Origins
Night vision shooting and thermal hunting have become extremely popular in the last few years. Still expensive, prices are now at least attainable, but training opportunities are still lagging. More classes and competitions are popping up, but there aren’t many places to practice. Most public ranges close after dark, and even for people lucky enough to have property to shoot on, gunshots at night can disturb neighbors.
A few self-proclaimed night vision nerds who work for Peacemaker National Training Center are addressing this need. They were already getting together privately to practice their skills, and one thing led to another. Soon, Moth Ridge Development Group was born.
Peacemaker is one of the premier shooting venues a little over an hour outside of Washington, D.C., in the Blue Ridge Mountains of West Virginia and Virginia. It spans over 800 acres and boasts over 40 gun ranges, including a 1,000-plus yard unknown distance valley and several other sites with distances out to 500 yards.
The Range Night
Moth Ridge’s range nights start at 6:30 p.m. in Peacemaker’s 10 practical shooting bays. A few bays are set up with a variety of target arrays and stage props. If you want specific targets or scenarios, just ask beforehand. You are allowed to set up your scenarios however you like.
After a short safety briefing, attendees have their pick of shooting areas. You can test your equipment, sight in scopes and lasers, or practice movement and transitions. Experimenting with the distance limits of your illumination is also useful at the extreme longs ranges available at this venue.
Basically, you can do everything you need to do to become familiar and proficient with your kit, which is more important for nighttime tasks than you might think. Everything is more difficult without light and with NODs on your head. When I was starting out, just walking around the house or tying my shoes was difficult.
My Test Gear
My goal was to get in live rounds with a slew of new gear I was testing. I had done dry practice with the products I was reviewing, but I had limited shooting experience with them. This event was exactly what I needed.
In addition to my Armasight dual band night vision/thermal setup, I was running a 10-inch Brownells BRN-180 .300 Blackout pistol with Holosun AEMS Max red dot and IRIS IR laser/illuminator. I also had a Nextorch WL50IR Dual Tactical Light and a Die Free Co. Kung Fu grip and Full Stop hand stop.
The Holosun AEMS Max and the IRIS are some of the top new accessories in night vision. The AEMS Max is, in my opinion, the best passive red dot on the market. No other red dot comes close to the window size, which makes passive aiming with NODs much easier. Holosun has perfected its glass clarity for night vision devices, so nothing is holding you back.
Related Review: Holosun Ronin AEMS Max Red Dot Proves Bigger is Better
The IRIS is the new king of active night vision aiming devices. It is one of the lightest units on the market with one of the best VCSEL illuminators available. The controls are simple and intuitive, with an intensity slider and fire button that can be reached from either side. The best feature, though, is its affordability. Holosun has hit home runs with its night vision accessories.
The Nextorch Dual Tactical Light can switch from IR to white light and has brightness settings that can light up objects past 200 yards with either white light or IR. Few options offer this dual capability at this intensity, and I’m not aware of any that can do it for this price point. It is a fantastic piece of kit. At SHOT Show 2025, I saw the planned upgrade to this light, which will have attachment points consistent with industry-standard ports so you can use common buttons and tape switches. I cannot wait for that to come out.
Finally, the Die Free Co. grip and hand stop are fantastic. This more vertical grip angle is much better for modern rifle techniques, and Die Free has produced a light, ergonomic grip that has the perfect amount of texture. It is ideal with the grip plug that extends the grip and doubles as a storage compartment. It is also affordable.
Training
As dusk set in, I started with white light drills and worked on light activation and target acquisition. I ran a bunch of plate racks and threw in some rifle to pistol transitions.
As darkness took over, I switched to night vision mode. I was just starting to hit my groove, using the PVS-14 monocular and both the IRIS for active aiming and AEMS Max for passive, when my rifle died. (PWS, which builds the BRN-180 for Brownells, is sending me replacement parts.)
From there, I switched to my pistol, a Shadow Systems MR920 with Banish suppressor, Streamlight TLR-VIR II IR light, and EoTech EFLX red dot. I was able to carry this pistol with the suppressor attached in a Hush holster – a relatively new company that builds locking suppressor-mounted pistol holsters. It performed well, as did the pistol and all the accessories.
Other Perspectives
Participants ran the gamut from experienced veterans with combat experience honing their skills to brand-new shooters who were shooting under night vision for the first time. There were about 15 people total.
Moth Ridge Dev Group co-owner Brandon told me about the formation of the Moth Ridge crew and shared tips on gear selection. I also interviewed Micah, a shooter who has been to many of these shoots.
Then we drove, under night vision, to go look for the rest of the guys and gals who had gone on a night vision hike with stops at Peacemaker’s various wooded shooting locations. Driving with NODs is another useful skill that needs to be practiced. Because the field of view is so narrow under night vision, driving can be tricky.
Eventually, we found the group and got to watch people learn the difficulties of finding and engaging targets in dark foliage. It is challenging and humbling, requiring multiple techniques and backup sighting solutions.
Long Range Night Shooting
Finally, next door to the practical shooting bays is the Starlight range, Peacemaker’s 100-to-500-yard unknown distance range. Even though there were targets out to 500, for safety reasons we were only allowed to shoot out to a little over 250 yards at night.
This is a great place to stretch the capabilities of your night fighting gear. You can explore important questions about your setup, like:
- How far can you detect targets under night vision?
- How accurate is your laser aiming module?
- How well does your illuminator work?
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Do you need supplemental IR light?
Wrapping Up
All in all, this range night was a fantastic experience. I learned so much and have so much new material to think about and practice. Training like this is invaluable when developing your night fighting skills.
Moth Ridge Dev. Group will resume these training nights when the days start getting shorter in the fall, and I will be returning as well. I’m lucky to have another group in my area that does night shoots as well. Runnin’ Dark holds practice nights, training sessions, and competitions at the Associated Gun Clubs of Baltimore. They are my next stop when nights get longer. (If you want to see a video on that shoot, let Guns.com know, and I’ll make it happen!)
