World F-Open Champion’s 7mm RSAUM Rifles by S&S Precision

American Kenny Adams is the new F-Open World Champion, winning the individual title last week at Raton, New Mexico. ‘King Kenny’ rose to the top through with skill, countless days of practice, and great determination. He put in the trigger time, including many long days at Raton. But when we cornered Kenny after his win at the Worlds he was quick to give credit to his gunsmith, Stick Starks of S&S Precision Rifles in Texas.

Kenny told us: “I want to thank my gunsmith, Stick Starks from S&S — he got me going in this thing in the right direction four and a half years ago. Working with Stick has probably shaved a couple of YEARS off my learning curve.” Kenny’s world-beating rifle features a Panda F-Class action placed in a Robertson F-Class stock. The Krieger barrel is chambered for the 7mm RSAUM.

Kenny Has Four Red F-Class Rifles All By S&S
What’s interesting is that Stick Starks made Kenny three other F-Class rigs, all with red Robertson stocks and Panda F-Class actions. So, counting the championship 7mm RSAUM, Kenny owns a fleet of four fire-engine-red F-Class rigs, all built by Stick at S&S. These three other red rifles were originally chambered in 6.5-284, 6mmBR, and 6.5×47, but Kenny switches barrels (and chamberings) to suit the venue and course of fire. In Raton, Kenny had two (2) of the red rifles chambered in 7mm RSAUM and two (2) chambered for the .284 Winchester. However, in the Individual World Championship he shot just one rifle, a 7mm RSAUM (shown below). He used the second 7mm RSAUM-chambered rifle in the F-Open Team Championship. This second RSAUM (used for team shooting) is the one pictured above, but his other RSAUM is identical in all respects. He did not shoot either .284 Win during the Worlds.

Kenny’s World-Beating 7mm RSAUM Load
For his 7mm RSAUMs Kenny loads Hodgdon H4350 powder and Federal 215m primers into Nosler or Norma RSAUM brass. In the RSAUM he runs Berger 180gr Hybrid bullets seated “just touching” the lands. For his .284 Winchester-chambered rifles he loads necked-up Lapua 6.5-284 brass with 180gr Hybrids pushed by H4831sc powder and Federal 210m primers. Interestingly, he is very precise with his charge weights. Using a Sartorius Magnetic Force Restoration scale, Kenny tries to hold his powder charges to within 1-2 kernels charge-weight consistency.

While Kenny praised S&S for building great rifles, Stick is quick to say that Kenny deserves the credit: “He’s the man that pulled the trigger. He’s the man that beat the world. You can’t believe how dedicated Kenny is to his sport. He spends so much time shooting and practicing — true dedication. Kenny hung in there, never gave up, did the best a man can hope to do. Yeah you have to have good equipment, but you do have to have dedication in this sport. Buy the best equipment you can and the rest is up to you — learning how to read conditions. That’s all there is to it.”

S&S Can Build You a ‘Kenny Clone’ for $3800.00
By the way, if you want a gun just like Kenny’s, Stick told us: “I’ve got barrels, Panda F-Class actions, and I have one last Robertson F-Class stock left. Just one — these aren’t made any more you know. A complete build, with barrel of your choosing and Jewell trigger, will be about $3800.00.”

S&S Precision Rifles is a leading gunsmithing operation based in Argyle, Texas. Stick Starks and the crew at S&S build very accurate rifles, that also exhibit superb craftsmanship. While S&S built a championship-winning F-Open gun for Kenny, they can also built short-range benchrest rigs, as well as varmint and hunting rifles — all with hallmark S&S quality. S&S can handle every aspect of gunsmithing — chambering, bedding, even stock-painting.

In the video above, the folks at S&S put together some tack-drivers for their customers. There are some nice glimpses of bedding work, and barrel finishing. Watch carefully — at the 40-second mark you’ll see a sub-1/4″, 10-shot group that S&S co-owner “Stick” Starks shot at 200 yards with his 6.5×47 Lapua rifle. That’s serious accuracy. Half-way through the video, Stick offers advice for shooters looking for a super-accurate fun gun for club shoots: “If you want to shoot [at] 100 and 200 yards, I’d get me a 6BR or a 30 BR. It would be the most fun gun you ever had… and the barrel will probably last three or four thousand rounds.” If you want a gun to shoot at primarily 500-600 yards, Stick recommends the 6.5×47 Lapua chambering: “Run it with the Berger 130s and Hodgdon H4350 powder. That H4350 works great with the 130 Bergers.”