I’ve tried all sorts of red dot zero targets but could not get any of them to work well. We just struggled to hold properly on them. Here is what we have found works best for us when we are zeroing with red dots. All our red dots are 2 MOA dots. We zero at 100 yards. I bought a punch at the craft store that punches out 3 inch circles. I prefer to use dark brown cutouts laid on white paper background. I can center the 2 MOA red dot on the 3 inch brown paper dot very easily. I also verify at 200 using a 6 inch brown circle target laid on white paper backing. Here are my 5.45x39 AK74 ( AK105ish clone) zero targets at 100 and 200. I can only get consistent holds on these brown dot targets. Maybe others can use the common red dot zero targets but we couldn’t
By using a dedicated zeroing target the zeroing process is simplified. Zeroing targets from Aimpoint, which are more accurate than most others, make it even easier.
we did not have any targets to use for our dot system in Afghanistan. took some cardboard from MRE boxes. MRE can and sprayed black paint. roughly two inches and started at 25 yards. Once zeroed there we went out further--really as far as we felt like. Worked very well and easy to do.
I made this target to help me zero the offset irons and RDS optics for my AR's. I played around with a couple different iterations but this is the one that worked the best for me personally at 50 yards with non-magnified optics.
I like these free printable ones from Arma Dynamics. They also have one allowing you to get a 50/200 zero using a 25y range in case you don’t have access to anything further.