Description
The Retay Ace Realtree Max-7 in 28 gauge is an unusual gun on purpose. Full waterfowl camouflage on a small bore semi automatic with a 28 inch barrel, aimed at the hunter who has decided that a twenty eight is enough gun for ducks over decoys and would rather carry five pounds than eight.
What the Retay Ace Realtree Max-7 Is Built For
The Retay Ace Realtree Max-7 wears a waterfowl pattern, built around the browns, tans and greens of flooded timber, cut fields and marsh edges rather than the grey of open water. Retay applies it across the stock, fore end, receiver and barrel, so there is no bare metal catching light when the gun is resting across a blind rail.
Twenty eight gauge for waterfowl used to be a joke and is not one any more. Non toxic loads in the bore have improved enormously, the short shot column patterns well, and inside sensible range a properly choked twenty eight kills ducks cleanly. The 3 inch chamber on this gun is what makes those heavier loads available.
The Retay Ace Realtree Max-7 action is inertia driven. The Inertia Plus bolt uses a rollover torsion spring to rotate the bolt head positively into battery, which solves the old inertia gun problem of being jarred out of lockup. No gas system means nothing to foul after a morning in the rain, which is worth more in a blind than in a field.
Barrel, Handling and Setup
Twenty eight inches of barrel on the Retay Ace Realtree Max-7 is a deliberate choice. It puts enough weight ahead of your hands to keep a swing moving on crossing birds, which is exactly the kind of shot that defines decoy hunting, without turning a light gun into a heavy one.
The Retay Ace Realtree Max-7 barrel is deep bore drilled from straight stock with a factory lengthened forcing cone. On a small bore that matters more than it would on a twelve, because you have fewer pellets to work with and every one that survives the transition into the barrel shows up on the pattern board.
Length of pull is 14.5 inches with a shim kit for drop and cast, the sight is a single fiber optic bead, and the trigger group comes out at the push of a button with no tools. A Retay Ace Realtree Max-7 stored with its trigger group removed cannot be fired.
Specifications
- UPC: 193212029980
- Gauge: 28, 3 in chamber
- Barrel: 28 in, deep bore drilled, factory lengthened forcing cone
- Action: Inertia Plus rotating bolt with rollover torsion spring
- Finish: Realtree Max-7 camouflage, full coverage
- Trigger group: Push button removable, no tools
- Sight: Single fiber optic bead
- Stock: Synthetic with shim kit
- Recoil pad: AIRY air pocket system
- Length of pull: 14.5 in with shims
- Receiver: Not drilled and tapped in 28 gauge
- Warranty: Retay USA limited lifetime
Who Should Buy It
Hunters who want a light camo gun for ducks over decoys are the audience. A Retay Ace Realtree Max-7 in twenty eight is not a gun for pass shooting geese, and it does not pretend to be, but for wood ducks in timber and mallards feet down in a spread it is enough and then some.
It doubles as an upland gun without complaint. Twenty eight gauge and five pounds is a combination made for walking, and Max-7 hides just as well along a fencerow as it does in a marsh. A Retay Ace Realtree Max-7 covers more ground than the pattern suggests.
Be realistic about the limitations. Twenty eight gauge non toxic shells are expensive and not always easy to find, and range discipline matters more with a small bore than with a twelve. Pattern the gun, know your distance, and pass on the long ones.
A few practical notes before ordering a Retay Ace Realtree Max-7. Fit the stock with the included shim kit before the season, because a light gun rewards good fit and punishes a bad one. Break the action in with standard field loads rather than the lightest target shells, since inertia systems need recoil energy to cycle reliably when new and a small bore has less of it to give. Pattern the gun with the exact non toxic load you intend to hunt, because small bore steel is very choke sensitive.
And use the push button trigger group removal after wet days. Full factory specifications are published on the Retay USA product page, and you can compare it against the 28 gauge Ace Extra Black or browse our other shotguns.
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