Infinity Open 2023 – Many international top shooters competed in the 20th anniversary of the German Level III match in Philippsburg. Match report, backgrounds, results!

The ease with which the team around Patrick Kummer and Jürgen Öffner runs the match every year almost makes you forget what a major organizational effort is behind a competition of this size.

© Marijan Loch

This magnificent custom firearm from Texas-based fine gunmaker Infinity Firearms was raffled off to all participants in the 2023 Infinity Open.

Not without reason, the annual Infinity Open in Philippsburg, Germany, has become a must-attend event for many top-class IPSC shooters from all over Europe. But also outside Europe the match has meanwhile its loyal followers, so that participants were sighted among other things from Israel, Macao or China. Once again this year, countless top European shooters graced the match organizers with their presence and sought out the challenge with the competition. A perfect preparation for the upcoming IPSC European Championship in Corinth, Greece, in September this year. Among others, illustrious names such as Eric Grauffel, Martin Kamenicek, Robin Sebo or Giacomo Bolzoni were on the starting list. And, of course, everything that has rank and name in Germany could not be missing at this top-class match. It is therefore not particularly surprising that the match was once again fully booked in record time. The online registration platform server was stretched to its limits and a second match could have been organized with the shooters on the waiting list alone. 

Group photo of Squad 4, in which our all4shooters.com author team Tanja and Marijan Loch (4th and 2nd from the right) together with match director and GECO team shooter Patrick Kummer (center back) and record World/European Champion Eric Grauffel (squatting) from France were allowed to compete in the Infinity Open 2023.

Infinity Open 2023 20th anniversary – IPSC shooters had to complete challenging drills. This is how the stages were in detail

What Patrick Kummer and his setup team conjure up year after year at the Infinity Open at the Philippsburg range can only be described as pure IPSC pleasure. On the total of 20 stages of this year's anniversary edition, there was just about everything that makes the heart of an IPSC shooter beat faster and makes this sport so incredibly attractive. Whether it is the quick change from groups of targets to be shot at to small steel drop targets or to targets partly concealed by penalty targets – which requires the highest degree of accuracy - or whether it is the running paths designed for complex changes of direction. The Infinity Open offers all this and much more. For example, numerous stages were peppered with moving target setups, which at times required not only a quick trigger finger, but above all a great deal of tactical skill in order to determine the optimal target sequence. If you misjudge, you'll lose a handful of match points in no time. 

© Marijan Loch

This competitor competed with a Beretta 92X Performance in the IPSC Production class at the Infinity Open 2023.

Stage 3, a medium course with 24 shots, is just one example. In this course, three targets (so-called movers) as well as an ascending and descending target (known as a pop-up target in IPSC jargon) awaited the participants. Two of the movers moved together from the shooter's point of view from left to right, while the third mover moved away from the shooter's point of view. This not only increased the distance, but also continuously changed the angle to the target due to the shooting position being shifted to the side. However, hitting these three targets was not the challenge, but rather a question of which and how many other targets could be shot at beforehand. This was because the movers were each triggered by large steel drop targets (IPSC poppers), and valuable time elapsed between the steel target falling over, the associated release of the moving target, and its appearance in the shooter's field of view. And IPSC shooters like to use this "waiting time" for other things – such as shooting at other targets. In the end, the following tactic turned out to be the best way: when the shooter reached the firing position, the steel activator target was fired at first, followed by another IPSC popper and the pop-up target, before the two movers moving in the transverse direction were each given two scoring hits. So as you can see, IPSC shooting is much more than just shooting. Reading stages, recognizing options, weighing different solutions and adjusting to ever-changing problems – because hardly any two IPSC stages are alike – are among the skills that a successful IPSC shooter must master at the top of his or her game. And demanding matches like the Infinity Open are characterized by the fact that they challenge the participants in this area as well. So if you want to take on the real challenges of IPSC shooting, you should take part in the Infinity Open.  

Results of Infinity Open 2023: how did Eric Grauffel, Martin Kamenicek, Robin Sebo and Giacomo Bolzoni rank?

