more. But the Titan X will save you far more in ammunition and practice. That is where the value comes in, the Titan X costs only a bit more than a case of ammo for training. And you can certainly argue that you’ll get more training out of the Titan. It gives you all the ability of safe dry fire and nearly live fire practice, with exceptional analysis of your practice with the Mantis app. I was a bit skeptical of this kind of product when I first saw it, but it only took a few moments to see what a great asset it can become.

-CBM

Hooking New Shooters with Pistol Caliber Carbines

November 30, 2024blogcarbine, new shooters, pcc, Pistol caliber carbines, training, youth shooterscoldboremiracle

If ever there was a good time to get into shooting, it is now. Despite impending doom and political pressure to deter firearms ownership and use, the market and practice of firearms continues to maintain its upward trend. More and more people are warming up to shooting sports and the exercise of their second amendment rights, while this is a good thing, it doesn’t come without its obstacles. Today I wanted to talk about hooking new shooters with pistol caliber carbines. The Trijicon MROmade a great choice for an optic

Whether it is a child coming into the age of curiosity, a significant other who wasn’t raised around firearms, or a head of household looking for new skills to protect their property and loved ones, some people are apprehensive towards handling and shooting guns. Our duty as gun owners is to give these prospects every opportunity to learn safe, and proper firearm use.

Pistol Caliber Carbines (PCC’s) are a great way to start someone who might be intimidated. Sometimes it is the noise, sometimes the recoil, and sometimes its something else. But the gentle recoil and short report of pistol cartridges can ease those individuals into a comfortable place where they can work on the basic skills of shooting. And once they are there, stepping up their game is much less intimidating.

hooking new shooters with pistol caliber carbines. — **Adding a suppressor** to a PCC can make it even more tolerable, creating hours of fun for new shooters

PCC’s are often very lightweight and compact, this can be helpful to both young or petite shooters. Focusing on sights is very difficult if you are struggling to hold the weapon on target. A small and usually shortened weapon like a PCC eliminates that challenge.

Handguns require a touch more of respect and discipline due to their very small size, to put it bluntly, they are much easier to point at oneself or others around you. That is not a reason to avoid handguns with new or inexperienced shooters, but it is a reason to take extra caution. Using longer guns as a way to break the ice is a better option in my opinion, and PCC’s are perfect for it. Hooking new shooters with pistol caliber carbines has been easy for all of my kids, as well as some adults.

cmmg banshee — this kid loves the **CMMG Banshee** in 9mm

One of the worst things I see people do with new shooters is starting them off on some miserable six-pound magnum deer rifle. Even worse are those who like to chuckle from behind as they anticipate the overwhelmed face of a frightened shooter after the shot. This is neither funny nor helpful and probably does more to feed the fear of timid new shooters than anything else. New shooters can be embarrassed and increasingly uncertain about the whole ordeal just so Mr. Fudd can feel some sort of superiority before their greener peers.

PCC’s share many aspects with the Grandaddy of trainers, the 22 long rifle, in fact, there are many PCC options in 22. Many of America’s favorite AR-15 variants are available in 22 or can be readily converted.
One of my favorite attributes of both 22’s and other pistol cartridges is their economic advantage. With a 22, you can train new shooters all afternoon for less than a couple combo meals at your favorite burger joint. And nine-millimeter PCC’s aren’t horrendously expensive either, significantly much cheaper than shooting 5.56 ammo.

Firearms with minimal recoil are ideal for new shooters. Even the mild recoil impulse of PCC’s requires some skill to manage, and the ranges for which they are effective give the shooter immediate feedback on their trigger pull and recoil management.
Shorter distances and the visual cues on targets are very helpful to those that are new to shooting, being able to walk up to their target and inspect their shooting will also help them learn what they are doing wrong or right.

Adding a suppressor to the firearm is another helpful tool that will help new shooters ease into it. Removing the worst of the noise can help timid shooters focus on the task before them. And most PCC’s when suppressed are very quiet, much quieter than high-speed rifle rounds like the 5.56.

kriss vector — the **Kriss Vector** is another PCC, but this one in 45 ACP might be better for adults

Impressions matter, when you bring a new shooter to the firing line and show them the gun they are about to shoot, and the ammunition that it fires, something small like a pistol cartridge will be less intimidating. Generally, people that are new to firearms can be nervous about even the looks of a particular firearm, so simplicity might be another effective way to help them engage comfortably.

cz scorpion, trijicon MRO,hooking new shooters with pistol caliber carbines. — the **CZ Scorpion** has been a great tool to tech my kids to shoot

Another additional tool to go with your PCC that might aid in teaching new shooters is a simple steel target. The reactive nature of the steel gives immediate confirmation to shooters that they are doing something right, it also simplifies the task for the apprentice as there are simply hits and misses. Shooting steel targets with pistol cartridges inside one hundred yards is safer than rifle cartridges, and it’s not so hard on your steel either.

