Seekins Rifles

[Gadjet]

I have a Havak element and have been packing it around for spring bear. 7lbs scoped with a Schmidt Bender PMII. Shoots great, but haven't really stretched it out yet or tuned in the handloads. I expect this summer I'll be crushing rocks at 1000 yards. Mines a 6.5prc. It's well balanced and handles very nice.

I've been eyeing this same gun but haven't pulled the trigger on it yet. What kind of groups are you getting? My son in law has the same gun in 300wm on backorder.

 

[Doublegunner]

I see all the "what about this rifle" threads and I wonder why the AWR is passed by. Search brockel's reviews. Half the price of a Seekins. mtmuley

The AWR I had was a dog. Accuracy was OK but it had feeding problems, wouldn't chamber at one point, extractor issues. The seekins are so much better.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

I've had pretty poor experience with my one seekins rifle and I know of multiple other cases where people had issues with the same cartridge (300 wm), one even showing up with a barrel not torqued even hand tight to the receiver. That said, I don't discount the many good reviews and I think there are a lot of positive attributes with these rifles.

This is a thread where they were discussed previously: https://www.hunttalk.com/threads/santa-came-a-little-early.310743/

And my input in that thread with my experience:

I have a Havak 300wm (Started off as a PH1) that from the start was a very disappointing experience. The first one was just not accurate at all. Seekins agreed and noted numerous issues and replaced it with another that they said shot their federal GMM 190 grain test ammo well and they sent proof targets. It didn't shoot any of the 3 bullets i wanted to shoot worth a crap. One other thing i noted is the seekins pic rail didn't fit nice and flush on the action - i needed to bed it to make sure everything was as it should be.

At that point I'd shot probably 400 rounds of 300 WM through these two rifles over a number of range trips. The ammo cost and time reloading time isn't negligible and I decided I'd rather eat the cost of a new barrel than burn more time and components on another replacement from seekins. TS Customs chambered a #4 Bartlein Carbon for me and it shoots everything i've put through it fantastic.

I was still not thrilled with stiff bolt lift but the rest of the rifle package was a good fit for me. I sent it in for the free new bolt upgrade when that came out. When I got the rifle back i noticed there was no longer a bedded pic rail on it. After looking a little closer i realized they completely replaced the action with a new one rather than just the bolt. I was a little nervous that the headspace might have moved with this new action with the barrel I had $1k into but it is the same as it was with the previous action/bolt. The pic rail fits the action well and I don't think it needs bedding. The new action/bolt is a giant upgrade from the previous version just in bolt manipulation feel. It is nice and slick now with a light bolt lift.

Some aspects of value with the Havaks (IMO) - The stock is light and rigid and grip works well for me getting a natural hand position and 90 degree trigger pull. I like the bottom metal and mag release in the trigger guard - doesn't have a big latch that can be hit and drop you mag accidentally in a hunting situation. The Carbon fiber mags have been fantastic and allow nearly 4" COAL. Timney is a good option for a factory trigger, i have a geissele trigger that will get swapped in eventually hopefully to provide better reliability.

I'm now 0 for 3 with aggressively spiral fluted sporter contour barrels shooting worth a shit. The other was a #3 bartlein on a 6.5 saum custom. I know lots of folks have had good experiences with their seekins. I do think they are better now than the early version i started with.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

1) Their accuracy is guarantee is not some arbitrary "MOA" number, it is your satisfaction as a shooter. If you don't like how it is shooting you send it back to them on THEIR dime, they will have a former Special Forces sniper shoot it on video to show your the load they used and results and send those to you. If they can't make you happy they will simply buy the rifle back from you. 2) They also have an unlimited, lifetime guarantee on the rifle....run over it with a truck? No problem, send them the gun/parts and they will fix or replace it....no matter what or how it was damaged, forever, all they want to know is the story

They have a good guarantee but it didn't work out that well for me but that was 2018, things may have changed and I think seekins is a good company. I had a phone convo to discuss what my expectations were for the gun. I wanted it to shoot sub MOA 5 shot groups consistently with berger 215s or 212 ELDx. They must have shot at least a couple groups with the ammo but sent me a 4 shot 3/4" group to proof. They also provided good proof groups with federal 190 GMM but I have no interest in shooting that. I don't blame them for calling it good, but it didn't shoot that well consistently with the heavies.

