Over the past few months I’ve been seeing a fair bit of activity online about Ace XR. In short, Ace is a virtually reality tool to aid you in your dry practice. It consists of a realistic handset, with replicas of Staccato, Shadow Systems, SIG Sauer and other pistols; a virtual reality headset such as the Meta Quest 3 with associated controllers, and an Ace Membership. The Ace membership provides users with 150+ drills, mini games, and classifiers from USPSA, Steel Challenge, and PCSL.
Ace VR at SHOT Show 2026
Despite reading reviews and hearing feedback from people I trust, I’ve been hesitant to pick up Ace for myself. For someone with no VR experience, I wanted to try before buying to ensure it was going to work for me. A complete bundle from Ace currently sits at $899, including the Meta Quest 3, a handset, and a year’s subscription. That’s not an insignificant amount of money to drop on something I’ve never tried before. Luckily, Ace had multiple booths set up during SHOT Show 2026, and I was able to repeatedly get hands-on throughout the week.
I tried Ace on four separate occasions, three of which gave me three runs a piece at a specific timed scenario. A TV showed onlookers what the current shooter was seeing through the headset. The company had leaderboards setup so we could see how we stacked up overall for the day, and against recent shooters. I never broke the Top 10, but with folks like JJ Racaza shooting, there wasn’t much hope for me.
Hands-On
Thought I didn’t get to fully explore Ace, my 10 runs definitely helped me better understand it. Many dry fire tools are seriously lacking in terms of feedback, and get ingrain bad habits such as a loose grip due to the lack of recoil. While Ace lacks recoil, it does a fantastic job keeping you accountable when it comes to your fundamentals, let your grip slip and you’ll drop a shot just like in real life. The depth of field with the Meta Quest 3 was reasonable, and the image was sharp, I definitely was impressed by what I saw before my eyes. I won’t be confusing it for reality any time soon, but the virtual world is more realistic than cartoonish for certain.
Due to the shape of the controller, draws from concealment aren’t feasible, and you cannot practice reloads with Ace. However, transitions, open draws, trigger control, and sight acquisition all felt solid. Getting to try this for myself has started to make a believer out of me, and is one of my bigger wins of the week. If it weren’t for the constant lines, I would’ve spent far more time getting reps in rather than wandering the showroom floor. I think I’ll pick up my own Ace bundle soon, and that’s about as good of a compliment as I can give.
You can check out Ace >>HERE<<
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