TiQ: The ACSS line of optics reticles has really become a favorite of many shooters. When did Primary Arms develop the first ACSS?
PA: “About four years ago a brilliant young reticle designer named Dimitri Mikroulis was trying to find a company that would take a chance on this reticle design that he had spent years working on. With the popularity of BDC reticles now, it’s easy to forget that just a few years ago the traditional duplex reticle was all most shooters knew, and the Mil-Dot was the exotic choice. Dimitri was going from company to company showing them a reticle that combined bullet drop compensation with automatic range estimation, wind holds and moving target leads, all right there in the reticle without touching any turrets. These companies hadn’t seen anything like it and for whatever reason, they weren’t ready for it. Marshall was the first one to get serious about whether it actually worked and whether it was actually faster in the real world, and now the ACSS concept is a big part of what we do. It’s fast and it really works. I love seeing product reviews on our site from guys who have never taken an AR past 100 yards, and they go to 400 or 500 yards with a 16” carbine and they are ringing steel out there for the first time, and they are so happy. They didn’t have to mess with a calculator to convert Mils to MOA, they didn’t have to count clicks, they just used the reticle to estimate the range, used the BDC, and scored hits.”
