With the new ACE and the ACE-R shotguns, Retay USA wedges two variants of the same gun into the space between its top-of-the-line Masai Mara and its entry-level Gordion. The ACEs give you a lot of gun for just north of $1,000. Moreover, with the ACE guns, Retay has addressed a few of the quirks of their semiautos that put some buyers off. Formerly, Retays didn’t cycle light loads well; the safeties didn’t reverse for left-handed shooters; and the chokes were threaded for Retay’s own system, with very few aftermarket chokes made for them. If any of those issues were keeping you from looking closely at a Retay, the new ACEs should change your mind. I recently put the ACE-R through it's paces at my local range. Here is how it fared.
Retay ACE-R Specs
Length: 49½” with 28-inch barrels
Weight: 7.26 pounds (12-gauge with 28-inch barrel)
Barrel: 26- or28-inch flat vent rib, small fiber-optic bead, five flush-mount and two extended chokes
Action: Inertia semiuato
Trigger: 5 pounds, 11 ounces
Capacity: 3+1 (gun is compatible with mag extension)
Finish: Black, Mossy Oak Bottomland, Realtree Max-7
Stock: Synthetic
Chambering: 3½-inch 12-gauge (20- and 28- due fall 2025)
Price: $1,049
Related: Browning Citori 825 Shotgun Review
Retay ACE and ACE-R Overview
“ACE” stands for “Air Control Extreme,” and that contrived name is one of only a very few things I don’t like about these guns. The ACE has a standard-profile, rounded receiver, while the ACE-R has a modestly hump-backed receiver. This the only difference between the two. They cost exactly the same amount of money, so it’s fun to have the cosmetic choice of hump or no hump.
For my test gun, I chose the hump-backed ACE-R model and asked for a 28-inch barrel. Currently, the guns are only available in 3½-inch 12-gauge, although 3-inch 20- and 28-gauges are promised for the fall. My gun weighed in at 7.26 pounds, with a noticeable, but not unpleasant, weight-forward balance. In fact, the minute I picked this gun up and felt the combination of the balance and the very slim forend, I thought I’d be able to shoot it well.
The ACE guns share the Inertia Plus bolt of other Retays. A torsion spring inside the rotary bolt pushes it into battery, eliminating the “click” misfire that occurs with inertia guns when their bolt handles are bumped or eased shut. The ACE has the nicely-shaped alloy trigger group that pops out with a push of a single button located by the safety. There are no pins to pop out and lose if you need to clean the gun in the field. Likewise, the barrel extension also serves as the top of the receiver. Removing the barrel gives you complete access to the inside of the action, which is very convenient. The top of the receiver is drilled and tapped, and I am hoping Retay gives us a 24-inch turkey version of this model soon.
The crossbolt safety is larger than the old button, and this one reverses for left-handed use, making us outnumbered-but-whiny southpaws happy. The gun also has an enlarged closer and charging handle to make it easier to use in the cold. Finally, with the ACEs, Retay switched to the Benelli Crio-choke pattern, so any choke that fits a newer Benelli screws into an ACE barrel. My ACE-R came with a pile of chokes, seven of them, in fact. There were flush chokes in Cylinder, IC, Modified, IM, and Full, as well as an extended Improved Modified and a “Retay by Trulock” .699 long-range waterfowl choke.
Retay ACE-R Test Results
The stock fit me out of the box, and the gun came with shims that will help others achieve a good fit. With the flat rib, it shot a perfect 50/50 above-and-below point of aim for me. The trigger broke around 5 pounds, 11 ounces, which is neither great nor terrible. The new Airy recoil pad, deliberately designed to look like the shock-absorbing sole of a running shoe, combined with a soft comb, did a good job of reducing recoil.
All of the above added up to a gun that I found to be very shootable on the skeet field. To test Retay’s claim of improved performance with light loads. I started hot with 1-1/8-ounce, 1200-fps loads and worked my way down. The gun cycled perfectly with 1 ounce, 1180 fps shells, then drew the line at 1200 fps, 7/8-ounce loads. Still, a 3½-inch 12-gauge that cycles light one-ounce loads reliably gives you a lot of versatility and the ability to practice and hunt doves with your duck gun.
Finally, I did some pattern testing with the “Retay by Trulock” .699 long-range waterfowl choke.. Combined with Retay’s deep-drilled barrels and long forcing cones, it made a setup that patterned very well. My gun produced nice-looking 78% patterns at 40 yards with Boss Steel Reserve 3s and the .699 extended tube.
Related: Browning A5 20-Gauge Review
Final Thoughts on the Retay ACE-R
Pros
Inertia Plus bolt
Reversible safety
Threaded for Crio-choke
Improved light-load cycling
Cons
Trigger is mid
Mag and shell-latch springs could be softer
All in all, I was impressed with this affordable semiauto. Personally, I don't love enlarged charging handles and bolt closers on field guns, but everyone else seems to, so I’ll keep that gripe to myself. I did notice that the magazine and shell-latch springs on my test gun were a tad stiff, so the gun is little harder to load, and that does matter when it gets cold and fingers and thumbs lose strength.
But that is a small complaint, and as I said, you get all this for $1,049, which is a terrific deal, plus the hump-backed profile looks good. And while I still don’t like the name, it’s appropriate, because with these two versions of their improved inertia gun, Retay is holding a pair of aces in its hand.
