Seekins HAVAK Precision Rifle

Has anyone swapped out the bolt handle? Seems like its made to be removed but it's definitely more than hand tight.

I’ve wanted to swap mine. I put a mini-strap wrench on the handle and twisted until the strap wrench slipped, the handle was still tight af. I want something a bit larger but I guess I’ll wait until someone else figures it out.
 
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Okay guys i was wrong. Just went to the gun store to cycle some other bolt actions for comparison and it is like night and day to the Havak. There is some serious difficulty in opening and closing the bolt. It slides in and out easily but the 90 degree up and down motion is extremely difficult compared to the $200 rifles at the store. I have shot the gun and havent had any good groups or accuracy. Will need to do more testing but i cant say im satisfied. And yeah i have tried cycling the bolt a few hundred times till my hands are sore from the resistance.
My theory is that Seekins is extremely swamped and i believe their normal quality control may be dropping due to pumping out so many havaks.
There is another guy on page 11 and 12 that seems to have a similar issue. Mine isnt as bad as his description but i cant say it is easy or enjoyable cycling the gun. Worst part is not getting any good accuracy with the american gunner or hornady eld match 140s. I will be contacting the company for support in the next few days as soon as i confirm with some other bullets.
 
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Okay guys i was wrong. Just went to the gun store to cycle some other bolt actions for comparison and it is like night and day to the Havak. There is some serious difficulty in opening and closing the bolt. It slides in and out easily but the 90 degree up and down motion is extremely difficult compared to the $200 rifles at the store. I have shot the gun and havent had any good groups or accuracy. Will need to do more testing but i cant say im satisfied. And yeah i have tried cycling the bolt a few hundred times till my hands are sore from the resistance.
My theory is that Seekins is extremely swamped and i believe their normal quality control may be dropping due to pumping out so many havaks.
There is another guy on page 11 that seems to have a similar issue. Mine isnt as bad as his description but i cant say it is easy or enjoyable cycling the gun. Worst part is not getting any good accuracy with the american gunner or hornady eld match 140s. I will be contacting the company for support in the next few days as soon as i confirm with some other bullets.

I'm assuming 6.5CM, try the Hornady Precision Hunter 143 ELDX load...trust me;) 1/2MOA in my Havak and a sledgehammer on whitetail last week
 
I have shot the gun and havent had any good groups or accuracy.
That's not always an issue with the weapon. More than one factor accomplishes the goal. Without knowing your group size or other factors it's sounding like operator error in making those statements.

Yes, the Havak does require a tad more of a deliberate movement to get the bolt up. I wasn't expecting it to be a one finger lift out either.

Cycling my 6.5CM isn't sloppy like a $200 rifle considering that's NOT what I paid for or expected. Hell my ol' Ruger 30-06 is tight, not as tight as the Havak but it's not $200 sloppy either. OR maybe it's just cause I got more than 100+ rounds thru it.......hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
 
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Maybe shooter error. Im just reporting what my experiences are so far shooting the rifle. Perhaps it is the ammo. Will try other ammo but i am getting about 1.5 inch groups at 100 yards with Hornady 140 ELD match. Hey it looks like i am getting good “accuracy” at least. Now to find precision. 1 inch is really tiny. I bet its the ammo. Good chance it likes the 143s or 147s
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I called Seekins couple weeks ago on if they were going to offer different options on the havak like barrels lengths, stocks, barreled actions ect. The guy I talked to said they was swamped and that they are looking at all of that for when they get caught up.....probably after shot 2019 is what I was told. Depending on what options and how soon will depend on if I get a Seekins something or another or a PVA Bighorn origin barreled action, all for being a switch barrel rifle.
 
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Maybe shooter error. Im just reporting what my experiences are so far shooting the rifle. Perhaps it is the ammo. Will try other ammo but i am getting about 1.5 inch groups at 100 yards with Hornady 140 ELD match. Hey it looks like i am getting good “accuracy” at least.

I don't know you so I can't comment on shooter error. Certainly possible it could be a tack driver with a different factory load. I will say that 1.5" groups @100 is not good accuracy and the folks at Seekins agree.

My 300 WM Havak is with them right now because 1.5 MOA was a pretty common group for it with various ammo. They asked what my expectations were, I told them consistent 3/4 MOA 5 shot groups at 100 yards given an occasional group around 1 or a little above 1 MOA and some smaller groups or at least 75ish percent of 3 shot groups holding 3/4 MOA. They seemed to think that was a reasonable expectation.
 
Maybe shooter error. Im just reporting what my experiences are so far shooting the rifle. Perhaps it is the ammo. Will try other ammo but i am getting about 1.5 inch groups at 100 yards with Hornady 140 ELD match. Hey it looks like i am getting good “accuracy” at least. Now to find precision. 1 inch is really tiny. I bet its the ammo. Good chance it likes the 143s or 147sView attachment 6980945View attachment 6980946

Where’s your rear bag in the pic? Are you shooting without one?
 
