DFM/X - DryFireMag combined with MantisX

Back in October I ordered a Glock 17R, and here we are in April, and the FFL has still not received it from Glock. According to the FFL, while individual LE orders are allowed, as opposed to the old policy of agency purchases only, they will not produce individual pistols, so I'm stuck waiting until they have another large order, and add in some pistols to for individual purchases.

I've tried the SIRT, and IMO it's a neat idea, but sucks in execution: https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....highlight=SIRT I have been told the M&P version is much better, but I don't have access to one, and I'm unwilling to pay to try it out, and my duty gun is a Glock 19.

Getting frustrated with other Glock dry fire methods (racking the slide, prep only, dead trigger), and not wanting to wait any longer for the 17R, especially since I can't do any live fire during the social distancing, I once again looked at getting the Dry Fire Mag.

They just released a version with the MantisX built in to the mag, called the DFM/X. So I ordered one, and until the 17R arrives (if ever), I'm going to start working on dry fire using DFM/X. While not perfect, the MantisX appeals to my engineering background, of objective measurement of performance. Something that isn't really there with dry fire alone.

The DFM/X just arrived today, and I will start the training on Monday, and plan to train on weekdays, with weekends off. I plan to start with some of the drills incorporated into the MantisX app, and then move on to working with drills in "Skills & Drills Reloaded," by Ben Stoeger.

Unfortunately, what I would like to have done is live fire a few drills, to establish a baseline of performance, that I could then compare to new drills after the social distancing forced dry fire only period. For a wide variety of reasons I haven't done live fire for several months. Most recent live fire did involve a "cold" Bill Drill. 2.5s par, and I only got five shots off within time, and one was a miss. My most recent "cold" FAST was 10.3s clean, my fastest ever was 7.5s, but I missed a "head" shot. Most recent qualification at work was 96%, with the lost points being at the 25 yard line.

My goals are:
1. consistent "clean" 2.5s or faster Bill Drill
2. consistent "clean" 7s or faster FAST
3. consistent 100% on work pistol qualification.
4. Limited Division B class or better in USPSA, or equivalent level in IDPA. I'm not sure what the might be with IDPA, as I haven't shot it much, but with my new location IDPA matches fit my schedule better than the local USPSA matches.

In addition to drastically improving trigger control, I know I need to speed up my reaction times, and gun handling.

I will update this periodically with my impressions of the DFM/X, and hopefully will be able to shoot a Bill Drill and FAST in couple of months to see if there is any measurable improvement.

My friend just got the same thing. Of course with the recent shutdown/quarantine I haven't been able to try it out. I do think it'd help, because you can "beat the game" by holding the weapon as rock-steady as possible, which can only be a good thing in live fire shooting.

I’m going to get a metric shit ton of heat for this


But for me dry fire isn’t all that.


The more of it I used to do the worse my habits got.


Didn’t train the FAST. Just did it.

Didn’t train for card splits at 75m or strong hand or from concealment. Just did it.


Maybe I’m too retarded to practice anything the right way. For my better at killing folks path, burpees and sprints make me more efficient than a thousand clicks and dropped mags walking around my house.

Flame on.

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Originally Posted by Duke

Just did it. . .

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You do you boo, but for the rest of us we can't shoot a sub 5s FAST, run a 4 min mile, solo a plane, or climb Mount Everest without training for it.

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Originally Posted by DMF13

You do you boo, but for the rest of us we can't shoot a sub 5s FAST, run a 4 min mile, solo a plane, or climb Mount Everest without training for it.

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I didn’t mean to sound rude.


Just meant I was scrambling for every last rep, dry fire etc I just went backwards.

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Originally Posted by Duke

I didn’t mean to sound rude.


Just meant I was scrambling for every last rep, dry fire etc I just went backwards.

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I didn't think you were rude at all, and since you started and ended saying you expected some push back, I didn't think my very mildly sarcastic reply would offend. I'm just saying most of us have to train to achieve exceptional performance. In shooting it is widely accepted that the training should include dry fire. I certainly don't have the time or money to achieve my shooting goals with live fire alone.

