Red dots, LPVOs, rifle scopes, magnifiers and weapon lights — explained without the marketing fog. Pick what fits your platform, mount it correctly, and use our click calculator to dial your zero in one range trip.
Shot a group, measured the offset, and now you're doing turret math in your head at the bench? Enter the numbers. This tells you exactly how many clicks, and which way to turn.
Measure from point of aim to the center of your group.
Correction: 1.91 MOA left · 2.87 MOA up
True MOA (1.047″ at 100 yd) and true mil (10 cm at 100 m). Most turrets correct toward the direction marked on the dial — turning "UP" moves impact up. Confirm with a follow-up group.
What each type actually does well, where it falls short, and what it pairs with. Live inventory links go to Ammunition Depot and eBay — we never quote prices that go stale.
Open emitters, enclosed emitters, and the footprint puzzle that decides what fits your slide or rail. Fast, parallax-forgiving, battery-dependent.
True 1x speed at the bottom, real magnification up top — or a dedicated variable for distance. Reticle plane, turret style and eye relief matter more than brand.
Holographic sights keep the reticle crisp under magnification — which is exactly why a flip-to-side magnifier behind one is the classic carbine pairing.
Identification is the whole job. Candela versus lumens, pistol versus long-gun mounting, and switch placement decide whether a light actually works for you.
The unglamorous part that ruins more zeros than any optic ever will. Ring height, torque specs, and rail standards — get these right once and forget them.
Holosun's pistol and rifle dots and Streamlight's weapon lights are the two deepest catalogs at our partner store — both browsable by brand.
Neither is better. MOA thinks in inches at 100 yards; mil thinks in tenths. What matters is that your reticle and your turrets speak the same one — mixed systems are how zeros go sideways.
Pistol dots mount to a specific footprint pattern milled into the slide or supplied by a plate. Check the footprint your slide accepts before you fall in love with an optic — adapters add height and failure points.
Rings and bases have published torque values for a reason. Under-torqued mounts walk under recoil; over-torqued rings crush tubes. An inch-pound driver costs less than re-zeroing every month.
Our primary partner — a real firearms retailer with optics, weapon lights and mounting in stock, shipped from the US. These links land on live category pages, not dead product listings.
The move for discontinued models, gently used glass, and deals on last year's versions. Search links always show live listings.
GunOptics.co is reader-supported. When you buy through links on this page we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Full disclosure.