Retay built the ACE-R Paloma for the high-volume dove hunter, and Paloma is Spanish for dove, so the name is a promise. We already put this gun through a full review. This time, we took the 12-gauge to Texas for opening day and ran it for two days on exactly the birds it was named after.
In this article
Quick take
Verdict: Made for doves, but it is a whole lot more than a dove gun, and for the money you get a tremendous amount of shotgun.
Best for: The hunter who wants one semi-auto that handles doves, upland, and clays without buying three guns.
Skip it if: You want a shotgun that looks like a showpiece in the safe, or you load constantly and want a loading port that never catches a knuckle.
Two days in a Texas dove field
We ran the Retay ACE Paloma at the Hella Dry Industry Dove Hunt outside Lubbock. I carried the 12 gauge with the 30-inch ported barrel. Hunter from Retay was on a 20, which turned out to matter more than I expected.
Dove opener is about as honest a test as a gun like this is going to get. Birds move all morning, the shots are close and fast, and you are loading constantly. Everything a shotgun does well or badly shows up by the end of day one.
What stood out
It moves
The gun is light and it handles well, and that is the thing you feel first. The stepped up rib with the bead gets your eye lined up fast, which matters more than people realize when a bird changes its mind halfway through your swing. Over two days of shooting, the ergonomics held up and I never found myself fighting the gun.
The Inertia Plus bolt stays in battery
Getting jarred out of battery is the one thing that has always made me cautious about inertia guns. It costs you shots, and it tends to happen at the worst time. I never had an issue with this one over two days of field handling, and that is the problem Retay’s rollover torsion spring is built to solve.
The dropout trigger
Push a button and the whole trigger group comes out. It is the kind of feature you do not think about until the first time you need to clean the gun somewhere other than your bench. The controls in general are about as simple as they come.
Fit, and what we learned putting a new shooter behind it
Courtney had never shot a dove, so I handed her the Paloma. She had to get her face way down on that stock before anything started working, and the second she sorted that out, it clicked and she got her first bird.
That is a shim kit conversation, and it is worth knowing before you buy. The ACE-R Paloma ships with a shim kit. Most people never touch i but ff the gun is not shooting where you look, that is the first place to go.
How it shot
Easy on the recoil, and that is not a small thing on a dove hunt where you are going through a lot of shells. We ran 1 oz nontoxic steel 7 shot through an improved cylinder choke, which is a light load, and the gun cycled it without complaint. No malfunctions over two days.
Here is where the gauge conversation comes in. I had the 12 with the 30-inch barrel, and after this hunt I wish I had the 20 or the 28 to go with it. The longer barrel is nice when you want to stretch out, but dove shots are close and quick and you are swinging all morning. The smaller gauges are just more fun to carry and move. That is not a knock on the 12. That is me telling you what I would reach for next time.
Pros and cons
Pros
- A tremendous amount of shotgun for $1,099
- Light, moves well, good ergonomics
- Easy on the recoil
- Inertia Plus bolt never jarred out of battery
- Push button dropout trigger group
- Stepped up rib lines your eye up fast
- Cycled light 1 oz loads without a hiccup
Cons
- Finish is not the most refined at this price point
- Loading port could be milled out more, with rounded edges that do not catch your hands
On the finish, that is the honest tradeoff at this price. I believe these Retays are good quality guns, and about the only thing they lack is a more refined finish, which is exactly what you end up paying for as you move up in price.
The loading port is the one that actually wore on me. On a high volume dove hunt you are loading constantly, and a port with sharper edges catches your hands over and over. It is a small thing, and it is the small thing I noticed most over two days.
Why you are seeing more Retays in the field
This trip was full of people shooting Retay shotguns, and it seems like they are really starting to become more prevalent in the market. I think that is because of exactly what I have been describing. Deep bore drilled barrels, a dropout trigger, and an Inertia Plus action that stays in battery, all at a price that does not make you think twice.
Who should buy the Retay ACE Paloma
If you want one semi-auto that covers doves, upland birds, and a round of clays without buying a gun for each, this is a strong argument for $1,099. It is named for doves and it is genuinely good at that, but nothing about it is limited to a dove field.
Final verdict
The Retay ACE Paloma is made for doves, but it is a whole lot more than that. Two days in a Texas dove field is a real test, and it came out the other side as a gun I would recommend without qualifying it much. For the money, you get a whole lot of gun.
12, 20, or 28 for doves? Tell me what you would have brought to Texas.
