If you’ve spent any time working on your shooting fundamentals, you already know the value of dry fire training. It’s cost-effective, safe, and builds muscle memory needed for consistent performance on the range. But let’s be honest, dry fire gets repetitive fast, and it lacks one thing shooters crave: feedback.
At Evolve Training Group we are always eager to get to know new and innovating training tools which can improve your overall shooting performance like MantisX, BlackbeardX, Dryfire mag, ... But there is something new ...
Meet ACE XR, a virtual reality training system that’s aiming to revolutionize how we approach dry fire.
To be honest, at first, I was a bit sceptical about the ACE XR. Having also a keen interest in VR and AR training solutions, from a professional point of view, I get introduced to a lot of systems which are quite far away of mimicking the reality when it comes down to simulating small arms training and especially a system where you need to apply the associated fundamentals as in real life in order to hit your target consistently.
Nevertheless, after some good feedback from a fellow instructor we went down the rabbit hole of exploring the ACE XR.
ACE XR is from a US bases company, which started out about two and half years ago, and is focussed on IPSC, USPSA, ... style shooting.
In order to get to run ACE XR you'll need 3 things namely a Virtual Reality Headset, the ACE XR app and the ACE XR handset.
The VR headset:
The VR platform which ACE uses is the Meta Quest 2 and 3, and the 3S. And yes, Meta is the company behind Facebook, Instagram, ...
At the moment the Quest 3 is the better hardware to run ACE XR as it has the highest resolution compared to the other two. The Quest 3 has mainly two versions being the 128 and 512Gb. If you are not really into more VR related stuff, then the 128Gb is more than enough. And the even better news, ACE XR runs completely stand alone on your Quest 3 without the need of a PC.
The headset itself isn’t that heavy and will give you about 2 hours of play time on the ACE with a full battery. There are some third-party upgrades like a more comfortable headband with optional ventilator or extra battery. Enough on the headset, let's get to the app.
The app:
In order to play ACE XR, you need to first purchase an Ace Club Membership. The options are a monthly - or a yearly membership. With the latter you'll get a 25% discount. You'll need to obviously register an account and download the app on your Quest 3 and log in into that account. As of then you are ready to shoot, but not in a cool way as you'll be stuck with the Quest 3 controllers. To really get the feel of the real stuff you'll need to get the handset. Besides the Meta app there is also android / iOS app to follow up on your achievements and progress.
The handset:
A handset can be purchased from the ACE site and this can be shipped internationally. The price at 199$ is not that cheap at first glance, but after paying 48€ of customs fee I had really no regrets and is the key to fully unlock the ACE XR experience. The handsets come in six different flavours, based on renowned brands like Sig, Staccato and Shadow Systems. Staccato P.
Being the proud owner of the Staccato P, this was of course my preferred choose. Be sure to select the quest 2 or 3 version of the handset as the controller between the two headsets are different.
After unboxing the handset, which came about a week after the payment, I really was surprised about the weight, feel and details on the gun. With closed eyes, you're almost not able to feel the difference between the handset and the real steel P.
To use the handset within the game, you need to install the Quest controller which is a piece of cake and fits snug into the handset. The feel of the trigger pull and reset is quite amazing. It does not feel like a toy.
Setup:
Setting up ACE XR is straightforward, especially if you're already familiar with VR hardware. The system pairs with your headset and dry fire device seamlessly. Once you're inside the virtual environment, you're met with a polished, immersive training range that mimics real-world physics better than most simulators out there.
Now I was ready to play (or train ;-))
The Game experience, or rather "Dry Fire Experience" ;-) :
When starting up the Quest you need to establish the zone wherein you are going to move. You have the option to determine a static position where you will shoot out of and virtually warp to another desired position or you can enabble an automatic or custom made zone where you can move freely. The latter is really the way to go to get the full potentiol of the sim, if you have the space ;-). If you come to close to the determined virtual border a raster will appear as a warning. If you go even further the headset switches over to passthrough enabeling you to see the real surrondings.
Before you start you can select a specific virtual pistol ranging from Sigs, Shadow Systems, Staccatos, ... and customize them to your liking with extended magazines, all major brands of Red Dot Sights (RDS), etc. The RDS option can be incredibly helpful when evaluating optics. Being able to virtually "look through" a red dot and see how the field of view, reticle, and window size feel gives you a much better sense of what to expect before spending money.
The Staccato really look nice in VR ;-)
"Shooter,, are you ready"
Once happy with your virtual setup its time to start shooting. You can even select the range environment like Forrest or Desert with the appropriate ambient sounds to really get into the mood.
The main screen shows you three categories of shooting themes and drill.
"Thrills" gives you options of exploring different training ranges and fun games like hunting zombies, shooting at drones and shooting from behind obstacles.
The "Drills" section is where the real training starts. You can choose between individual drills or a serie where you will get 4 stages with a specific theme to train.
Both offer a wide variety of IPSC/USPSA-style static and dynamic stages. After each stage, you'll receive detailed feedback on your performance, including timing, scoring and offcourse your hit factor.
Once you feel confident in your training, you can enter the competitive arena and fight for a spot in the seasonal rankings. This is done by participating in daily drills, weekly series, and occasional live events, where you'll compete against shooters from around the world. Aim for minimum gold ranking and beyond!
Here is an example of a stage with different targets you can expect.
In "the hut" your performance is tracked in full detail and an analysis is made of which aspects can be improved in order to still achieve a higher ranking.
The third option is Skills. Here you'll find some drills in order to boost your fundamental skills like precision and speed but also transitioning between targets.
Conclusion:
I’ve been using Ace XR for over a year now, with more than 100,000 rounds logged, and I’m genuinely impressed. The system offers incredibly detailed features like realistic ballistics that account for Height Over Bore, sharp and responsive gun tracking, and a trigger break and reset that feel true to life.
What really stands out is how the training translates to live fire. Ace XR lets you safely experiment with techniques you'd hesitate to try on a real range. It helps push your boundaries just enough to build the confidence, and skill, to shave valuable seconds off your stage times.
Ace XR is, without question, the most advanced dry fire training system available today. It combines the realism of high-end simulators with the convenience of home training, delivering structured, immersive, and data-driven sessions.
For serious shooters, especially those already using MantisX, SIRT, or CoolFire, Ace XR is the logical next step.
This isn’t just a hype; it’s the future of dry fire, and it’s already here. (and it's damn addictive ;-))