Seekins Precision Havak Element

The exciting Seekins Precision range is now available in the UK, with many centrefire rifle variants for different markets. The Havak Element is a lightweight hunting rifle, but unlike many lightweight rifles, it doesn’t seem to suffer for its slender stature, and here’s why.

The construction

The Element’s spiral fluted, 21” ‘mountain hunter’ barrel draws immediate attention. The muzzle is neatly crowned and threaded 5/8”x24 for a moderator or muzzle brake, and a thread protector is included. The barrel’s matte grey Cerakote finish protects what is already a stainless-steel unit. It shows 5R rifling and the 1:11.25” twist rate provides broad versatility when it comes to bullet weights and material density. The barrel swells from 18mm at the muzzle to 30mm where it enters the action, and here is where key details start to become visible.

The receiver itself is 7075 aluminium with a stainless-steel core, which you can see as a teardrop shape on the action’s face. If you didn’t know, you would hardly notice, but this steel liner is the bridge between the two materials and gives the strength for the barrel to screw into position with a normal, threaded tenon. The gas escape holes on either side of the front action bridge also contain bright steel rims within, offering another clue to the inner material.

Externally, the action is an uneven, faceted octagonal shape that clamps into the stock’s inlet. This inlet shows a perfectly matched bedded profile with a recoil lug just ahead of the front action screw. Bedding is so rarely seen on factory rifles, which is a shame, as most rifles would benefit from the process. Modern aluminium bedding blocks and chassis systems have their place, but there is something utterly reassuring about a bedded rifle.

Bolt, trigger and feed

A Picatinny rail is machined into the receiver with a bubble level at the back. Below the action, there’s a single-stage TriggerTech unit which is adjustable from 2.5-5lbs. The deeply curved blade is 6.5mm wide, shows serrations to aid grip, and offers a crisp, predictable break.

The bolt shows a push feed face with a right-hand side extractor claw and a left-hand side sprung plunger ejector. It has four opposing lugs, so still retains a 90º lift angle. The 65mm extended handle is tipped with a neat 17mm teardrop that shows spiral fluting to match that of the bolt’s main body. The bolt head itself is steel and can be removed from the aluminium shaft that operates it. However, all pressure-bearing surfaces are steel.

If you need to swap the bolt head, then just manually de-cock and remove the firing pin by rotating the bolt shroud. The firing pin can then be withdrawn, allowing the cross pin adjacent to the bolt head to slide out, and then the head with an incorporated M16-style extractor.

The bolt release catch is on the left side of the rear action bridge, and the opposing safety catch nestles by the tang. Simply move it forward for FIRE and rear for SAFE (without bolt lock).

A 5-round AICS-compatible polymer MDT magazine slots into the aluminium bottom metal below the rifle. This presents rounds in a single column which then feed smoothly to the chamber without excessive force. Also, single rounds dropped on top of the mag will similarly feed straight to the chamber. A release catch for the magazine sits in the front of the spacious trigger guard and mags drop easily into your waiting palm. The bottom metal is firmly anchored with twin Allen screws into the action through some aluminium pillars.

Furniture

I smiled when I removed the barrelled action from the stock. This carbon composite unit is beautifully made and shows incredible stiffness. It fully free-floats the barrel and the neat action inlet caused me no concern whatsoever. Also, the front bipod stud shows a steel anchoring nut within the multiple triangular braces along the forend.

Externally, the honeycomb chequering offers great grip in all conditions, and the deep grey/green camouflage offers a kind of digital feel that’s discreet, without being militaristic. The overall shape is similar to a McMillan A3/5, but very much slimmed down in profile and mass to just 905-grams. The grip offers either a thumb-wrapped or thumb-up position, plus has an ambidextrous palm swell with some raised rectangular chequering. The comb is raised high up, with a slight rebate cut for the striker sear to run into, indicating Seekins have tried to ensure that the bore and cheekpiece are as close as possible. The slight Monte-Carlo cheekpiece drops to the rubber recoil pad, which is 27mm thick and medium firm in texture, without a slightly softer centre. It’s attached with twin screws, allowing easy removal for spacer addition if you want to add to the short length of pull (13.25”).

Thoughts

Weight saving is an interesting topic, as it can easily be just a marketing goal that leads to a light rifle that’s quite awful to shoot. I must admit that ergonomically, the Element seemed very small, and I thought it would be too petite and delicate to hold on to. I shot it without a moderator just to provoke heavier recoil characteristics and must admit that it was lively, but it was not uncomfortable or unmanageable at all. Like the length of pull, the grip is quite small, but on a hunting rifle, you can live with it. In fairness, the mechanics are reliable and the rifle offers commendable accuracy and precision. I’d like to see Seekins offer stock spacers for this rifle, but otherwise, I think they have used modern manufacturing precision wisely, combining materials idealized for weight saving and strength exactly where needed.

This rifle is not just another Remington 700 clone, as the bolt lift is fast and smooth, plus feed, firing, and ejection are all reliable. The aluminium action/bolt is almost unnoticeable, with surface coatings and fluting to aid transit. Plus, it has not been made so tight that it can be easily jammed.

The balance is central without any muzzle accessories, and although it is lively, it handles and transfers the recoil very evenly through the recoil pad. Also, there is minimal muzzle jump, which I attribute to the bore line and stock layout.

On target

The rifle didn’t seem particularly ammunition fussy, with three of the four samples easily beating the MOA goal (including non-toxic options). I pushed the gun hard in a short time to get the barrel quite hot, and I was pleased to find that there was no point of impact shift.

The forend is stiff, so there were no issues with barrel contact. Similarly, it provides plenty of space to hold onto it without placing fingers or thumbs in contact with the barrel, which, incidentally, has clearly been very well rifled and heat treated. 5R barrels clean easily and the short length still produced good velocities.

The stock shows QD sling anchor points and no bothersome harmonics vibrated through it during shooting. Plus, when handled, it wasn’t noisy if bumped or knocked. The finish is grippy and attractive, and the rifle combines some of the looks of a precision varminter, without the cumbersome nature.

Conclusion

The Element is an impressive rifle, as it achieves its goal of being lightweight, without sacrificing any accuracy or usability. Plus, yet again, proper action bedding really shows its benefits. Also, although it is a small, lightweight rifle, its handling manners are superb. While I suspect the larger .300 calibres would really need the buyer to address gun fit carefully, this rifle chambered in 6.5 PRC would make for a really attractive lightweight hunting rifle that would be a joy to carry, even though it is on the slightly small side for ultimate comfort. Although it’s not an all-day range rifle, it’s agreeably accurate with a barrel that shows stable thermal properties, too.