Seekins tough enough?

[Car Ramrod]

Curious on the thoughts from someone who may have personal experience. Are Seekins made well enough for the backcountry of Montana? The reason I ask, is because in 2019 on a backpack hunt, 8 miles deep, I witnessed my buddies rifle “fail” on him with the scope becoming loose on the rail from scope rings constricting from the cold weather and the bolt becoming very sticky. Lows at night were right at zero.I can’t remember the brand of the rifle but it wasn’t by any means a higher end model of anything. That’s stuck in the back of mind my since and question production rifles for the most part expect for a few brands.

I like what Seekins seems to be producing without ever handling one. The element hunter in a 6mm checks all the boxes for me but would you or have you trusted it ??

 

[nobody]

No idea on the Seekins, so I can’t help there. But the story of your buddy sounds more like a failure to mount the optic properly than an all out rifle failure. The sticky bolt was likely from an over oiled action that gummed up in the cold as the oil congealed as well as likely the dust mixing with the oil causing issues.

Oil minimally, if at all, and mount your optic with thread locker at ALL joints, as well as your action screws. At that point your worry will need to turn to trigger reliability in inclement conditions (I’m inclined to lean against Seekins here since they use 700 based triggers, pointing to higher potential for failures), and scope failures.

 

[bmart2622]

My kids has been packed around in a scabbard literally 100s of miles in the mountains of MT over the last couple years and we've never had an issue. Right out of the box there was an issue with the mag not feeding consistently, 1 call to Seekins and a new one was sent out and no issues since. Id definitely buy another one

 

[NevadaMike]

I have packed a Seekins Element is some pretty rough parts of Alaska. It has been on boats, planes, soaking wet and frozen. Seekins is my go to.

 

[MuleyFever]

Your buddies rifle didn't fail. He didn't mount the scope system properly and probably had excess grease on the bolt.

 

[wind gypsy]

Your buddies rifle didn't fail. He didn't mount the scope system properly and probably had excess grease on the bolt.

^this.

But also, I’d have less confidence in a seekins element than most other bolt actions on the reliability front.

 

[davsco]

don't have a seekins (i'm a lefty..,) but i don't think i have ever heard a bad word about them. and yeah, the "failure" seems to be a mis-mounted scope and excessive lube.

 

[Weldor]

Had the 6cm Element, did not have any issues from 100 degrees to the teens. Did some rear seat time always held zero. I really like the rifle, but they don't make a 280 AI.

 

[Pilsner]

Seekins CAN make a durable rifle. Their SP10M is an issue sniper platform for the US Army's JSOC unit. If they can make a durable and accurate gas gun then I'd trust their bolt guns for certain.

 

[Oafdeputy]

You can’t go wrong with a seekins. Amazing rifles.

 

[Kdkempe]

I have a Seekins PH2. Used it in Colorado for third rifle elk season and had no issues with it cycling in about 20 degree temperatures without wind chill. Overall a great firearm in my opinion. Zero issues so far. The issue with the scope seems to be a mounting issue and not a gun issue. A drop of Loctite on the screws will help mitigate issues with the scope loosening

 

[coachmks]

I have a PH2 in 300 WinMag and a new Element M3 in 6.5PRC. The PH2 has been flawless. I have only had the 6.5 a couple of months. The 6.5 shoots half inch groups all day but I am having issues with the magazine that came with the 6.5. The problem I am personally seeing with Seekins is customer service is severely lacking compared to a year ago. I guess they are getting more popular and selling more product. I know they are probably very busy. Maybe that’s why it has been impossibke to get someone to answer a phone call and very hard to get someone to respond in a timely manner on emails. I’ve recently had technical questions on both rifles and questions about my 6.5 magazine and cannot seem to get answers. Like others stated, scope mount problems and sticky bolts in cold weather is due to user error, not rifle error.

 

[OneMore]

Mine fell out of a treestand 20’+ and never missed a beat. Also got very grimy over the past few months and still feels great. I’ve bee impressed with it.