Are they sending proof targets stating the load they shot at the factory.
Looks like they used to at one point in time or perhaps they will in the future. Based on this page i found in their instruction manual. They probably dont have time to anymore.

Where’s your rear bag in the pic? Are you shooting without one?
I didnt shoot with one that day. Ill bring one to the next shooting session.
 

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Well you could do that or just go to Office Max. They could make you plenty of copies. Just be sure to confirm they use a 1:1 scale when printing. I don't want your 1.5" groups to drop to .25" just cause of the targets.
 
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I’ve wanted to swap mine. I put a mini-strap wrench on the handle and twisted until the strap wrench slipped, the handle was still tight af. I want something a bit larger but I guess I’ll wait until someone else figures it out.
I hated the bolt handle on mine. It was really tight, but with a little heat it came off. Problem is, the bolt side is female threaded, not male like most remington bolts. I had the guys at work make me male to male extension so a standard remington style knob would fit.
Much better bolt lift now.
 
If you want to know true accuracy of the rifle you need to remove as many shooter variables as possible.

First question to ask yourself is "Am I a CONSISTENT sub MOA shooter?"

Try getting off the bipod, use a solid sandbag rest up front and rear bag to fully support the rifle.

Dry fire a few and make sure your sight picture isn't moving during your trigger break.

You can't truly assess the accuracy capability of the rifle with all the shooter variables you have introduced with that setup shown above.
Once you pin down a load, then work on shooter skills and get back to using a bipod, with/without rear bag, seated, prone etc.
 
I have read through a lot of postes during my search for a new rifle/scope combo. I settled on a Seekins HAVAK PRO HUNTER PH1 with a muzzle brake in 6.5 PRC with a Vortex Razor HD Gen II 3-18x50. Seekins suggested the low scope rings for this setup.

I found a pretty good deal on the scope, so I went ahead and ordered it.

Now comes the long 4 month wait for the rifle. ☹️

This will give me time to stock up on some ammo. Hopefully there will be some more offerings of factory ammo in 2019. I have always had good luck with Hornady but would like more options.

Would love to hear what everyone thinks of this setup.

Thanks
 
I bought some federal 130 grain medal match, winchester 143 grains to try. Will let you guys know how those do.

Here is a short video on the bolt opening and closing difficulty. It isnt exactly easy. Although i have small hands and fingers.
 
Okay guys i was wrong. Just went to the gun store to cycle some other bolt actions for comparison and it is like night and day to the Havak. There is some serious difficulty in opening and closing the bolt. It slides in and out easily but the 90 degree up and down motion is extremely difficult compared to the $200 rifles at the store. I have shot the gun and havent had any good groups or accuracy. Will need to do more testing but i cant say im satisfied. And yeah i have tried cycling the bolt a few hundred times till my hands are sore from the resistance.
My theory is that Seekins is extremely swamped and i believe their normal quality control may be dropping due to pumping out so many havaks.
There is another guy on page 11 and 12 that seems to have a similar issue. Mine isnt as bad as his description but i cant say it is easy or enjoyable cycling the gun. Worst part is not getting any good accuracy with the american gunner or hornady eld match 140s. I will be contacting the company for support in the next few days as soon as i confirm with some other bullets.

I had the same issue with my 6.5 C. I posted back on JAN 10th. Bolt closed like bullet seated out to far and lifted pretty hard also. I emailed Seekins and got a response back in less than 24 hours. They had me send it back and worked on a few things. It got better and shoots Hornady 140 match, 140 Am Gunner and Precision Hunter 143's into just about the same spot and groups 1/3 to 1/2 with all three loads
 
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Shot it again saturday with the suggested
Hornady 143 eldx
147 eld
Shot around 100-125 shots

Brought
A rear bag(didnt really help as far as groups were concerned) made it really stable but i can hold the crosshairs pretty good without it, rangefinder, and checked for parralax error.

the average is around 1.1 moa. Strangely i got one beautiful .4 inch group with the eldx but then afterward a 1.6 inch group. All groups are scattered in a tight circle in random directions. I gave around 5-10 minutes(or until i could hold onto the barrel with my hands) after each groups to let it cool. I also tried different holds, different trigger pressures.
I could get it on my ctk shooting rest/vice to eliminate more human error and document the group sizes but im going to just start the RMA process with Seekins because ive already fired at least 200$ worth of ammo just testing it and am not enjoying it one bit.
Im starting to think its like a lottery with guns without a Moa guarantee. Pretty fairly certain its the gun not me at this point.

I have contacted the person who wanted to buy it. I live in Valdosta, Ga if anyone wants to meet and shoot it.

I gotta admit 1.5 moa is pretty impressive when it is clustered in a circle. You never get to hit where your crosshairs are aiming but you definitely are close.

One could say it is “accurate” but not “precise”
 
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None of them have come with a proof test paper. That's already been addressed. I'm pretty sure that the firearms industry in general is required to fire all weapons before sale. Some weird law that I recall....maybe a very old thing and not followed anymore???
 