 

[schmalts]

I love everything about mine but 2 things... The palm swell on the pistol grip area?? of the stock is too fat for my liking. I am getting dupuytren's contracture in my hands and I could use a smaller grip. Second gripe is my 6.5PRC shoots as slow as some guys 6.5CM I will hand load up some velocity once I get a bunch of brass but 2850 is pathetic for that round.

 

[schmalts]

I have a Havak element and have been packing it around for spring bear. 7lbs scoped with a Schmidt Bender PMII. Shoots great, but haven't really stretched it out yet or tuned in the handloads. I expect this summer I'll be crushing rocks at 1000 yards. Mines a 6.5prc. It's well balanced and handles very nice.

You shoot yours through a chrono yet? Mine is slow as a 6.5CM

 

[Wind Gypsy]

I love everything about mine but 2 things... The palm swell on the pistol grip area?? of the stock is too fat for my liking. I am getting dupuytren's contracture in my hands and I could use a smaller grip. Second gripe is my 6.5PRC shoots as slow as some guys 6.5CM I will hand load up some velocity once I get a bunch of brass but 2850 is pathetic for that round.

What Ammo? Is it the havak element with 21" barrel?

 

[schmalts]

What Ammo? Is it the havak element with 21" barrel?

The Hornady precision hunter 143gr

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

I love everything about mine but 2 things... The palm swell on the pistol grip area?? of the stock is too fat for my liking. I am getting dupuytren's contracture in my hands and I could use a smaller grip. Second gripe is my 6.5PRC shoots as slow as some guys 6.5CM I will hand load up some velocity once I get a bunch of brass but 2850 is pathetic for that round.

It might not actually be that bad for a 21" bbl.

A 6.5CM w/ a 142grn is only going about 2641 out of a 21" based on one test I read.

The velocity difference between a 30-06 and 308 is only about ~150 FPS...

 

[schmalts]

It might not actually be that bad for a 21" bbl.

A 6.5CM w/ a 142grn is only going about 2641 out of a 21" based on one test I read.

The velocity difference between a 30-06 and 308 is only about ~150 FPS...

This is a 24 inch tube on mine. It is very low

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

This is a 24 inch tube on mine. It is very low

Disregard then, I thought you had one of the shorties like GH. You have the PH2?

 

[schmalts]

Disregard then, I thought you had one of the shorties like GH. You have the PH2?

Yeah I have the cheap model, I don't have GH kind of cash...

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

Yeah I have the cheap model, I don't have GH kind of cash...

Don't worry you are in good company. have you stretch the legs on it yet? I shot a group at 400 on a freshly painted gong with Factory Hornady .308 Black Match, and I could cover the impacts with the end of a beer can. While I am not a scientist, I think that is sub-MOA by a stretch...

 

[schmalts]

Don't worry you are in good company. have you stretch the legs on it yet? I shot a group at 400 on a freshly painted gong with Factory Hornady .308 Black Match, and I could cover the impacts with the end of a beer can. While I am not a scientist, I think that is sub-MOA by a stretch...

I was hitting a 16" steel on every shot at 800 yards. Really don't remember where the group laid at that range but again, i am not going to worry a ton about groups until I hand load and get the velocity up a bit to where it should normally fall into. I have a case of ammo, and just have not bothered to load up the empties yet as it took so long to get the right stuff to do so. For now though, I know that on a bench at 100 yards it is sub MOA with factory loads. I got so busy with a logging project this winter I never took advantage of winter to do my usual long range weekend.

 

[The Hedgehog]

I have 2860 avg with the 143 Hornady factory ammo but close to 3000 with handloads and 139 scenar. Have not pushed it at all.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

The Hornady precision hunter 143gr

If you don't have many rounds down the tube I'd expect it to speed up a bit yet.

My buddies well broken in 24" tikka 6.5 creedmoor only gets 2600 fps with the precision hunter ammo but tikkas are known to have slower barrels.

I found with 2 different 25" 6.5 SAUM bartleins that 140s with h1000 liked to be around 3050ish FPS which would put a 24" PRC probably just under 3k at the same pressure.

 

[schmalts]

I have 2860 avg with the 143 Hornady factory ammo but close to 3000 with handloads and 139 scenar. Have not pushed it at all.

That's good if it's the 21" barrel. What powder? I picked up some IMR 8133. Seems to be be good for the 6.5PRC from what I've seen.

 

[The Hedgehog]

That's good if it's the 21" barrel. What powder? I picked up some IMR 8133. Seems to be be good for the 6.5PRC from what I've seen.

I'm using RL26 and have some H1000 as well to try. The factory stuff is using IMR7828