Seekins Havak PH2 or Tikka Roughtec

[LONE HUNTER]

Eurooptic has both on sale right now. I was thinking of setting up a 6.5 PRC just because I want to. Which rifle would you pick and why between these two?

 

[hereinaz]

Always the Seekins for me. All the ones I have seen are shooters and are nice to shoot. Nothing needed to upgrade. The customer service and rifles are solid. Can't go wrong with either though.

 

[TX4ever]

I was debating between Tikka, Seekins and Sako and few weeks ago. Ended up paying more and going with the Seekins mostly for aesthetics and their lifetime transferable warranty. Really like it so far but this is before the Roughtechs went on sale and probably would have saved a few bucks and went that route. Don't think you can go wrong with either

 

[Halligan]

I’m in the exact same predicament right now. Having handled both, the question is, do you like the stock on the seekins, if not, then go tikka and get the stock you want for the same scratch.

The only other consideration I’ve been pondering is due to @Formidilosus bringing up, the reliability rem 700 pattern trigger systems in rough conditions. But I’ll let him elaborate on the severity, cause, and possible fixes, as I’m unsure as to what triggers are affected/if trigger techs suffer the same problems.

To Form: saw an interesting point made about the trigger tech in the seekins, apparently the pull weight decreases with cold temp. Happen to know any background not this?

 

[LONE HUNTER]

I’m in the exact same predicament right now. Having handled both, the question is, do you like the stock on the seekins, if not, then go tikka and get the stock you want for the same scratch.

The only other consideration I’ve been pondering is due to @Formidilosus bringing up, the reliability rem 700 pattern trigger systems in rough conditions. But I’ll let him elaborate on the severity, cause, and possible fixes, as I’m unsure as to what triggers are affected/if trigger techs suffer the same problems.

To Form: saw an interesting point made about the trigger tech in the seekins, apparently the pull weight decreases with cold temp. Happen to know any background not this?

I DMed him earlier and his response was that the seekins work fine but are plagued with the same issues all other R700 platform rifles are. He recommended a Tikka.

 

[Mtank79]

I was hoping to have already purchased a rifle but life happens. I’m between the ph2, element & CA ridgeline FFT in 6.5 prc. In case I don’t like the seekins stock I’ve already reached out to two different stock companies that both say no to seekins support. I was told seekins was proprietary & they couldn’t make for them but I watched a video from the longgunner on YouTube last night that the ph2 would fit in a rem 700 stock but the element would not.

 

[LONE HUNTER]

longgunner on YouTube last night that the ph2 would fit in a rem 700 stock but the element would not

The PH2 could still need some inletting, but likely not drastic. Personally I don't like the steel barrel adapter and aluminum action on the element. It probably works fine, but it's just an extra failure point in my mind. I have a couple Christensen's. Both just standard Mesas. One in 6.5 CM and one in 7mm RM. The 6.5 has been a solid rifle. Abused a fair amount and has taken half a dozen deer. The 7mm has always been less accurate for whatever reason...... I don't know, Christensen appears to be so hit or miss with their quality. Granted I'm sure most of the awesome rifles they've produced no one ever says anything about. Always hear the horror stories because those people have an axe to grind and the motivation to make it known.

 

[Mtank79]

The PH2 could still need some inletting, but likely not drastic. Personally I don't like the steel barrel adapter and aluminum action on the element. It probably works fine, but it's just an extra failure point in my mind. I have a couple Christensen's. Both just standard Mesas. One in 6.5 CM and one in 7mm RM. The 6.5 has been a solid rifle. Abused a fair amount and has taken half a dozen deer. The 7mm has always been less accurate for whatever reason...... I don't know, Christensen appears to be so hit or miss with their quality. Granted I'm sure most of the awesome rifles they've produced no one ever says anything about. Always hear the horror stories because those people have an axe to grind and the motivation to make it known.

Yes based on stories I’ve read here I’ve got to play the lotto. My 6.5 prc ridgeline was awesome, my 7 prc ridgeline is great, I’ve got to Leupolds that’s never failed. I think I like the ph2 a little better over the element. I had decided on swaro x5i scope if I went element or FFT.

 

[ReddingArcher]

I shot a buddies PH2 in 6.5 prc quite a bit. I wanted a Seekins prior to shooting his. The one thing I really didn’t like is the huge palm swell on the Seekins. I’ve got big hands and it still wasn’t real comfortable for me. Maybe I could get used that but I’d rather stick with my tikkas that I know are comfortable.

