The flattest-shooting general purpose AR zero: the whole midrange arc stays within about an inch and a half of your dot.
Ask ten instructors for one AR zero and most will say 50 yards. The reason is the shape of the arc: with the near crossing at 50, the bullet's peak above your line of sight is barely over an inch — small enough to ignore on anything bigger than a clay pigeon. No other common 5.56 zero rides this close to the sight line for this long.
That flatness is what "point and shoot" actually means in practice. From contact distance out past 200 yards, a center hold on a torso-size target produces a vital-zone hit without you doing any math. The trade against the 36 yard zero is subtle — slightly flatter midrange, at the cost of needing a 50 yard lane to confirm.
You will see this zero sold as "50/200." As with all such pairings, the 200 figure assumes a specific barrel and load; the table below shows where this 55gr carbine load really recrosses. The practical takeaway doesn't change: hold center, hit inside the arc.
Bullet path relative to line of sight, 5.56 NATO / .223 Rem, 55gr at 2900 fps, 50 yard zero, standard atmosphere. Plus is above your aim point.
| DISTANCE | BULLET PATH | HOLD (MOA) |
|---|---|---|
| 25 yds | −1.1″ | 4.4 UP |
| 50 yds | 0″ | — zero |
| 100 yds | +1.2″ | 1.1 DOWN |
| 150 yds | +0.5″ | 0.3 DOWN |
| 200 yds | −2.9″ | 1.4 UP |
| 250 yds | −9.9″ | 3.8 UP |
| 300 yds | −21.9″ | 7.0 UP |
Same close-range mechanical offset as every AR zero: 2.6 inches low at the muzzle, shrinking to zero at 50 yards. Past 250 the drop steepens fast — this is a hold-center zero, not a long-range one. Learn your drops from the table if you stretch it.
Pick 50 if you have a 50 yard lane and want the flattest possible midrange; pick 36 if your range tops out shorter or you want the classic USMC-style battlesight. Ballistically they are close cousins — the 50 trades a touch of near-range convenience for about half the midrange rise.
Not by aiming center. Because the bullet is still climbing at short range, a true 50 yard zero requires hitting a specific offset below point of aim at closer distances. That is exactly what our custom target generator computes — it prints an offset aim point for your paper distance so one group at 25 yards lands you zeroed for 50.
Yes. LPVO users commonly run it. Just remember the offset math is driven by mount height — a 1.93 inch or riser-mounted optic changes the close-range offset. This target assumes 2.6 inches; use the generator link for other mounts.