Initial impressions of the DFM/X, after I tried it for the first time today:

In addition to the DFM/X itself, I got a "spring kit," which allows for adjusting the device, but it's not fine tuning, it just changes the trigger pull weight. The device comes with a "stock spring" meant to simulate the trigger pull of a stock Glock pistol.

My duty gun is a Glock 19M, and my training pistol is a stock 19 Gen4 with a Blade-Tech training barrel installed. I've had plenty of time with Gen3, 4, and 5/M Glocks, including a Gen3 with a NY1 trigger. I've also had some experience using a 17R Gen 4 at work, and with my SIRT.

In my opinion the 17R, has a feel somewhere between a stock Glock trigger, and a NY1 Glock trigger, both in feel of the take up and break, and in the pull weight. However, I've never measured a 17R to be sure about the pull weight, it's just my opinion based on feel. Again, without a trigger pull scale, and going off feel, the DFM/X "stock spring" feels just slightly higher in pull weight the than a stock Glock trigger, and there is a more definite "wall" before the break, especially when compared to the Gen5/M trigger. To me the Gen5/M trigger has less of a definite "wall" before the break, than the Gen 3 and 4. The Gen5/Ms have what some of my friends have termed a "rolling break," with a less definite "wall" before the break. On the DFM/X the take up itself felt much more like the take up of the stock Glock triggers, than both the 17R/NY1, and much better than the SIRT. Reset feels much more like the stock Glock trigger and 17R, and therefore MUCH better than that of the SIRT.

After dozens of dry fire pulls with the "stock spring" I swapped out to the "blue" spring, which is supposed to simulate a 6.75# to 7.25# pull weight. Again, I don't have a pull with scale, but going off feel, it seems to be somewhere between the stock Glock pull weight and a NY1, so very close to the 17R. Based on my dry fire/live fire experience years ago with SIG 228/229 pistols, I like the idea of using a slightly higher pull weight for dry fire. With the SIGs I did tons of dry fire, but only DA trigger pulls. It made pulling the trigger in SA feel like "cheating." While not as drastic as going from the SIG 10# DA pull, down to the 4.5# SA I'm hoping to have the same effect by using a 7# pull vs. the stock 5.5# pull on the Glock. I personally never had a problem with the DA/SA transition. Here there won't be much of a feel difference between the practice trigger and real trigger, other than pull weight.

The feel of using the gun with the DFM/X is much better than the SIRT, but not quite as good as a 17R. However, the DFM/X is a much lower cost option than the 17R or the SIRT. Also, this was immediately available, unlike the 17R, and includes the MantisX system.

Something important to note, is you can't do reload drills with the DFM/X, or regular DFM, because the mags do not drop free.

The DFM/X (MantisX included) is $200, just the DFM (without the MantisX) is $100. Currently it's also available for S&W M&P.

My initial impressions, of the DFM itsel are favorable, but we will see if that holds up over time. However, I will need to play around with the MantisX, and it's associated app (the DFM/X communicates with a phone app via bluetooth) before forming any initial opinions, and again, time will tell if the MantisX is anything more than an expensive gimmick.

I was just looking at this on Amazon, thanks for the timely post.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

I guess I don't see how the dryfiremag and MantisX will integrate into a training plan for those goals. I don't know what your qual course is like but most of those other goals are very gun handling-heavy, to the point where I would be almost exclusively working draws and reloads. Just my $0.02 as someone who started USPSA and got serious about dry fire last winter, shot some ~2.2s Bill drills earlier this year, and placed in the middle of B class at my first major USPSA match in February.

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Originally Posted by DMF13

4. Limited Division B class or better in USPSA, or equivalent level in IDPA. I'm not sure what the might be with IDPA, as I haven't shot it much, but with my new location IDPA matches fit my schedule better than the local USPSA matches.

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USPSA B class and IDPA Master are about the same level.