Retay has has substantially expanded their footprint in the shotgun market in recent years by offering guns with a long list of features and impressive build quality at an excellent price point. Since the company was founded 17 years ago, Retay has continued to grow rapidly in the United States and elsewhere, and each year the company continues to roll out exciting products for shooters and hunters.
While the Masai Mara line of shotguns is Retay's flagship, the Gordion line of guns offer many of the top-end features found on the Masai Mara at a slightly lower price point and may be the best value in the Retay family. In this issue, we'll look at the Gordion Greycon 20-gauge—a stylish, lightweight field and target semiauto that manages to slide under the $1,000 mark.
A Brief History of Retay Shotguns Frustrated by a lack of interest in his ideas for improving existing products, firearm engineer Hasan Kepez left the Turkish gun manufacturer where he worked in 2006 and established his own firearm company. Due to a non-compete clause, Kepez could not release shotguns for sale for 10 years and instead began developing and marketing starter pistols. During that 10-year hiatus, Kepez had a chance to refine his shotgun design, adding all the features he felt were needed in a field gun.
That firearm became the Masai Mara, and a single prototype of the gun was displayed at SHOT Show 2017. American firearm importer Chris Handy was invited to stop by the booth, and he was immediately impressed by what he saw. The smooth-operating, inertia-operated Masai Mara was well-built and constructed of premium materials. Handy agreed to import the guns and Retay USA was born.
The Retay Gordion Greycon includes many high-end features at a field-grade price point. (Photo courtesy of Retay) A Closer Look at the Gordion Greycon The Gordion Walnut Greycon utilizes Retay's Inertia Plus bolt system which the company first began developing in 2015 and was patented in the United States in 2018. Described by Retay as an improvement to Bruno Civolani's 1967 rotating bolt head design, the Inertia Plus bolt features an adapted torsion mechanism in the bolt that is charged by the force of recoil and assists in rotating the locking lugs into position when the bolt is closed. Translation: Even with light loads, or when slowly closing, the bolt the lugs will rotate into place, preventing a misfire.
The Inertia Plus bolt is housed within a lightweight, sculpted aluminum receiver with a grey Cerakote finish. The receiver is mated with a black chromed barrel with an 8mm flat field rib, a red fiber optic front bead and five interchangeable (C-IC-M-IM-F) MaraPro flush-fit chokes. A grade II oiled Turkish walnut rounds out the gun, and the included shim kits allow drop at heel to be adjusted from 1.77 to 2.36-inches. The stock is completed with a dense black polyurethane recoil pad with a radiused heel and sculpted sides. One feature not found on many American upland guns (but which remains popular in Europe) is the inclusion of sling studs which come standard on the Gordion Greycon .
Though sling studs have gone out of fashion for most American guns, they remain practical, especially if you're handling hunting dogs. (Photo courtesy of Retay) The Gordion family of shotguns has grown to include dozens of models including camo waterfowl and turkey guns, but the Greycon probably remains the most stately of the bunch. And there are many options for Greycon owners as well: You can choose either a 12- or 20-gauge gun with 26- or 28-inch barrels. There's also a new-for-2023 compact 20-gauge version with a shortened stock and a 24- or 26-inch barrel, and because it is built on a full-sized frame, a growing shooter can purchase a full-sized stock to replace the included 12.5-inch LOP stock that is included with the Compact version.
MSRP for the Gordion Greycon and Gordion Greycon Compact is set at $999, which makes this gun a bargain. The Gordion is backed by a five-year manufacturer's warranty.
Retay Gordion Greycon Specifications Retay Gordion Greycon Shotgun (Photo courtesy of Retay) Action Type: Inertia-operated semiautoGauge: 20 (tested), 12Barrel: 28-in. (tested) 24 & 26 in. also availableFinish: Grey Cerakote receiver, Black Chrome barrelStock: Oil/varnish Turkish walnutWeight: 6 lbs. 1 oz. (as tested)Chokes: 5 Marapro flush-fitSuggested Retail Price: $999Website: retayusa.com Concentric Barrels During my formative years as a shotgunner and through my years competing on a college trap and skeet team, I was coached by a variety of shooters. Some of that coaching was solicited and some was not, but the bulk of the suggestions I received were to “smooth out my swing,” “follow through,” and “lead the target more.” Not once in all those years and during the course of all those misses did anyone ever suggest to me that my shotgun barrel might be the issue.
