Remembering Michael L. Venturino

On June 7th, 2024, Yvonne Venturino lost a loving husband, the shooting world lost an exceptional gun writer, and Sheryll and I lost a good friend. Mike “Duke” Venturino passed away after a long battle with a heart condition; he was 75 years old.

I don’t think there is anyone shooting a black powder cartridge rifle today that has not at least heard of Mike Venturino. Given his outgoing and friendly nature, many of those shooters knew him personally. To say that he was a driving force in the sport of BPCR Silhouette is an understatement; promoting the sport was almost a life mission for Mike. There absolutely would not be The Black Powder Cartridge News magazine today, had it not been for his enthusiasm for the sport and the desire to disseminate reliable information about black powder cartridge shooting – BPCR Silhouette competition in particular.  His numerous magazine articles and books on the subject have been a reliable source of “take it to the bank” information for years and have measurably increased interest in the black powder cartridge shooting sports.

Mike was a seasoned and successful competitor in the BPCR Silhouette game, having participated in the first experimental match held in Raton, New Mexico in 1985, at the now famous Whittington Center. I well remember his excited phone call when he returned home from that match telling me, “Now we have a real competition for our black powder rifles.” Mike attended every National Championship BPCR Silhouette match after that until poor health got in the way. He also started up the early BPCR Silhouette matches here in Livingston, Montana where early top shooters learned the game. Thanks to him, the matches at the Park County Rod and Gun Club were also the first Montana State Championships. Those matches wouldn’t have happened without Mike’s enthusiasm and support.

Mike and I first met in 1983, when I was a winter caretaker at a remote Montana ranch. During that time, Mike and Yvonne were running a movie theater in Gardiner, Montana, my nearest source of supply. I couldn’t tell you what the movie was that I had anticipated seeing, as he and I spent the entire time in the projection room talking about black powder cartridge rifles. This was the beginning of a long friendship, which eventually resulted in Mike, Yvonne, Sheryll and I being in business together. I take it as a point of pride that when we bought out the Venturino’s half of the bullet lube and magazine business, the deal was made on basically a handshake. This is a real testament to Mike and Yvonne’s good character, honesty and friendship.

Mike was also well known to collectors of military firearms, as their study was another passion of his. As with black powder cartridge rifles, he has written many informative articles and books on the subject. Mike was a bit of a rarity amongst military firearm collectors; everything he owned was shot and tested, even his numerous Class Three firearms. This is what made his writings so valuable; they were full of the hard to find information a shooter needs. I don’t think he ever owned a single firearm that he hadn’t put through its paces on the range.

He also had a real weakness for Colt Single Actions. We shared that passion, but he knew much more about the myriad of variations than I did. Whenever I had a question about a newly acquired Colt, Mike was the first guy I talked to. Like his other firearm interests, he researched and then backed that research up with shooting. Many times, when at a gun show, we would laugh and say that buying a Colt Single Action was a sure cure for the winter doldrums in Montana.

As much as Mike loved single shot rifles and used them extensively, he also was enamored of vintage lever actions. His excellent book, Shooting Lever Guns of the Old West, is a rare example of a reference work specifically focused on the lever action rifle and loads for them. As was typical of him, he sorted out the many variables associated with practical reloading for a lever gun and then used those loads in the field to take big game. His interest in lever actions was heightened by his interest in the sport of Cowboy Action Shooting, a competition that both he and Yvonne participated in.

In spite of obviously not feeling well, Mike made it to the Vintage Military Rifle match held in Livingston, Montana, on March 17th of this year. There were many friends in attendance and we all had a great time reminiscing about past matches and old times. We both had a good laugh about how the four of us used to go to the Silhouette Nationals at Raton in his old Dodge pickup; four people packed in the front seat and the air conditioning consisted of all the windows rolled down. We both agreed that we must have really had the “enthusiasm of youth” back then. Just as always, the talk turned to new rifles we were working on and he was excited about the possibilities of shooting cast bullets in a Mauser military rifle in his collection. Mike did not let declining health keep him from either writing or shooting, and his interest in both remained strong even when it was a struggle for him to continue. I will treasure the memory of that last match we spent together and it’s the way I will always remember him.

I’m not going to pretend to know everything about Mike’s life or try to relay it here. There are many things about him that I don’t know, but that fact doesn’t really matter. What does matter is he was one of those rare people who was a true friend, and could be counted on when times were difficult. I owe Mike much and will never forget his kindnesses. He truly will be missed and never forgotten.