I bought a Mantis X3, watching the mail box waiting for it to arrive. I told my mentor about it and she’s all in, she has a laser version from a different manuf. The next thing I know she tell my wife to order snap caps. She’s a hard “Do Not Dry Fire without a snap cap”. I was raised the same way. Dry firing is a terrible thing. BUT when I watch all of the YouTubes about the Mantis X3 system I don’t see any of them using snap caps. So what’s the rub? Do I NEED them? Is my firearm at risk without them?
I would ask your mentor specifically why she claims that dry fire (in anything other than a revolver with an exposed hammer pin) is bad.
That would be something that I would love to hear.
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Never dry fire a 22 rimfire as the firing pin will most likely get damaged from hitting the edge of the chamber. But dry firing a center fire pistol will not cause any damage.
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MantisX and Snap Caps are two different things. You can train with both together or separate. Everything depends what is the goal of your current training.
Dry firing can be even done with neither one.
If you think the snap caps somehow protect your firearm during dry firing… this applies only to hi end custom firearms with fine tuning.
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… without snap caps. 
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Yes. Thanks for the correction.
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What’s the gun?
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Unless it is a Glock 44 
I was looking at one at the gun store and the guy behind the counter said “see how you like the trigger”. I reminded him it was a rimfire. He said don’t worry about it. Sure enough an internet search supported his claim. I don’t know if Glock is the leader or the follower, but it seems like some 22LR designs can be safely dry fired.
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Kimber EVO SP 9mm
Ruger LCR .357
and probably my AR
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AR is definitely fine (as long as it’s not one of the 22 lr trainers).
Kimber says it’s safe to dry fire all of their center fire pistols.
Rugar LCR’s Manuel says it can be dry fired without any damage.
I wouldn’t blame you if you used snap caps in them just to be safe. I’m kind of funny about the revolvers and 1911s. I’ll dry fire a striker fire gun all day long without a worry in the world.
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That’s interesting to hear. I’m not a Glock guy so I know nothing about that model. There may be other .22s that can safely be dry fired, but I’m kinda old school and usually follow the common practices.
In fact, I just remembered I have an old Browning Medallist in .22 that has a special setting on the safety that allows dry firing.
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I have 1911-22LR conversion kit that can be safely dry fired.
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I’m pretty sure the g44 slide is designed to function in the same way as the center fire guns. I think it may actually be a center fire firing pin that hits the 22 rim.
I could be wrong though.
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We have to remember that “dry fire” can have sometimes different meaning.
I don’t know Glocks, but sometimes you have to “dry fire” (meaning fire the handgun in dry) to disassemble it. And that can be safely done.
But it doesn’t mean you can regularly and continuously hit the firing pin on empty chamber during “dry fire practice”.
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When I first began shooting, and I was educating myself on dry fire, I remember reading that most modern pistols can be fired without snap caps, risking no damage to the gun. The only trick here is I don’t know what “modern” exactly means.
But I can say that after ~28,000 no-snap-cap dry fire shots on my P320, it’s shooting just as well as the day I got it. Maybe better. 
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This very topic was mentioned in the Nov/Dec issue of our USCCA Concealed Carry magazine. The article is titled Out Of Options on page 50.
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This is what I recall as well.
A striker fire gun is not a concern. You can dry fire it all you want.
I will dry fire a 1911 or revolver to check function, but I wouldn’t use it for dry fire practice without snap caps.
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I’m sure @Mike164 is talking about dry fire practice.
You don’t need snap caps for strikerfire guns (I’m sure there’s an exception). He shouldn’t need snap caps for AR dry fire.
The 1911 and Revolver may need them for extended practice. It may be safe with most modern made ones 
, but I’d personally use snap caps with them for dry fire. That’s my uneducated opinion.
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Don’t believe everything you read on the internet. Did Gaston condone dry firing the 44?
Some very high end target rimfires (I think Walther. Hammerli, maybe Peronis) have dry fire triggers for some models you can swap out for simulated training.
Your hammer or striker has a “nose” that crushes the rim of the cartridge against the supporting chamber to fire the round. If there is nothing to stop it, the “nose” will eventually break or erode or erode the part of the chamber supporting the rim eventually making ignition unreliable.
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The big advantage I see with snap caps is that a mag full mimics the weight of a loaded firearm.
I have a bunch of dummy rounds - brass cases, lead bullets and silicon filled primer pockets - loaded in a dedicated magazine with the base painted neon green
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