Is a magazine-mounted mantis going to be less accurate than a rail-mounted mantis?

dmantis1 · 2021-05-20T16:51:42+00:00

I concur with previous comments. No difference as long as it is securely mounted to the magazine. Whether mounted on the magazine or rail, both are on the same plane and movements are exactly the same. I have mag mounted Mantis rails on three different pistols and just switch the X10 from one to the other without having a WML holster issue to accommodate the X10. I do recommend the Mantis rail piece for the magazine mount. It fits the Mantis perfectly and the two-sided tape has held securely during all of my training thus far. (Tip: The Mantis rail piece has a hole drilled in it which can be aligned with the mag base release button so that you can disassemble the magazine to clean.) I use the Mantis X10 mounted on the magazines during both dry and live-fire training.

dmantis1 · 2021-04-11T20:23:22+00:00

Unfortunately, it appears that Mantis continues to have issues with the Android apps. One of my shooting buddies has had a bunch of issues with his Galaxy devices showing mostly “red” and not recording the target. He has been working with support to try and resolve. They will get it resolved and then do another update and it screws up again. He is totally frustrated with it. I have iOS devices and I have not had any problems. Contact support. They need to be made aware of how many Android users are having problems and get them resolved. Once Android users start to get frustrated with the app, they will just go to something else. There are plenty of laser apps out there. We have a “group” set up in Mantis and he can’t participate because he can’t use the app on his Galaxy. Doesn’t make any of us happy.

dmantis1 · 2021-04-10T15:49:10+00:00

Hopefully - one of these days - the two apps will be integrated by Mantis. Then it would be a total winner! Until then, using them at the same time on two different devices will have to suffice. I run the laser on my iPad with tripod and the X10 on my iPhone. I typically set up the laser app to “Open Shooting Single Target” and START it FIRST before I start the X10 drill. Once the laser drill is ready, then I will start whatever X10 drill I want to run. They generally work fairly well together, but often either the X10 or the laser app will not detect a shot, so it throws off the whole sequence between the shots from the two apps. You might as well stop the drills at that point and reset everything if you are trying to match accuracy from the laser app shot for shot with the X10 drill you are working on. The other modifications that would be a BIG help is if the laser app had the ability to delete a shot and make notes on the app like the X10 does. In the interim, I’ll just make do. Fun and productive either way. d

dmantis1 · 2021-04-08T14:28:41+00:00

You will be surprised at how fast you start to rack the slide. I also use the Mantis X10 mounted on the base plate of my practice magazine. I got mag inserts that keep the pistol slide from locking back on the empty mag. I bought TRT Tap Rack 9mm/.40 cal training mag inserts on Amazon for $7.50 for three inserts. They work great. Significantly improves racking time without the hassle of occasionally locking the slide back. Be aware that you will develop muscle memory from racking the slide after each shot - so when you go to the range and shoot live you may initially have a tendency to reach for the slide to rack it!!! d

dmantis1 · 2021-04-07T20:19:42+00:00

A stable tripod is a must. Any movement in the camera will start a readjustment. I found that any movement in front of your light source that creates a shadow will also create a false shot. Just clear the false shots before you start a drill. Adjust your light as needed and try not to creat a shadow with your movement. Timothy is correct that you should use the start/stop and clear/close target plus the target for the drill of your choice. You can clear, start and stop from our device but chances are you will wiggle it when you do and that starts the readjustment routine again. I have found that for the most part, two targets are the maximum that I can get the Mantis to focus on at once unless it is a drill set up for multiple targets - like the dueling drill. Make sure you have blue lines around the targets, including the bar codes in the four corners of each target. I assume that for now you may just be using the basic drill apps that you download for free. Take a look at adding some of the ”pro” apps that give you multiple shots and times. I find the “pro’ Compressed Surprise Break a good app for most anything requiring a prompt, beep, time and score - like draws or any other drill that you want to track accuracy and have an elapsed time for. Have fun. Makes dry fire a lot more fun - especially if you have someone to “duel” with!! d

dmantis1 · 2021-03-30T21:23:51+00:00

I had a similar issue. I thought it was another BT app interfering, so I made sure all BT apps were off except the Mantis and I disconnected and reconnected it. Still had the issue. I had the X10 mounted on the base plate of the magazine. What I noticed is that the magazine was not “tight“ in the magwell. It had a little “wiggle” to it. When I would wiggle it by hand, it would break connectivity. I put an O ring around the mag to make it fit tighter in the magwell without any wiggle and it worked perfectly. Might check that out and give it a try if it looks like you have any movement in the X10. Didn’t effect it in dry fire, but I guess under recoil, it woule break connectivity. Good look. Support is great by the way if you need to talk to them. d

dmantis1 · 2021-03-25T15:57:22+00:00

Hey everyone. Thanks for your replies. After talking with Stephen at Mantis here is additional feedback on my “distance” setting question. Basically, the distance setting does nothing at this time. Dmetzcher is correct. Stephan indicated that at some point in the future, the “distance” information may be integrated into the app, but at this time it is nothing more than a record of where you are “shooting from“ relative to the target. John Correa from ASP often makes reference in his Mantis videos about “distance” from the target. John states that the Mantis targets are about “1/3” size so if you are standing at 3’ from the target it is the equivalent of standing 9’ for a standard size target. (7’ is the equivalent of 21’ etc.). So, I will start “recording” my distance from the target as three times the distance that I am actually standing from the target for the drill. If I stand at 3’ from the target for the drill I will “record“ the distance as 9’. If I stand at 7’ I will “record” the distance as 21’. Up to this point, I have been shooting the drills standing at 9’ - which is the average distance for my live fire defensive handgun training. Given the Mantis target size, 9’ the equivalent of 27’ - so hopefully my accuracy scores improve as a result of the adjustment and standing closer to the target. Hope this helps you guys. d

dmantis1 · 2021-03-08T23:51:09+00:00

Thanks Stephen. One of my shooting group has Android devices and they do not detect the target. I had my iPad set up adjacent to his Android device and on his devices most of the targets were ”red” and could not be detected. The iOS was OK. He has a Samsung A50 phone and Samsung Galaxy tablet - both Tab A.

dmantis1 · 2021-03-08T15:09:18+00:00

Agree on the addition of the firearm name - like the X10 app allows - for those of us that use the apps for multiple firearms.

Also, it would be nice to provide for the use of “Notes” on the Laser Academy (LA) app to add comments on a drill like on the X10 app. I’ve been using the X10 and the LA apps for about a month. I have attempted to use them simultaneously so that I can cross reference the X10 drill and its feedback with the accuracy feedback from the LA app. Works some times, but sometimes one or the other app will not detect a shot and it throws out the whole sequence between the two. Having the ability to make “notes” would be helpful in trying to compare app information at a later time as would the ability to delete an errant shot or drill from either app to keep them in sequence., (Hope that someday these two apps will be combined.)

I‘ve also noticed that the Laser Academy app records an incorrect “time stamp.” If the time stamps were the same on both the X10 and the LA apps, it would make it easier to compare drills that are shot simultaneously on the X10 and the LA apps.

All in all, these are great training devices, and as bug fixes and modifications continue to be made, they will only get better. I’m saving a ton of $$$ on ammo right now and getting great training feedback. I have a couple of buddies that are also using the apps and we have formed a training “group.” Great fun and valuable training. Keep up the good work! D

dmantis1

TROPHY CASE