Lmao.

First world problems.

Is this your first LR rifle?

Yeah it is actually.
I was wondering if he shaves yet....

I was wondering if you had anything better to do besides insulting people on here. Wouldnt you be pissed if you got an expensive rifle that shot jack shit? How about say something constructive that is actually about the rifle instead of at me?
 
Yeah you see that “new hide member” thing below my name? Probably means something hmm.
Trust me....these guys would be crying a river if their $8k+ (enter Gucci rifle builder name here) was shooting off center. If I was able to travel sooner I'd bring my SP Havak down to GA. At worst we figure out if there is a problem, at best we share some range time.
 
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Yeah it is actually.


I was wondering if you had anything better to do besides insulting people on here. Wouldnt you be pissed if you got an expensive rifle that shot jack shit? How about say something constructive that is actually about the rifle instead of at me?
Gianteyeroll.gif

You are definitely new here. Lmao!
 
Yeah you see that “new hide member” thing below my name? Probably means something hmm.

Noob to precision shooting not the forum chief.

And the bus driver is right, I’d be pissed if one of my high dollar customs shot like shit. The difference is if I can’t get it to shoot there’s a 99.9% chance it’s not the shooter.

You need to link up with someone near by and have them look it over and give it a shot. There are a lot of variables before saying the gun “shoots like Jax shit” and when you’re a new shooter the odds are stacked against you. Hell if You’re near Manhattan KS I’ll load you up some 140 Berger hybrids and check everything for you.
 
Noob to precision shooting not the forum chief.

And the bus driver is right, I’d be pissed if one of my high dollar customs shot like shit. The difference is if I can’t get it to shoot there’s a 99.9% chance it’s not the shooter.

You need to link up with someone near by and have them look it over and give it a shot. There are a lot of variables before saying the gun “shoots like Jax shit” and when you’re a new shooter the odds are stacked against you. Hell if You’re near Manhattan KS I’ll load you up some 140 Berger hybrids and check everything for you.

Yeah im sorry youre right. I went a bit overboard with my comments. The odds are against me. Ill send it to seekins to have it looked at by the pros who actually know what they are doing.
Trust me....these guys would be crying a river if their $8k+ (enter Gucci rifle builder name here) was shooting off center. If I was able to travel sooner I'd bring my SP Havak down to GA. At worst we figure out if there is a problem, at best we share some range time.

Thanks i was a bit frustrated from some of the responses i got and went overboard when i found that they said they were supposed to include proof target.
 
Actually, I’m kind of disappointed they are not sending proof targets. For $2,200 you think they could test their product to ensure it shoots better than a $500 Remington before it goes out the door. It’s not just an accuracy issue either as the fellow with the loose barrel nut illustrated.

I’m not saying this gentlemen’s rifle is or isn’t up to snuff BUT if he had a proof target from the manufacturer with a five shot group holding 3/4 MOA or better, then the answer about whether it’s the shooter or equipment being the variable at fault would be self evident.

Call me demanding but yes when you buy a Porsche you expect the QC manager to take it for lap around the track verses when you buy a lesser car.

$2,200 is not accuracy international money, but it’s still about what I would expect as the minimum threshold for the builder to give more attention to detail than what big box manufactures would give.

Cheers!
 
After some work, this is where I’m at with my 140gr ELDM load with my Havak HP1. I’m stopping here and rolling with it. View attachment 6984415View attachment 6984416

I found another fantastic load combination for my Havak 6.5 CM after shooting 143s for a year. I switched to the 140 Berger Elite Hybrid seated .050" off the lands (~2.858" OAL) with 42.2 grains of RL16 in a Hornady case primed with a 210M. Three shots went into the same hole at 100 yards during load workup. The velocity is 2830 fps.
 
I found another fantastic load combination for my Havak 6.5 CM after shooting 143s for a year. I switched to the 140 Berger Elite Hybrid seated .050" off the lands (~2.858" OAL) with 42.2 grains of RL16 in a Hornady case primed with a 210M. Three shots went into the same hole at 100 yards during load workup. The velocity is 2830 fps.

I’ve heard good things with RL16. Once the 8# jug of H4350 is gone I might look into it.

I’m also wanting to load for 143gr ELDX for hunting. What are the odds of my 140gr ELDM load being close? (Probably zero knowing my luck)
 
I’ve heard good things with RL16. Once the 8# jug of H4350 is gone I might look into it.

I’m also wanting to load for 143gr ELDX for hunting. What are the odds of my 140gr ELDM load being close? (Probably zero knowing my luck)

Drop your charge .3 grains when you switch to the 143. Generally speaking, it's a 10 to 1 inverse relationship between bullet weight and powder charge. For every 1 grain you increase in bullet weight, you need to decrease .1 of powder charge. It's not a hard fast rule, but it will usually get you darn close.
 
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Anyone using a hard case for their storage/transport use?? How about a soft case? Seems as this stick needs a long Pelican case to fit properly and be protected. Thanks in advance for your ideas and suggestions.