Mantis has long taken dry fire and pushed it to the next level. Their devices refined dry fire, improved performance, and took shooters to the next level. Dry fire is invaluable, and the ammo market is seemingly crazy and constantly shifts in supply, demand, and cost. Having the means to dry fire efficiently your firearm can be invaluable. For AR-15 owners, the Mantis Blackbeard might be the most valuable piece of gear on the market.
The Mantis Blackbeard is a drop-in bolt, charging handle, and magazine replacement. The bolt and charging handle is a single piece that prohibits the function of the rifle. The drop-in magazine is a battery that connects the bolt. It’s roughly the same length and size as a 20 round AR-15 magazine.
The first is a laser that’s fired every time the shooter pulls the trigger. The second is an actuator that resets the trigger after every trigger pull. Yep, after every ‘shot,’ the actuator pushes the trigger back down with ease. It seemingly works with any AR 15 lower parts kit. The trigger never reaches its full travel but does give you a complete break, and the actuator ensures you get a total reset.
Dry Fire And the Blackbeard
Everyone tells you how crucial dry fire is, but they rarely mention just how boring it can be, especially with a rifle. You pull the trigger, the shot breaks, and you manually cycle the action. You can only work a very limited skillset with plain old dry fire, and that skillset is mostly trigger pull, sight picture, and pure accuracy and precision stuff.
That’s important, but it’s boring and far from the complete rifle skills you need to succeed and flourish. The Blackbeard’s ability to reset your trigger can be invaluable. Even if you only train for marksmanship, the Blackbeard makes it highly efficient. Your ten minutes of dry fire with the Blackbeard likely multiplies your trigger presses by a factor of ten.
The Mantis Blackbeard takes your training to a different level and allows you to train for defensive firearms use efficiently as well. You aren’t just training your single shots, but double taps, triple taps, strings of fire, tactical drills, and many more.
Putting It All Together
First, you got to charge the battery. A mini USB plugs into the battery, and it takes several hours to fully charge. Each charge lasts for 10,000 trigger pulls. Not too shabby. My unit came with the USB port moved slightly inside the battery compartment. It was moved to the right so much so I couldn’t plug the device in. I was able to take the case apart and move the USB port to ensure it was centered correctly.
After that, the Mantis Blackbeard was problem-free. Installation takes about ten seconds. Pop-out your actual bolt, and drop in the Blackbeard bolt. Pressing the upper and lower together is a little tricky. The bolt’s likely a little too big, and this means you have to really squeeze the upper and lower together to get the receivers to mate. Also, it’s likely necessary to get the actuator close enough to reset the trigger.
The Blackbeard works in AR-15 platforms. It’s not caliber specific but obviously requires a multi-cal lower. There are absolutely zero safety concerns with the Blackbeard. You can’t chamber or fire a live round at all with the Blackbeard installed. It’s also high visibility red, so it can’t possibly be mistaken for the real thing or for you to mistake a real bolt for the Blackbeard.
Putting In Work
When I first installed the Blackbeard, I didn’t know what to expect. I had a general idea of how it worked but didn’t read or watch any reviews prior to using it. As such, I was quite tickled when it reset my trigger with a robotic sound. I then pulled the trigger as fast as possible, and the Blackbeard’s actuator kept up without issue.
According to Mantis, the Blackbeard can reset the trigger ten times a second. The system even works with full-auto ARs and can keep up with their rates of fire. Sadly I don’t have a full-auto weapon to test this but would gladly do so. You can’t outrun the actuator.
After messing around, I zeroed the laser to my optic’s red dot. Doing so is quite easy for two reasons. First, the laser has a constant “on” mode, and that makes it easy to adjust visually. Second, the elevation and windage controls are both exposed via the ejection port. It takes no time to align the laser with your reticle.
Getting Reps In
I combined the Blackbeard with a Mantis X10 and got some solid reps in with tight trigger control, grip, and follow-through. From there, I got a little crazy with a set of VTAC Targets. I placed them side by side and worked double taps, target transitions, failure to stop drills, snap drills, and more.
Then I moved the targets around. I practiced with the targets at various angles and did some drastic target transitions, and nailed each target two or three times. With a third man seized target, I ran a completely dry VTAC 1-5 drill, then an El Presidente without a reload, of course. I began looking up various rifle drills and had a blast training in my living room.
Heck, I used couches, tables, and walls as cover practice. I can do all of this accurately with several trigger pulls due to the Blackbeard. During all my shenanigans, I had a small audience of kiddos, and they wanted to get in on the action.
The Blackbeard (and an AR adjustable stock) provided a little fun to the kiddos over Thanksgiving break. It’s completely safe, and we can work on the basics of handling a firearm and mix in some fun of shooting a laser at the bad guys on a Fortnite poster.
Liven Up Your Dry Fire
The Blackbeard takes dryfire to a new level with the AR-15. Mantis has a laser academy system that can use an app on your phone or tablet to record and measure your shots as well. For that purpose, make sure you pick the red laser version. The IR and green laser don’t work with the Laser Academy system.
The Blackbeard costs $220 dollars and can be purchased here. It will quickly pay itself off, especially with ammo prices and inflation being the way they are. Does the Blackbeard appeal to you? If so, let me know below!
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This is exciting! A useful fun tool for training and safety. I’ll be looking to procure mine asap.
I’ve done a lot of dry firing and found it is superb practice. Unlike live fire, you can see instantly whether you flinched, jerked the trigger or otherwise faulted in your trigger control by just watching your sights/crosshairs move on the target (or, hopefully, not). However, I don’t need a laser to show me that. I think the trigger reset device is marvelous. I don’t really need the laser, but for the price, and possibly the fun of a little competition seeing your “shots” strike the target along with your friends’, it’s a nice touch. Stay safe