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Mike Venturino


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I just read of Mike Venturino's passing from our midst.  Mike was an early competitor in cowboy action, attending several EOTs in the late 1980's.  I was fortunate enough to posse with him one year, and enjoyed many conversations about the guns and history of the old west.  I also competed with him in a couple NRA BPCR Silhouette Nationals at the Whittington center in the 1990s. While we disagreed on the direction and future of SASS, he was always my friend. His writings have touched many, and educated a lot of us on old west firearms.  He will be missed.

https://americanhandgunner.com/news/passing-contributing-editor-mike-duke-venturino/

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I had read on  another forum that he was really sick.  Essentially they sent him home a week or so ago from the hospital to pass.  Several professional gunwriters post there and it was touching to hear their stories.  RIP to a great writer.

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He will be missed. He was heavily involved in guns of the West, providing many articles and books. He was widely sourced for the Lyman Cast Bullet book. He was quite active in long range black powder matches and more recently, Mike got into WWII weapons, including automatics.

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No doubt, he will be missed.

 

Writers such as he kept my interest in the monthly gun magazines.  Enjoyed his articles.

 

Condolences to his family and close friends.

 

..........Widder

 

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I loved reading his books and articles even before I joined SASS and had a reason to bring history to my shooting hobby.   His passing will be a big loss and void.

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Back in the long ago days, Mike would venture to SO Cal for EOT. we would all go out for Chinese food together. His early writings helped increase the visibility of this sport. He had great influence for his writing for a long time. He helped the sport of Black Powder Single shot Silhouette emerge, and had a weakness for WW2 submachine guns. He called Hank Williams Jr a friend. I've visited his home on a couple of occasions. He and his lovely wife Yvonne was always gracious hosts. So very sorry to hear of his passing. Not many people like him left.

Via con Dios, Amigo. 

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A paragraph from a 2017 Handloader article.

 

"Starting in 1984 and going on for about 20 years, Yvonne and I participated in cowboy action competition. It was great fun. I got to shoot “Old West” guns to my heart’s content, and as a fine seamstress, Yvonne enjoyed making fancy clothes for us. Our favorite cartridge was .44 WCF (.44-40), although for a couple of seasons I switched Yvonne to .38 Specials. She had developed a flinch and that was the temporary cure. We still have all our .44-40s, but physical problems have caused us to drop out of the sport."

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Sad loss, Mike was a great guy and I always enjoyed our time together in person or on the phone - here we are at one of the many EoTs and here he is with Tom Sargis prepping Tom for Quigley. My heart goes out to Yvonne, Godspeed Mike.

EdMLV.jpg

Quigley.jpg

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Mike is the reason I got into SASS 34 years ago.  On our 3rd wedding anniversary Boston Lady bought me a reproduction of the 1860 Henry rifle. Then one day I was reading a gun magazine and it said the one place you could play with this gun was Cowboy Action Shooting.  So , I joined SASS and the rest is History.

 

Yankee

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So very sorry to hear this, I’ve always enjoyed anything he published but my favorite will always be “ Shooting buffalo rifles of the old west” He will be missed, prayers to Yvonne and his family. R.I.P. Mike.

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He even had a following Down Under. 

 

I often posted his video to people asking the eternal question on which C&B revolver should I buy first.

 

He will be missed.

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I learned a lot from him about loading cast bullets in Milsurp rifle cartridges, and other things as well. Very sorry to see this. RIP, Duke. And Yvonne, if you see this, I always said he married way over his head.  😊

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Sad to hear .

RIP Mike 

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So sad to hear this.  I loved all of Mikes' articles and read many of the multiple times just to make sure I drained every ounce of knowledge I could from the article.  He will be missed.  Prayers lifted up to the family.

 

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Mike was a great guy with a great personality. My wife, Honey B Quick, and I attended his Shooting Cowboy Guns of the West and black powder seminars at the SASS convention in Las Vegas. He will be sadly missed in the SASS world. Prayers up for his family. 

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1 hour ago, Irish Pat said:

what was his health problem.  I was

wondering if this was something sudden?  Irish ☘️ Pat

Mike had some heart issues.  How long I can't really say, but for some time.

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Had heart attack about 20 years ago and was left on a gurney in the emergency room

for a half hour.   Did damage to his heart.   Has suffered ever since and it was his

heart that finally quit.   This I got from the Colt wire.Has

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