TargetTalk

Anyone had any experience using one of these on Olympic type pistols, good or bad?
A friend is in the process of fitting one on his Hammerli 280, more on that later, anyone else?

I use the X2 (dryfire model) on my Benelli MP90S, and find it quite helpful for triggering practice. I use a magnet to stick it to the side of the frame. I've used it to tweak the position and anqle of the trigger shoe, slightly. I've also found it fascinating to compare the difference from aiming at a blank sheet vs a target. The blank sheet always gets better scores, maddeningly.

I especially like it because it is so easy to use on a moment's setup. Because it cares only that the gun is pointed somewhere and level, and doesn't need a range, target or lighting, it's something I can use whenever the spirit moves me.

I have one mounted to a SAM K12. I've had issues with it triggering consistently, but the guys at MantisX provided a custom setting package that helped a bit.

What I can't figure out, though, is I seem to get DRAMATICALLY different traces between dry firing (consistent and good) and actual shots (consistent and bad). It's almost as if it is triggering on the wrong impulse or something. I haven't spent the time to try to figure out if it was before/after the custom settings, or something else.

Overall I like it, but after the initial luster wore off, I haven't made the time to troubleshoot it.

marky-d

Does the MantisX system expose its calibration parameters? - how do you tune it for a specific pistol, or has that not been necessary?

Also is it entirely using inertial sensing, there is no camera ? - so no notion of a target and scoring against that?

I have not used it recently, but in my experience, no, calibration parameters are not visible/modifiable. There are different settings you specify (e.g. dry fire or live rounds, rifle or pistol, etc), then there is a standard calibration you go through. However, in my case, when I had trouble, I was able to contact MantisX directly and they provided a custom calibration for me based on the issues I was having.

There is no camera, only an accelerometer. It will provide data on your movements, but not if you can aim at the bullseye.

marky-d

They've simplified the settings in recent versions of the software. There is no longer any "sensitivity" setting, it's pretty much automatic, and accurate. There is a setting for the type of gun, which might mean they have pre-set values for many. I was happy to find my Benelli MP90 in the list, and it works fine. Very occasionally, it will consider recocking the hammer to be a shot, but no big deal.

I believe there is a 3-axis accelerometer and also a microphone. It uses the accelerometer to determine that you're aiming at something, and to monitor your wobble, followthrough etc. It uses the microphone to detect dryfire, and probably live too.

It does not have a camera. As I mentioned earlier, this is actually a plus. No range setup, no lighting issues, no nothin'. You can dryfire in your lap, if you want, and it gives good feedback in fact. I turn on the audio and it plays a little chime, or speaks your score, so you don't even have to look up.

Wow, sounds like they've made quite a few updates -- I may have to give it a try again!

marky-d

Does anybody know the the scale of the rings on the trace display for rifle? Is each ring a degree, half a degree or is there any absolute scale on traces?

Mantis got back to me. On the rifle trace the inner circle is 1/16 degree, the next one is 1/8 degree and so on.

Thanks, that's useful to know.

marky-d

I have been using a Mantis for ISSF airpistol and Centre Fire pistol. I had some issues with shot detection when dry firing my Morini 162 E but they made a tweak to the algorithm and I am waiting to see how this works.
I have used this with a Walther GSP in .22 and . 32 Wadcutter for live shooting and the patterns on the phone are close to what I see on target.
It is great for dry firing and feedback.

I have stuck the mount (rail) on a metal pictinny rail and I just move this around using rubber bands from pistol to pistol

My PCP pistol has a horizontal 'weight bar' that extends forward form the trigger guard, under the barrel and air cylinder. I bought a set of cheap Picatinny rail sections and machined a simple block that will mount on the weight bar, then screwed the rail to the block. It works great and allows me to add or remove the MantisX at will. With the MantisX removed, it's the same as having a small barrel weight, which I want anyway.

marky-d