We got to another highly requested shotgun review - The 20 gauge Gordion by Retay. Just like its more expensive the Masai Mara, this is a super sharp shotgun that falls into that modern semi-auto inertia category. Retay is gaining traction in the corner of the market that Benelli has dominated. We were super excited to see if the Gordion can run with the big dogs. Today we're going to be diving in deep and seeing if this is a shotgun that may be a good fit for you!

If you have experience with Retay Shotguns please let us know on the TFL COMMUNITY!   

RETAY GORDION 20 GAUGE

• Specs

  • MSRP: $999 for this walnut GreyCon version (synthetic version is $899)
  • This is a 20-gauge "inertia plus" system (12ga available) 
  • This inertia system is unique as it has a spring-loaded battery lock meaning that if you have a shell in the chamber, no matter how softly you close the bolt, its spring action will always keep the the bolt in battery.
  • This also comes in a compact model that has spacers to adjust LOP
  • The Length of Pull is 14 5/16" - Word on the street is that Retay will soon be adding a way to adjust the length of pull.
  • Drop at comb, heel, and cast is adjustable with shims/spacers - If you'd like to learn more about this, check out the Masai Mara blog
  • 28" barrel (26" available)
  • 6lbs 2oz
  • 6lbs 6oz average trigger pull weight
  • This Gorion comes with 5 choke tubes. Check out Carlson's Chokes

• Ergonomics

  • This Retay has a 'microcell' recoil pad - It has a little bit of give but not much - A FalconStrike would be a nice addition to this shotgun
  • Very nice grade 2 Turkish walnut wood stock - Retay really prides themselves on using high-quality materials and claims a "no-compromise Turkish walnut" meaning they don't do grain enhancement as they believe grain enhancement is just a cover-up for imperfections.
  • For a gun at this price point, the wood is impressive. 
  • The grip points have decent checkering in the wood - nothing fancy but it feels good
  • The forend is rather slender and very similar to Retays competitors' forends in this modern-inertia market. Again, this forend sports a very beautiful wood design
  • There is a circular safety mounted behind the trigger - nothing special 
  • Similar to the safety, the bolt handle and release are a very standard design. Like most new shotguns, the small circular bolt release is rather hard to press 
  • The trigger guard is very spacious which is good for us Midwest hunters that may need to fit gloves in there
  • The loading port is milled out about as good as you could expect for a 20 gauge. However, it is still a little tough to get shells in.
  • This Gordion is a bit rear-heavy but still feels really good to swing
  • This Retay has a flat vented rib
  • Blued barrel with a red fiber on the front
  • One surprise we had was that there was less of a grip angle to get your finger on the Gordions trigger than on the Masai Mara. The Gordion seems to fit the hand a bit better

• Recoil and Reliability

  • We always look at recoil first and as you know, a 20 gauge isn't going to give us much fuss
  • That was until we tried Federals Prairie Storm pheasant loads. This gun is a light intertia shotgun, and the pheasant loads could certainly be felt. Another plug for a FalconStrike
  • In complete transparency, we started to have a lot of trouble getting this shotgun to cycle target loads
  • This Gordion couldn't cycle 3 shots consecutively even after 2 boxes of ammo... We know there's always a certain break-in period for new guns but this one took a LONG time
  • The most bizarre part is that much later in our review after we had taken the gun apart, put it back together, and started speed shooting, the Gordion started working flawlessly - As in no issues whatsoever when shooting 3 consecutive shots as fast as possible. So take note! The break-in period for your Gordion may be a bit longer than others! 
  • If you can speak to the reliability of the Retay Gordion, please let us know how it's held up on the  TFL COMMUNITY!    

• Breakdown/Quality of Build

  • Unfortunately, this Gordion does not come apart like its brother the Masai Mara. It's the same inertia system but with a more typical disassembly process
  • With that said, it's very easy, and comes apart smoothly
  • We always appreciate a one-pin trigger group design like this one
  • The build quality of this gun is very high for the price. It's unique in the fact that there are very minimal plastic parts throughout this shotgun. Retay has dedicated a lot of efforts to making really solid guns across the board and this Gordion is no different
  • When we put the gun back together we noticed just how smooth the bolt of this Gordion slides. All the tolerances are fantastic - a lot of good design and materials!
  • Another quality factor that Retay promotes is its deep-bore-drilled barrels. This is essentially the process of taking a piece of solid steel and drilling all the way through vs hammer forging which creates stress and irregularities. Their claim is that opting out of a hammer-forged barrel will result in a straighter barrel that shoots more true. We actually tested this on paper against a competitor's gun with the Masai Mara to see the results for ourselves and it was quite impressive! Check out the Masai Mara Blog to see the results!

• Speed Shooting

  • Although you won't be trying to shoot down 3 birds as fast as possible, we like to see how fast we can get on target with every gun we review. This sheds light on the overall functionality of the shotgun, testing how well it instinctively mounts, how reactive the trigger is, and how the gun feels overall. 
  • As we mentioned earlier during the recoil test, once we got to speed shooting we were blown away at how and why the Gordion all of a sudden ran so smoothly. I mean every attempt got better and faster. Shooting this thing was freakin blast.
  • We didn't particularly expect this gun to be fast. Speed is not the nature an inertia 20 gauge. However, we got some pretty decent scores on the board and had a lot of fun shooting a 20 gauge. We also got to experience the mountability, and swingability of this Gordion. Both of which were impressive!
  • Our fastest total time was a 1.14 with our fastest split being a .19. For a 20 gauge inertia gun this is wild. Became super impressed with the Gordion the more we shot it

In conclusion, this Retay Gordion kind of scared us in the first half with it's extended break-in period. We were sure that the gun was just doomed and unable to cycle our target loads. But as soon as we got to speed shooting, we got to experience all the positive features of this gun actually come together as it began to cycle with no issues. The positive features we're talking about far outweigh the negative ones on this Gordion. It feels great in the hands and mounts very naturally. It's a light shotgun that you would carry for quite some time in the field. The build quality is off the charts for a shotgun of this price, and it has a super nice, great-looking finish to it. Plus, an inertia gun is always a win for its ease of breakdown. Overall, this gun really ended up surprising us in the end and totally impressing us. We've had two great Retay experiences now with the Masai Mara, and the Gordion, and we can't wait to get our hands on another! Let us know what other Retay shotguns you'd like to see reviewed on the TFL Community!   

Whether our targets in the field or our targets in life, we will only hit what we are focused on, so live the #targetfocusedlife 

Stay Target Focused,

Steve