So if you find yourself lucky enough to be introducing a new shooter, or a group of new shooters, don’t overlook this great option and training tool hooking new shooters with pistol caliber carbines.

-CBM

Check out more about PCC’s here

Long-Range Shooting Course: Bruised Egos, and Knees

July 6, 2021blogeducation, skill, trainingcoldboremiracle

Improving your skills is a way of life. Its often said you can either work on improving, or let your skills deteriorate. If you’ve ever felt that your skills have plateaued you know exactly what Im talking about. I have wanted to test my mettle for some time, and see just where I am, I enrolled in a rifle/carbine Long-Range Shooting course put on by Bruiser Industries.

Bruiser Industries

Bruiser Industries is a small company that specializes in teaching shooting tactics and techniques, specifically from the perspective of Law Enforcement and Military. Their Instructors come with backgrounds from SEAL Teams, competition shooters, and specialized law enforcement.

Education

Most of my knowledge base is self taught, I spent a lot of time reading and playing around on the internet. Listening and practicing what was available was coupled to my insatiable desire to get better, and this became my learning curve. I probably wasted a lot of ammo doing it over the years, but Im not sure I would change it after all. Lessons learned on your own sure seem to last longer, and root deeper in your mind.
I wanted to compare what I had self taught, to what was being taught to professional marksmen in the Military and SWAT community. Part of me was afraid I was going to feel like some redneck with a mullet being embarrassed by a bunch of seasoned pro’s. Lucky for me though, it turned out not to be the case.

The Course

The class I was attending was four days, focusing the first two on shooting accurately with a carbine scoped with an LVPO. We discussed the technical side of it in a classroom situation for a good portion of the day, talking about ballistics, wind, rifle setup ect. This was great for me because it doesn’t matter how much you think you know, you can always benefit from someone else’s experience or perspectives. It was very nice to have something I knew and understood, explained again by someone else with their version of the same thing.

It was then time to head to the range, and get our rifles hot and dirty. The southern California heat was brutal, the sun beat down with a vengeance that could be felt right through your clothes and sunblock. The discomfort added to the learning though I believe, doing this stuff in your comfort zone makes you a comfortable shooter. But when you are trying to stabilize a rifle from a tree crawling with biting ants, and your sweaty cheek sliding around the hot rifle and razor sharp grass cutting into your knees or elbows, breathing heavy and trying to read mirage through the scope it adds another level of pressure to you as the shooter.

During the course of the first two days we spent a good deal of time engaging targets from everything EXCEPT conventional shooting positions. Barricades, barrels, trees, tripods and anything else was used to build different shooting positions. We engaged steel targets from up close out to beyond six-hundred yards, all from these non-prone and self built shooting positions. It felt like a cross between a PRS match and sneaking across a prickly Mexican border fence.

I of coursed used a Desert Tech MDRX in 223 Wylde for the carbine portion of the course, and just to be safe around the massive California LE community I ran my twenty-inch barrel, you know because 16 inch barrels are deadly. On top of the MDRX I had mounted my US Optics TS8X LVPO, it is a FFP 1-8 scope, with a drop compensating reticle built specifically for the 5.56. One of the many valuable things we learned in the class portion was to find corrected values for the so called drop compensating hold points on the reticle. Things like atmosphere and temperature change, so the drops listed are not always correct. But you can take live data from the moment, and find the correct values for these points. So while the four-hundred yard hold point may not be actually four-hundred in real time, but you can figure out what it actually is, and assign it a new value like four-hundred and twenty-seven yards. Armed with this new data point you can more accurately engage your targets.

Precision Long-guns

At the beginning of day three we were back into the classroom for additional discussion on ballistics, reticles, and more. We then headed back to the range, prepared to make our long guns fit into every uncomfortable or awkward shooting position we could make. Again the focus was to learn how to shoot from real world positions, instead of the traditional proned out on the shooting-mat.