No matter how perfectly you lead the target, no matter how glassy smooth your swing, or how determined your follow-through—you can't consistently hit targets if your gun doesn't shoot straight. And, after testing many shotguns for GUN DOG and other publications, I've come to the realization that not all shotguns shoot exactly where they are supposed to.
Retay understands the need for perfectly concentric barrels, and that's why the company has invested in machines that allowed them to drill their Bohler shotgun barrels. Generally speaking, only high-end target shotguns have drilled barrels while less expensive, mass-produced field guns have hammer-forged barrels. Hammer forging is cheaper, but it can't match the concentricity you get with drilled barrels. When the company started, they reinvested initial profits into two-barrel drilling machines, but over time demand grew.
“We went from two drilling machines to a fleet of robotic drilling machines as demand grew,” Retay USA's Christian Handy says. “The fact that we drill all our barrels sets us apart from the competition.”
Retay's barrels shoot 20 percent straighter on average than competing shotguns in their price point. That's why turkey hunters and competitive shooters have quickly embraced these guns, and it's the same reason you're seeing more Retay guns in the hands of upland hunters and waterfowlers. The Gordion's barrel also comes with lengthened forcing cones and is chrome lined.
Gordion Greycon in the Field I've been impressed with Retay's Masai Mara and the Antalya SS shotguns, but this was my first time handling a Gordion. While the Gordion does lack a few of the features that you'll find on the more expensive Masai Mara and Antalya (most notably the two-piece receiver and push button trigger group release) the Gordion remains a well-appointed gun for the money.
The Gordion 20-gauge that I tested came with a 28-inch barrel and weighed in at six-pounds, one-ounce, considerably lighter than the 12-gauge version as six-pounds, ten-ounces. Variations in wood density will impact weight slightly, but both the 26- and 28-inch 20-gauge guns will weigh right at six pounds and the Compact version will be lighter still. This makes them compelling options for field guns, especially where you're hunting large swaths of CRP ground or expansive public land in the western states.
The gun's balance point lies directly under the ejection port so the Gordion settles between the hands when mounting or swinging the gun. (Photo courtesy of Retay) I've said before but it bears repeating that inertia guns with shell drop levers like the Retay make the most sense of any semiauto for those who hunt with dogs because you can quickly pull back on the bolt handle, pop the shell in your pocket, and cross fences or handle dogs with an unloaded gun.
Like other Retay shotguns, the Gordion Greycon patterns well. With B&P #6 target loads it impacted slightly low and left when fired from the bench for ten shots, but each of these impacts was just slightly off-center with the majority of the pattern still impacting the target area. Translation, this gun doesn't shoot as straight as your average .30-06 but it does it very close to point of aim at 30 and 40 yards. That means if you miss a bird it's probably not because the gun isn't shooting straight and you can revert to working on the principles of smoothing your swing, follow through, keeping your head on the gun, and so forth.
The Gordion's trigger broke at six pounds, which is lighter than most competing field guns (I consider 7 lbs. average). Also, there was very little slop or creep in the trigger. We're taught to “slap” a shotgun trigger and so very few shooters ever realize how truly awful their shotgun's trigger truly is. The Retay has one of the nicest triggers in this price point and competes with some more expensive shotguns.
The pistol grip is steeply downturned, the angle of the wrist of the stock more reminiscent of a target rifle than most shotguns. (Photo courtesy of Retay) I broke a box of clays over the course of a morning with this gun using field loads. Recoil is manageable thanks to the recoil pad and I like the way that the gun shoulders and the deeply radiused recoil pad that won't hang up on your vest or jacket when you mount this gun. I prefer a shallower grip angle, but it's not uncomfortable. The only other request I have is that Retay bevel the loading port more.
Retay guns I've tested in the past have impressed me, and the Gordion is no exception. Now that I've tested the whole family of Retay firearms, I can say that there's good reason why these shotguns are so popular. You will continue to see more and more of these guns on store shelves, in upland fields and on clay ranges near you. Perhaps you'll even join the growing ranks of Retay owners. I doubt you'll regret doing so.