 

[Halky010]

Seekins all day. 4 Tikkas and a PH2. Seekins is another level.

 

[Halligan]

I DMed him earlier and his response was that the seekins work fine but are plagued with the same issues all other R700 platform rifles are. He recommended a Tikka.

I hear ya, I guess what I was getting at is exactly how severe the issues are, which was prompted by a conversation with a smith the other day. In his experience, he had found that most of the issues were related to use of improper Lubricants/improper maintenance which got my gears turning. Thus, if this was true, maybe there would be a workaround to make the trigger topic a non issue.

 

[LONE HUNTER]

I hear ya, I guess what I was getting at is exactly how severe the issues are, which was prompted by a conversation with a smith the other day. In his experience, he had found that most of the issues were related to use of improper Lubricants/improper maintenance which got my gears turning. Thus, if this was true, maybe there would be a workaround to make the trigger topic a non issue.

Don't the Seekins use trigger tech? I am not aware of issues with trigger tech triggers..... granted I also haven't really looked into it.

Yeah I am wondering as well what issues he was referring to. I have pretty much used the R700 platform my entire hunting career and they do have some issues but apart from the trigger safety issue that tanked Remington, none of the other problems I haven't been able to deal with or weren't my fault to begin with......The R700 clones in my opinion have fixed a lot of the main gripes of the legacy R700, such as trigger safety, bolt release, extractor etc.

 

[Mtank79]

Don't the Seekins use trigger tech? I am not aware of issues with trigger tech triggers..... granted I also haven't really looked into it.

Yeah I am wondering as well what issues he was referring to. I have pretty much used the R700 platform my entire hunting career and they do have some issues but apart from the trigger safety issue that tanked Remington, none of the other problems I haven't been able to deal with or weren't my fault to begin with......The R700 clones in my opinion have fixed a lot of the main gripes of the legacy R700, such as trigger safety, bolt release, extractor etc.

Yes they switched from Timney to trigger tech not sure which one but would guess either the primary or special.

 

[Halligan]

I’ve wondered the same, as the only weird thing I’ve heard about trigger tech is the temp based change is pull weight, but that was single source.
Additionally, the smith mentioned it also depended on generation of the design.

At the end of day, it presents enough ambiguity that going tikka feels less prone to paranoia lol

 

[wind gypsy]

There are countless stories of trigger tech failures just like most other m700 triggers if you go looking. Lots on the hide in particular.

 

[LONE HUNTER]

There are countless stories of trigger tech failures just like most other m700 triggers if you go looking. Lots on the hide in particular.

That mucho sucks.

 

[wind gypsy]

That mucho sucks.

To be fair, some of it is poor fit to the actions and it seems the real light weight pull comp gun triggers are more issue prone, but not all.

 

[Jmort1754]

My element has timney but it is 2 years old.

 

[SloppyJ]

Here's the deal, are r700 triggers less reliable than a tikka? Yes, at least I have no reason to doubt that they are.

I own both and I've yet to have a trigger failure on either. I think there are plenty of r700 owners that have never experienced a failure. I'm not niave enough to think it could never happen to me though. It's a risk im willing to take based on all of the aftermarket parts compatibility and the used market for R700 footprint stuff. From what I've heard, it seems that freezing is the main issue. If the potential of that scares you, then go Tikka.

With that said, the two rifles you selected are like comparing apples and oranges. The seekins is decked out more like a custom rifle and the tikka isn't.

Currently I only own a .223 Tikka. If I were to get another, I would buy the cheapest one I could find with the proper bolt head I needed. From there I would rebarrel, buy a new stock, and bed it. I dont think you can do all of that for the price of the Seekins. Although if you find good used parts it could be close. Personally I do not care for the oem Tikka stock so that's an upgrade for sure for me.

The other and extremely viable option is to get a new stock but reuse the Tikka barrel. You can get it cut and threaded for around $150 if you'll be suppressing it. You could do this for likely the same price of the seekins if you get a standard model Tikka.

If the Roughtech checks all of the boxes for you then have at it! It should be a bit cheaper than the seekins and you can put that cash into a good optic and more ammo. I don't think you can go wrong with either man.