© Marijan Loch

Eric Grauffel: the 9-time World Champion is still checking the intermediate results here, but in the end he is once again clearly ahead in the Production Division at the Infinity Open 2023. Congratulations!

Now we come to the results and what we can say is that in no division there was a surprise regarding the top placements. This of course applies above all to the Production Division, in which Eric Grauffel competes. Only recently, the exceptional shooter received a plush goat as his mascot at the French Championships, and the reason for this is quickly found: “Goat” is often used as an acronym for "Greatest of all Times". And even if at this year's Infinity Open it seemed for a while that the 9-time World Champion would fall behind his immediate competitors in the form of Michal Stepan or Miguel Ramos, and Grauffel had to struggle with one or two misses or an unusually large number of re-shots, in the end he was able to win again with a margin of 3.6% or 66.22 match points against the Czech Stepan and the Portuguese Ramos, who was 8.4% and thus 154.15 match points behind the Frenchman. For the sake of completeness, it should be mentioned that with 113 starters, most of the participants were in the Production Division. But watch out! Despite being the youngest IPSC division, the Production Optics Division is hot on its heels and is becoming a new favorite among shooters. With 90 starters, it has clearly left the Open (74 starters), Classic (29 starters) and Revolver (16 starters) behind. Only in the Standard Division did two more shooters start, making a total of 92. Similar to Grauffel, the participation of the reigning European Champion Martin Kamenicek meant that Kenner was only able to fight for second place in the Production Optics Division. The Dutchman Dylan Keppel is currently attracting attention with various top placings in European matches. But in the end, the experienced Kamenicek from the Philippsburg shooting range pulled ahead and had relegated Keppel to 2nd place with 97.19% and his compatriot Zappletal to 3rd place with 94.37%. In the already mentioned Standard Division the Italian Giacomo Bolzoni won ahead of the Swiss Gregory Midgley and the Czech Zdenek Liehne. The top 5 of all divisions and categories can be found below in our tables and the complete results (including the stage results) under this link in the IPSC match calendar.

Infinity Open 2023: the top 5 placements of all divisions and all categories

Important information on the legally compliant transport of firearms and ammunition for shooters traveling from other EU countries to IPSC competitions in or through Germany

Finally, we must unfortunately address an unfortunate incident that occurred in the run-up to the match, which prompted us to say a few words regarding the legally compliant  transport of weapons and ammunition. What specifically happened? Two participants from other European countries were stopped and checked by the police while driving to the competition near Füssen in the Ostallgäu district. According to a report on www.welt.de, the firearms had been transported in unlocked pistol cases and cloth bags in a backpack. The police officers took this as an opportunity to seize the guns. The men "had shown European firearms passports, but had not obtained the necessary proof from the competent firearms authority for the transport" (source: https://www.welt.de/regionales/bayern/article245646228/Polizei-stellt-4-Pistolen-und-1200-Patronen-in-Auto-sicher.html).

But is a proof of the competent firearms authority really necessary? When studying the German laws and customs legislation, we came across the following regulation: "In the case of hunters, sport shooters and traditional shooters, a European firearms pass is sufficient for transporting firearms and ammunition to another Member State or from another Member State to or through Germany, provided that the other requirements listed in Section 32 (3) of the Weapons Act (WaffG) are met. However, the reason for transporting the firearm, e.g. invitation or participant card in the competition, must be proven." (Source: https://www.zoll.de/DE/Privatpersonen/Reisen/Reisen-innerhalb-der-EU/Einschraenkungen/Waffen-und-Munition/waffen-und-munition_node.html). Incidentally, this also applies, for example, to the participants in this year's IPSC European Championship in Corinth. On this official organizer website you can download the competition invitation (Letter of Invitation). There you will also find further information about the Greek gun laws. Because other EU countries have different legal bases for firearms possession and transport.

What else applies to the transport of sports equipment in or through the area of application of the German gun law? Article 12 para. 3 no. 2 of WaffG states that you do not need a (further) permit to transport a firearm if you "transport it from one place to another not ready to fire and not ready to access, provided that the transport of the firearm is for a purpose covered by need or in connection with it". 

Text: Tanja und Marijan Loch