American Technologies Network Corp. (ATN) announced the ThOR® 6 Mini compact thermal riflescope is now shipping to dealers nationwide. The 6th generation thermal optics feature SharpIR™ AI-enhanced imaging, lightweight magnesium construction, and advanced features like Wi-Fi connectivity, with pricing starting at $895.00.
MTM Case-Gard introduces the Chronograph Case (CCXERO), a hard-shell protective case designed for the Garmin Xero chronograph. The compact case features custom-fit foam, rugged construction, and is priced at $14.50 MSRP.
SHIELD Sights, a leading manufacturer of compact pistol optics, will make their inaugural debut at the 2026 Worldwide buy group show February 3–5th at the Reno Sparks Convention Center in Reno, Nevada, showcasing their red dot sights at booth #654.
In our modern world, it seems that there are far more handguns being manufactured today that are built to accept some type of optic or what we like to generically refer to as “red dots.” While red used to be the predominant color, green and amber reticles are now commonplace, but the red dot term has stuck just as everyone refers to self-adhesive bandages as “Band-Aids.”
So, with every gun maker in the world producing handguns to accept optics and there being more optic makers than you can easily count or name, the question becomes, at what distance should I zero the optic on my pistol?
Please don’t be like the gentleman that I talked to a few months back. He bought a pistol/red dot combination package. During casual conversation, I asked at what distance he zeroed the sight, to which he replied, “They mounted the sight on the gun in the factory, so I’m sure it’s on.”
Folks, if the nice folks at your favorite gun maker did you a favor and installed the optic on your gun before putting it in the box, that’s nice, but they have no idea what ammunition you’re going to choose, etc. It’s still your job to actually fine tune the reticle to a set distance.
Step One: Purpose
Before you consider what distance you are going to choose to zero your optic, you need to answer a simple question; what are you planning to shoot? Let’s say that you’re one of many thousands who have installed a dot optic on your personal defense/EDC gun. Now we have some basis to make our decision.
Having been a police officer as well as a small arms and tactics instructor, I can tell you that the vast majority of LE handgun qualification courses require shooters to engage targets from 5 yards to 50 feet. Yes, there are some that begin at the 3 yard line or extend to twenty or twenty-five yards, but the average is from 5 yards to 50 feet (17 yds). These were the distances we used when developing the Night Fision Accur8 tritium sights so they would be point of aim/point of impact using a G17 at those distances.
Step Two: Caliber and Load
Step one taken care of: personal defense. The next step is to decide on our caliber and load. The caliber I’m using for this example is 9mm and the specific load is the Black Hills Honeybadger 100 grain 9mm +P. The factory velocity is 1250 feet per second and Black Hills produce some of the most consistent, highest quality defensive ammunition you can buy.
Now, I could take that data and load it into just about any ballistic calculator, but I chose Shooterscalculator.com. The zero distance that I settled on was seven yards. Using the data, with the optic set at a 7-yard BZO, the impact difference at five yards would be -0.14 inches, ten yards would be 0.16 inches, fifteen yards would be 0.4 inches and at twenty yards it would be 0.57 inches. For the curious, the twenty-five yard variation would be off by 0.68 inches. Of course, all of these numbers are based on ballistic science with zero human error being accounted for.
Step Three: Range Time
Now the fun part. For gear I used my Canik USA Mete MC9 9mm pistol with a Shield Optics RMCs mounted directly on the slide (no mounting plates). The ammo has already been discussed. While special shooting rests are nice, you really only need something to stabilize your arms. Call me old fashioned, but most of the time I just make do with my range bag.
Since the optic mounts directly to the slide, I was able to see and use the irons. Before I even left for the range, I used the special Allen wrench that came with the sight to co-witness the amber colored aiming reticle so that it was sitting right over the top of the front sight. If you have to use a mounting plate that raises your optic, the previous procedure will be difficult.
My target at the range was a simple cardboard silhouette target set exactly seven yards from the edge of the concrete shooting bench. My next step (and yours) was to take my time and slow fire three shots in order to get a nice, consistent triangle shot group. If your shot group strings out vertically or horizontally, slow down. Don’t adjust your reticle until you have a triangle.
Side note, if you have a very well-disciplined trigger finger and good vision, you will likely notice that the first shot, from your semi-automatic pistol, the one you chambered manually, will strike in a slightly different place than those that are chambered under the pressure of recoil. At seven yards, the difference should be minimal, but if you’re skilled, you will notice it. This situation is common and was first documented in great detail by my late mentor, Wiley Clapp, some thirty-plus years ago using a Ransom Rest.
But I digress.
In the interest of complete transparency, the co-witness BZO that I did at the house put my rounds right on the target at seven yards and I didn’t feel the need to make adjustments. Pleased with the grouping, I took my time and slow-fired ten shots total of the BH Honeybadger fodder. That process confirmed that the gun/optic/ammunition combination were all mechanically zeroed.
But we don’t fight from the shooting bench, do we?
Step Four: Confirmation
The final step in this process was skill or ability confirmation. For this I set up my Birchwood Casey 8-inch steel plate target. Starting at five yards, I fired a single shot on the steel and paced off five yards until I was back to twenty-five yards. Yes, hits on a “head plate” at twenty and twenty-five yards require serious focus and concentration on a perfect trigger press, but the steel rang. In addition to testing the human error factor, the confirmation that the gun/optic/ammo combo could put rounds on target at all of those distances shouldn’t be discounted.
You might perform your confirmation walk-down with a cardboard silhouette and that is fine to start. However, keep in mind that when it comes to using handguns to stop homicidal maniacs, they’re generally poor fight stoppers.
The goal in self-preservation shooting isn’t to hit the attacker somewhere on their body. “Somewhere” hits often don’t cut it. The preferred target area, the thoracic triangle, is the place on humans where handgun bullets do the most good or at least noticeable damage and disruption.
If you don’t believe me, that’s cool. However, you should study the after-action reports of real world gunfights, such as the FBI Miami Shootout.
Parting Shots
As you can see from our review here, the 9mm cartridge is very flat-shooting at practical self-defense ranges. If you wanted to zero your optic at five or ten yards, your results wouldn’t be all that different. If you carry a different cartridge/load, run the numbers through a ballistic calculator and adjust as needed.
What’s most important is that you actually verify the zero of your optic, regardless of the manufacture or model, in such a way that minimizes human error. Then, once your dot is zeroed, get up off of the bench and practice. Naturally, I recommend that you take all of your gear to a professional training course and then go home and practice what you learned. But that’s up to you.
