Review: The New Mantis Laser Academy

1. Open Shooting – Multiple Targets: Basic target shooting with multiple target scoring and the ability to store sessions to track your progress.
2. Duel – Best of Five Series: First shot on targets wins a point in best out of five competition.
3. Shot From Guard/Low Ready – Multi-Shot: Starting from a prompt, this mode measures your reaction time and shot accuracy.
4. Bullseye – 10 Shots: Records scores and splits for 10-shot sessions. Untimed, unprompted.
5. Compressed Surprise Break: Firing from a prompt, the goal is improved reaction speed and shot accuracy.
6. Duel – 5 Shots: From a prompt, both shooters draw and fire, with the first on-target earning a point. A fun way to improve speed and accuracy.
7. Duel – High Score: Fastest accurate shooting round against an opponent.
8. Holster Draw: Fast and accurate shot from the holster. Each shot is placed, scored, and timed.
9. Holster Draw – Par Timed: Fast and accurate shot from the holster, against a par time. The shot must break before the par whistle.
10. Shot From Guard/Low Ready – Multi-Rep: Fast and accurate shot from guard/low ready position.

If you happen to have a Mantis user account for your Mantis X device, you can use the same credentials to log in to your Laser Academy application. This allows you to track all your Mantis dryfire training information in one place.

Laser Academy kit includes a laser cartridge for your firearm. But you can use any laser cartridge or laser training gun such as a SIRT pistol.

What Gear is Included With the Mantis Laser Academy Kit?

To use Laser Academy, at a bare minimum you need a smartphone, and some sort of laser emitting device, like a SIRT pistol or a laser cartridge mentioned above. So you may already have gear that will get you started. If you are starting from scratch, it makes sense to look at buying one of the complete kits from Mantis. That way you won't be rigging some setup that doesn't work perfectly or isn't easily set up and taken down.

Mantis sells two kits:

The Portable Laser Academy Training Kit comes with:

1. Full Access code to Mantis Laser Academy
2.  Laser Cartridge (caliber specific)
3. Complete set of 5″x7″  Laser Academy Smart Targets
4. Mini tripod and smartphone holder
5. Laser cartridge extraction stick
6. Portable carrying case
7. sticky-tac to hang the targets on the wall

The Standard Kit adds the following items to what is already included with the Portable Kit:

1. Complete set of 8″x11″ Laser Academy Smart Targets
2. Large tripod and cellphone holder

There are a lot of different types of targets that come in the kits. These include IDPA, Dot Torture, IPSC, B27, and a variety of hostage and accuracy targets. All of them are printed on hard, durable cardstock. You can also purchase the targets separately as a set in the Mantis online store. For the ultra frugal approach, you can download a PDF file from the Mantis website and print out the targets you want.

Smart Targets

Mantis calls them ‘smart targets' because they have some codes printed on the corners. These codes are read by the application so that the program can recognize what type of target it is and score it appropriately. Some of the targets also have a zone on them called “control.” When you shoot a laser into this area it will start or stop the drill, or end training. This gives some convenient ‘hands-free' control of the app. For the targets without this ‘control zone,' you can simply use an included special control target that the software will recognize.

The targets come in 2 sizes. 8″ x 11″ which are roughly 1/3 scale. This means if I want to simulate a target at 10 yards, I need only to stand roughly 10 feet from this target.

Additionally, there are targets measuring 5″ x 7″ which are roughly 1/5 scale. These are nice because they fit inside of the travel case.

The smartphone app's user interface is very straightforward.

Laser Academy User Experience

As you can see, Laser Academy comes with everything you need to make dryfire enjoyable and productive. The application is also simple to set up. In fact, it only takes a few seconds and you're up and running.

To be honest I expected that the smartphone application would be simple and intuitive to set up. Mantis is a company that prides itself on routinely updating its applications to be bug-free, rich in features, and easy to use.

For a few days, I wanted to work on my draw speed. My cold start time, draw to first shot was averaging around 1.3 seconds at IPSC target A zone at 10-yard equivalent. I spent about 20 minutes using Laser Academy for 3 consecutive days. I used the “compressed surprise break” mode so I could isolate the time I took to present the gun, pick up my red dot, and get an acceptable hit. I also used the “holster draw” mode while working on my draw speed. I got some really good times in the .80s and some flubs in the close to 2s.

Setting Goals and Reaching Benchmarks

My goal at the beginning was to run a consecutive string of 5 ‘draw to first shot' times all at 1.0 seconds or less. On day 3 I was able to do just that. In fact, my average over about 30 draws was around 1 second that day. Now 0.3 seconds may not seem like a lot, and it probably isn't going to be the difference-maker in a use of force. However, being faster and maintaining accuracy can never hurt performance. Additionally, more good reps lead to fewer flubs overall. It also means more automation of the drawing process. So I can use less brain power focusing on my draw and initial shots, and more time on analyzing all the valuable information of my surroundings.

As a side note, if you want a faster draw you need to practice it. This course we put together is fantastic, and you can use the principles with Laser Academy to make your draw more consistent and efficient.

In Conclusion:

There are a lot of different options when it comes to shot recording software for dry fire practice. Laser Academy doesn't lack any features when compared to similar products and is affordable. I like the fact that the kit comes with everything you need, except for the phone and gun of course. Considering the cost of ammunition, an investment into something like the Mantis Laser Academy is money well spent.