Dry fire is a low-cost alternative to practicing your firearm skills, and companies of all types are learning that there’s a large market for dry fire tools, but are all dry fire tools created equal?  Let’s dig into comparing Mantis Laser Academy and VNSH Laser Strike Advanced Training Systems.

The Hardware

VNSH Laser Strike

VNSH Laser Strike Training System retails for $99.97 and includes one B-27 paper target, a tripod for a smartphone, an extraction stick, 2 sets of extra batteries, additional “O” rings, and a laser training cartridge that is available in 5 calibers.  VNSH also offers an advanced system for $139.97 which adds a rechargeable Digital Steel Laser Target Elite to the training system.

The included paper target is used with a free download of the LaserHit app onto your iOS or Android device.  There is no subscription to use the app with the included target for basic functions to configure the number of shots, time, distance, and will show hits and measure group sizes.  To have access to more features and drills, LaserHit requires a daily subscription of $0.99, or a monthly subscription costing $19.99.

Mantis Laser Academy

Mantis Laser Academy has multiple kits available for purchase, but if you already own a laser training cartridge, you can get started for free.  You can download the Laser Academy app (iOS/Android) and gain access to 13 free drills, download and print all Laser Academy targets for free out on the Mantis store.

If you are looking at purchasing Laser Academy, there are two kits to choose from based on your training needs:  

Our Laser Academy Portable kit retails for $99.99 and is for those who want a small portable solution all in a nice carrying case.  The Portable kit contains a tabletop tripod with smartphone holder, 12 - 5x7 smart targets, poster putty for mounting targets to a wall, an extraction stick and a laser training cartridge (available in 10 calibers) along with an extra set of batteries.

The Laser Academy Standard kit retails for $159.00 and contains everything listed in the Portable Kit, with even more tools to set up your dry fire area at home.  It includes a full size tripod, table top target stands, 8.5x11 smart targets, and Laser Academy phone shades to help with brightly lit rooms.  

Along with any Standard or Portable kit purchase is a code giving lifetime access to the Laser Academy app, including all future drills and functionality updates.

Comparing the Apps

VNSH Laser Strike

The 1:5 scale NRA B-27 paper target included in the VNSH Laser Strike System, requires an app called LaserHit, which is available on both iOS and Android for free, but there are significant differences between the app functionality for each operating system.  iOS has pre-built drills (some free, additional drills available as part of a paid subscription) that you can customize for the included target.  Android does not have any pre-built drills and relies on the user customizing the training setup to what granularity they want to see (size of groups or number of hits, etc.) each time they use the app.

The app does allow for multiple targets and you can use your own target as long as it is a darker color against a lighter background.  The app will recognize the boundary and a reload mark can be printed and used with your own target to restart drills.

Both versions of the app allow the user to restart a drill/session by shooting a reload mark on the target.  Neither version of the app stores any historical data and requires the user to download screen shots to their device, which are not easily accessible or searchable as the photos are saved in the camera’s photo roll.

The VNSH Digital Steel laser target is a standalone target and does not interact with any app, you simply turn on the unit, set the backlight and volume and shoot the target with the laser training cartridge.  Hits will alternate the backlight from red to green and shot count is shown on the device until it is powered off.  There is no historical data or any drills with this target.  It does include 4 magnet plates where the target size can be reduced in dimension.

Both systems (the app and the laser target) are based mostly on where the shot impacted the target, as a hit or a miss, and depending how the app is configured, give you some basic information.  The drills are not interactive and there is no option to compete against another person within the app.

Mantis Laser Academy

The Laser Academy app has 13 drills for free and 35+ drills (at the time of writing this article) when lifetime access is enabled, which also will include any future drills and functionality.  The targets include popular targets like IPSC, USPSA, NRA B-8/B-27, and more.  Any new targets released will be available free of charge via the download link located on the product page for the target.  

Laser Academy drills range from engaging single targets to multiple targets, timing holster draw, working malfunctions, and reloads.  There are even some cognitive decision making drills, in which you have to find what target to shoot via the app prompt, and there are just plain fun drills like the Jingle Bells drills to make the notes of the song when you shoot the correct targets in order.

Laser Academy allows you to use your own targets by creating a manual target, which is adding scoring zones to be overlaid with the target of choosing.  The scoring zone either scores as a hit, or a miss and these manual target zones need to be adjusted each time Laser Academy is used with a different manual target.

Want to track your progress?  Laser Academy stores each executed drill in history, along with the score, split times, and a picture of the target with hits.  A replay option allows you to see your shots impact the target in the order that they were shot.  Laser Academy also allows you to tie each session to a firearm name that you set up in your arsenal, and history can be filtered by a firearm and timeframe the session was shot in. 

The Learning Factor

VNSH Laser Strike

The VNSH Laser Strike system does not have any drills that prompt to shoot specific targets, which are generally called cognitive or decision making drills.  The scaled B-27 paper target with the LaserHit app only focuses on marksmanship and/or speed skills.  The VNSH Steel laser target only validates marksmanship skills.  Other skills like cognitive load can be practiced with these targets, but there is no tracking nor any direction or drills to do so, it would be up to the user to “invent’ ways to do this with the VNSH Laser Strike system.

Mantis Laser Academy

Laser Academy has a built in target and drill specifically for decision making as part of practice.  The Hunt target used with the Hunt drill has 3 different levels of complexity and really forces the user to first see and/or hear the prompt, then find the specific location on the target that matches the prompt and shoot that area accurately to get scored.  The Hunt drill can be run in duel mode where two shooters, each with their own Hunt target, race each other to find and engage the prompted target area first.  As the level increases, the specific engagement areas of the target are less frequent.  The prompt may contain a shape, color, or number, or a combination thereof.

There are two additional duel drills that put two shooters in competition with each other to get shots first or score the highest score.  The kits will include multiple copies of these targets for dueling, or you can download and print more copies at mantisx.com.

There are a variety of smart targets for Laser Academy to meet your specific needs or standards for training.  For example, targets like the NRA B8 and B27 targets, FBI Qualification and Dot Torture targets that are commonly used for shooting drills or for qualifications.  There are IDPA, USPSA, and IPSC targets for competitors to practice at home with, and as mentioned before, even just some fun targets and drills!  There are other targets and drills specific to aiming and offset of a pistol mounted optic.

Not sure where to start or a fairly new shooter, Laser Academy offers “The Journey” which are step-by-step videos mixed with drills to learn fundamentals and improve skills from home.  The first part of the journey culminates with a Pistol Marksmanship course, testing the skills learned, and if you pass the course, you are awarded a patch - free of charge!  The Journey then continues onto more complex skills, and more courses are being added in the future.

Conclusion

Mantis Laser Academy and VNSH Laser Strike systems will both help improve accuracy, if you put the time and effort into training with them.  Overall, Mantis Laser Academy is the better value, not necessarily based on price, but based on the experience and variety of training drills and targets included with the system, even if you don’t go the route of a kit.  The setup might initially take more time than the VNSH Steel laser target, but the outcome is more than just point and shoot to hear a steel hit sound.  

Laser Academy will help you focus on fundamentals and different types of training over just accuracy of hitting a target. And now that Laser Academy pairs with a Mantis X10 Elite or the Mantis TitanX with lite integration of diagnostics on the why the shot hit where it did, it becomes a complete system that will show you the why’s behind what the holes in the targets look like.

You have to decide what is most beneficial to you and your training goals and which system provides the best fit to you.  The choice is yours.  

Visit the Laser Academy page on MantisX.com to watch videos and read up on more details of the system.