Perhaps my favorite part of the class were these exercises of learning to build a solid shooting position using whatever you had available. Whether it was essentially lashing your rifle to a post with the sling, or using a tripod leg for rear support to make a near perfectly solid position, I picked up a lot of tricks that helped me feel more confident when making a good shot.

For the long-gun portion of the class, I brought along my latest love which is the Desert Tech SRS M2 sporting it’s brand new 6MM GT barrel. One of the latest craze cartridges to hit the competitive rifle shooting circuit. The M2 is absolutely the best rendition of the SRS to date, the optics rail is awesome for those that need it, though I rarely do. The ARCA Lock rail from Area 419 on the bottom however is a must have for anyone who shoots from a variety of positions using all the bells and whistles that go with it. I chose to run an Atlas bipod on the ARCA rail as well my favorite US Optics scope, the Foundation 25X. The internal bubble level makes for quick leveling of the rifle without ever moving from the shooting position.

We first zeroed our rifles, then moved to truing our ballistic data (cross-referencing the ballistic coefficient with velocity, then confirming against actual drop & wind). With a solid foundation to move forward from we started doing some drills on building positions in assorted places, then engaging targets at various distances. Another valuable lesson I learned at this point was a variation of one I often recommend myself. My version of the lesson is; If you don’t know why you missed or hit, you are just wasting ammo. The new lesson I learned at the Bruiser course was almost the reverse engineered version of the lesson; If you make a good hit after building a position, don’t waste ammo shooting it again. Rebuild a new position and make another shot. This was a great lesson to learn, rebuilding your shooting position and firing solution after every hit will make you an absolute monster when it comes to hitting targets in the field and on the fly.

We did an assortment of shooting drills moving around from one place to another, learning how to bracket the targets, and utilizing the whole target. This was another highlight for myself, if you know the wind and elevation estimates there is no excuse for not making use of the whole target. In plainer terms look at it like this; if you know the wind is going to blow your shot at least half a target’s width to one side, then you have no business wasting half the target by aiming center. Making full corrections is another easy mistake that many of us make, often trying to walk it in. Another lesson galvanized under the California sun was that, if it looked 1.2 Mil’s right, then correct 1.2 Mil’s! Much of making hits is analyzing the conditions, distance, and target, and evaluating where your highest probability of bullet impact is, then making sure that point is at the center of the target. The second half of that equation is the execution, a solid and steady shooting position, with a good trigger press and follow through. If you do it all right, you not only hit the target, but you’ll watch it happen in real time through your scope.

We did some long-range shooting as well, taking shots clear out to 1600 yards. The 6GT did quite well out to 1400 but the last few target made for some very difficult spotting splash. I will say this though, the GT did exceptionally well shooting against 308’s (big surprise right?) Evaluating my dope and wind holds as compared to everyone else’s did make me feel like perhaps I was cheating a bit, but the lessons were the same regardless. Most of the guys there had never shot that far before, probably never needed to either.

I also picked up on a few things I wouldn’t do by watching others. I noticed that many of the guys regardless of the range to target would zoom out to find the target, and then zoom all the way in when they’d found it. This seems like waste of motion and time for me, not to mention you don’t need 27X when shooting a man sized target at 300 yards. I also saw a lot of use of safeties, not that there is anything wrong with safeties but it again was a huge waste of time to load the rifle and engage the safety only to break your final shooting position slightly to disengage the safety seconds later. This perhaps could be just the way these guys had been instructed in the past, and everybody should use what works for them I suppose. The lesson I took away from this was to get everything ready, and make chambering a round the last thing you do. That way there is little to no use for breaking your final shooting position.

Afterthoughts

An experience like this one has been a very positive and beneficial one for me. Gaining knowledge and perspective is only part of it, having your form critiqued a little may take some humility but you’ll be better for it. I approached this course with an open mind and turned the humility up to ten, and with that attitude I was able to distill the best parts of the course I needed. Leaving your ego behind is a great way to learn.

My worries about being inadequate or under-skilled were completely unfounded. it was great to be surrounded by professionals who were also humble and eager to learn made it an overly positive experience for all. I think we all enjoyed every minute of the torture and all the hits. So if you get the opportunity, go out and train with the best, as you might imagine, I would recommend Bruiser Industries.

-CBM