Standing has long been considered one of the hardest, if not the hardest, shooting position. Firing without a shooting jacket makes this even more difficult. Seventeen-year-old silhouette champion Blake Meixel has already proven he’s not only up to the challenge, but inspired by it.
Blake competes with his brother Beau in several rifle silhouette disciplines: lever action, pistol cartridge lever action, smallbore lever action, smallbore standard, smallbore hunter, high power standard and high power hunter. Besides the guns used, the difference between these disciplines comes down to the distance and sizes of the steel chickens, pigs, turkeys and rams fired upon. Standing is not optional.
His home range is Consolidated Sportsmen of Lycoming County, though he also spends a considerable amount of time at Ridgway Rifle Club, the unofficial U.S. capital of Silhouette shooting. Though he enjoys it all, his favorite sport is high power, due to its unique challenges and long history.
Blake shot his first Silhouette match at 13 but says he didn’t take it seriously until a year later — still much earlier than most shooters begin competing. His family exposed him to firearms long before this, but he cannot remember many of the details. He says shooting started with his first Nerf gun and BB gun and progressed to a .22 Crickett rifle from his grandfather when he was in elementary school.
Silhouette is a Meixel family tradition. Not only does Blake compete with his younger brother Beau, but both boys hail from a long family line of silhouette shooters. “My whole family on my mother's side was involved in rifle Silhouette back in the late 80s-2000s which is why they always wanted the grandkids to get involved with hunting and shooting,” Blake explained. “My grandfather on my mother's side wanted to wait till me and my brother were 12 and 13, so we had the right amount of strength to hold a rifle and shoot a Silhouette match.” Blake’s father had a different approach, wanting them to start building the proper muscles for shooting and good marksmanship habits as early as possible.
Competitive marksmanship has better prepared Blake for everyday life than he ever could have expected. Shooting well has forced him to learn self-discipline and mental management. “Getting involved at 13 as a young man,” Blake said, “I had my own struggles with self-immaturity — just being a teenager. Shooting has taught me how to handle stressful situations and that when things just do not go your way to just suck it up and say, 'it is what it is', and be happy for the individual that had a better day then you did. It helps grow your character and make you a better shooter than you were a day ago because now you know how to face those issues.”
The community also fosters respect and camaraderie. Though the sport is competitive, no one wants to beat anyone by default. For example, if someone has an equipment malfunction, most are happy to help however they can. Even more are willing to coach and mentor new shooters. Regardless of discipline, Blake encourages shooters to surround themselves with knowledgeable people who want to help and see others succeed.
“Ask the questions that you may think are stupid because it helps you grow and learn more as a shooter,” said Blake. “Also, when it comes to practice, I know you may want to go out and shoot hundreds of rounds until you get it right, but all you are doing is building bad habits. Make practice not about quantity, but more about quality.”
Blake has earned his master classification in each of his disciplines, placing him among the best of the best in the sport. At 16 years old, he was one of the youngest to win the Pennsylvania State High Power Championship, putting his name alongside some of Silhouette’s greatest talents. This included several of Blake’s “idols,” — Derek Greenaway, Luke Johnson and Kenneth Haupricht — all of whom have won an NRA national championship.
“What made States so special for me was the shoot-off," said Blake. "I did not know I had tied for the PA state championship two-gun aggregate.” Blake didn’t succumb to the pressure and claimed the 2023 grand aggregate title in addition to the standard title. He also won the 2023 Pennsylvania State Smallbore Standard Championship.
Success isn’t new to Blake. He holds 23 national records including the intermediate junior national long run record in high power standard turkeys (13), intermediate junior national long run record in high power hunter pigs (19), and national intermediate junior long run record in high power hunter chickens (21). Blake also holds the junior national aggregate pistol cartridge lever action record: 39 out of 40. This year Blake expanded far beyond the junior category. Blake won the Sierra Classic High Power Standard Rifle and High Power Hunter Regional, beating several big names. During the 2024 NRA National Silhouette Championships held in Ridgway, Pennsylvania, Blake claimed the first high power standard match with a score of 34/40.
The same score on day two earned him second place. Day three’s 29 pushed him out of the top three, but he still took high junior in the standard aggregate, a feat he repeated in high power hunter to claim top junior in the high power grand aggregate, only two points under third place. Blake also placed high junior in the third match of the smallbore hunter championship, this final score earning him second open in the aggregate under fellow junior and previously-featured rising shooting star Jake Stine. Stine claimed the national championship in the smallbore grand aggregate with a score of 217. Blake followed in second place with a 210. The Meixel brothers teamed up with Wally Howard to claim third open team in the smallbore standard team championship and second open team in the smallbore hunter team championship.
Blake is grateful to his family and mentors as well as the sponsors who make it possible for him to compete and do well: Sierra Bullets, Brux Barrels, TriggerTech, Alpha Munitions, Pacific Tool and Gauge, Buffalo Valley Gunsmithing and BA Meixel. All of Blake’s rifles are masterpieces by Buffalo Valley Gunsmithing. For high power, he shoots either a 6mm BR or a 6.5 BR, both with Brux Barrels, TriggerTech Diamond two-stage triggers and Pacific Tool & Gauge Actions. He loads Sierra Bullets over Vihtavuori Powder in Alpha Munitions Brass. The 6mm BR is equipped with a Leupold 6-18x40, the 6.5mm BR with a Leupold BR 24x. Blake’s smallbore rifle is set up very similarly to his high power guns with the same trigger, as well as a Brux barrel and Pacific Tool and Gauge rimfire action.
This young man is not only incredibly successful but wise beyond his years, grateful for the opportunities he has had early on, and cognizant of how shooting has shaped his life.
“Outside of shooting I am a brother, a son, a grandson and a 17-year-old trying to grow as a person and help people as I was helped out by many people including my coach and fellow Sierra team member Alan Foust. Al has helped me take my basic knowledge in shooting and turned me into the shooter I am today along with seeing how shooting can make me and has made me a better person. I also thank my grandparents Matthew and Yvonne Neiswonger and my parents Zach and Nikol Meixel for giving me their support and getting me involved in shooting. I could not have asked for a better upbringing from you all. Then to my brother Beau Meixel, thank you for keeping me motivated as a shooter when I'm down and when I shoot a lower score you come right back and show them how one of us may have a setback but the other one lifts us up as a team.”
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