IN PORTRAIT:
Patrick Kummer
GECO IPSC Team Shooter
Patrick Kummer, Germany
Born 26 June 1985 in Nuremberg, IPSC/Action top shooter Patrick Kummer is mainly active in the private sector security industry and has now been running www.atlas-taktik.de for ten years, a legendary online shop in the world of firearms. The family appears to have inherited the IPSC gene, as his brother Steven is also an outstanding marksman.
Patrick Kummer is a versatile shooter who is a dab hand with all types of firearms, as evidenced, for example, by his title of German 3-Gun Champion 2020. This is a dynamic competition with stages for rifles, shotguns and handguns. He has won the German IPSC Championship on multiple occasions in different classes, including the Classic and Production Division. In the Production Division, he currently shoots an extra-heavy CZ A01-LD in 9mm Luger from the US CZ Custom Shop run by his friend Angus Hobdell, a top IPSC shooter originally from England. His preferred gun in the Classic Division is the Model 1911 Perfect Classic in 9mm Luger made by master gunsmith Karl Prommersberger from STP (Sport Target Pistol) in southern Germany. His 2011 Black Major in .40 Smith & Wesson is built by the same experts.
He feeds his 9 mm pistols and the 3G-Sports 3G-TEC9 – aka Quarter Circle 10 carbine in 9mm Luger – with GECO 124-grain FMJ ammunition for the IPSC PCC discipline. The magazines for the .40 pistol are loaded with GECO 180-grain FMJ/flat nose ammo. He uses an STI-AR-15 semi-automatic rifle chambered in .223 Remington and GECO FMJ ammunition with 63 grains in the 3-Gun or IPSC Rifle Open Division. Patrick relies on his Benelli M2 self-loading shotgun in 12/70 with Rottweil 28-gram Sport or GECO 29-gram Sport ammunition for 3-Gun and IPSC Shotgun competitions.
"To compete on the world stage, I also had to switch to the Open Division and use an SVI Infinity Firearms Race Gun in .38 Super Auto. I had shot around 7,000 rounds beforehand, but missed ('miked') the disc 29 times without repeating during the match and even hit a penalty target, which meant an additional point deducted. This competition has remained firmly lodged in my memory, so I can recollect all the sequences during the stage and the number of steps, even 18 years later!", Patrick says.
Quick-fire interview with Patrick Kummer – 10 questions, 10 answers:
1. What introduced you to sport shooting?
It was my father who gradually introduced me to shooting when I was 13.
2. When did you start?
I became involved in sport shooting in 1998 and had completed my SuRT (safety and rules test) for IPSC handgun shooting by October 2000.
3. What was the very first gun you owned?
A Para-Ordnance P18-9 in 9mm Luger. It was all the rage at the time, a 1911 pistol with chunky frame for double-stack magazines.
4. What have been your biggest successes?
Winning the Shoot Off final at the 2013 European Championships in Portugal and the European Championship team title in the Classic Division at the next 2016 European Championships in Hungary.
5. Can you describe a typical day of practice?
I practice twice a week, although I up the frequency before bigger matches. Now and again, I also complete particularly intensive, additional sessions with around 500 rounds, in which I work on just one particular skill. For instance, I might shoot a whole session only with my stronger right hand or weaker left hand, aiming either at long-range targets or practising movement.
6. How much ammunition do you use up each year for practice and competitions?
A rough guess would be 30,000 rounds.
7. Which firearms are you currently using?
IPSC Production Division: CZC A01-LD
IPSC Standard Division: STP 2011 Black Major
IPSC Classic Division: STP 1911 Perfect Classic
IPSC PCC: 3G-Sports 3G-TEC9
IPSC Rifle: STI AR-15
IPSC Shotgun: Benelli M2
8. What aspects of the ammunition really matter to you?
I’m a little different here, compared to my peers. I shoot a lot of hard, hand-loaded ammunition in practice, but in competitions I only use GECO factory ammunition because of its softer shooting characteristics and high functional reliability.
9. Do you wind down with other sports/hobbies aside from sport shooting?
I focus entirely on sport shooting, because I simply don’t have the time next to my profession.
10. What advice would you give to a novice shooter?
Never forget or neglect the basic techniques of accurate shooting. After all, IPSC is all about precision at high speed, nothing else. That’s why the following aspects are also or especially essential here: the right stance, shooting position and grip, as well as precise control of the trigger and sight picture.
Thank you, Patrick!
