Guns magazine Article

[KCSO]

Mike Duke has a good article in Guns on cast bullets. It really does a good job of giving the basics and plugging cast bullet shooting.

[Bret4207]

Fat Mike? Venturino?

[pumpguy]

Apparently he got so big he needed two names!!!! I glanced through a Guns or Reloader the other day and saw that he is using his cowboy name or something.

[NVcurmudgeon]

I just started a subscription to Guns two months ago and Venturino is a lot of the reason. He doesn't seem to be amazed at his own magnificence, he is a cast boolit enthusiast. and I haven't caught him in any BS. I keep a subscription to one of the mass gunrags just to keep up with the industry, and Guns seems to be the brightest spot out there. I dropped Shotgun News because of too many machine guns, and I'm hoping my subscrption to Shooting times lapses before they come out with the all picture, no words edition.

[Dale53]

I have not had the pleasure of meeting Mike Venturino but I have followed his career from day one. The man tells it like it is. I HAVE had the pleasure of talking with his old pardner, Steve Garby, several times and Steve speaks VERY highly of Mike. That said, I read most of what Mike writes and I only disagree from most of what he has said in minor points (obturate vs obdurate:mrgreen: ).

He seems to be a VERY good man and a credit to his profession.

Dale53

[Nueces]

I had a very few words with MV at a long-ago SHOT show, and second the opinion of him as a quiet, class act.

Mark

[Pepe Ray]

Did you read his stuff when he used the byline "Brandon Wolfe"?
Pepe Ray

[waksupi]

Mike shoots down at the Shutzen house in the winter. Lots of the local guys shoot with him, and get along well with him. He's just a shooter, like us, but getting paid for it, for being able to get someone to publish it. I know he personally helps new shooters, and old, to make the best of learning BPCR, and having access to shooting events. If you don't like him, don't read him.

If you have sour grapes at home, make your own whine.

[Bret4207]

Dude, chill. I was trying to figure out if he was talking about Verturino. Everyone knows who you mean when you say Fat Mike. Sounds like you had a bad day with your neighbor.

[Bob B]

I will not subscribe to gun magazines for 1 or2 useful articles per year.The American Rifleman is bad enough,The present day articles are the worst since I joined the NRA in 1960. Bob B

[KCSO]

I,m ashamed to admit I go back so far i remember when Mike was just Mike Nesbitt's shooting buddy. I have the first issue of Muzzleloader magazine somewhere. As to names, I remember when my partner decided he wanted to ne called "Dan'l" Dean when we were doing our knife and tomahawk throwing act. Well in setting up the Marquis tent one day he got smacked with a tent pole and instead of "Dan'l" he has been known ever after as Broken Beak! Nicknames come and go and sometimes not for the reasons we wish.

Two Moons
"nuff Said!

[Bret4207]

Just so there are no hard feelings here, I never meant any insult to Mike Venturino. As a former fat guy, and current chubby guy, I suppose I feel okay observing a persons appearance. Where I come from names like "Chubby", "Tubby" etc are common. Doesn't mean anything till you say it nasty and then the gloves come off.

Of the current writers I think Venturino is among the better ones. I also think he gets held back a bit by editors judging by his work years ago. Would I prefer guys like Skeeter, Al Miller, Ken Waters, Finn Aagard, Gene Hill, John Jobson, Elmer, Jack, Warren or a return to the articles guys like Jim Carmichael, Venturino, Rcik Jamison used to write? Yeah, but we have this place now and a lot of thise guys are gone.

Sorry if I crapped in anyones Wheaties.

[Powderpacker]

In the same issue of "GUNS", check out J. D. Jones latest creation - SSK Bore Sweepers. Great idea and apparently they work but, if you recycle range lead like I do, they create one more source of zinc contamination in our lead supply .

[Swagerman]

I can't get too excited about gun magazines and their articals. But do enjoy the pictures of guns.

Gun's magazine in particular was a real can of worms in the past, but hiring Mike may have improved their readership. I like Mike, but he isn't perfect, but he's quite honest and forthright.

He once touted the carrying of a PA-63 in .380 caliber pistol, or it may have been the Marakov slightly larger caliber as his personal CCW gun. He was highly rebuked by the readership and told to get a larger caliber defense weapon to protect himself. Frankly, he should be able to carry whatever firearm he chooses to carry, and hang the public.

I can't remember the details of that story but he eventually got a larger caliber CCW pistol...probably a .45 acp.

When Gun's use to run the late Col. Chas. Askins mean old man stories, he came on like a bada$$ jack booted pistolerio that would not hesitate to plug anyone who crossed him. Askin's is reputed to have shot two german solders in the back in a Kraut motor pool destroying distributors on vehicle engines. They were in a US captured area and not arm with anything more than a ball pean hammer.

He could have shot them in the ass, or leg...that would give them something to think about what they were doing. As it was he shot them in their backs through the liver.

I once met a WW-2 vet who had his life saved by two german medic solders, they found him shot in his chest from another german's 8mm rifle. They hurriedly patched him up so he wouldn't bleed to death and ran away as US forces were coming into the area.

Anyone can pull a trigger, to brag about it really turns me off on that person.

Jim

[KCSO]

I saw the bore sweepers and was NOT impressed. Zeor once made a similar outfit with a zinc washer on the base of a wad cutter bullet and i ruined a big batch of lead with a couple of them. Don't want NO zinc no how no way. As to Askin's I don't think he was bragging as much as just telling the truth. Remember his era was a WHOLE lot different than today and people didn't think the same. I have sat for hours listenng to the old timers in L/E talk about what really happened in the 30' and 40's and you need to develope a different mind set to deal with what was. Life was pretty cheap then and you could get shot pretty easy just for running your mouth. I sometimes wonder what would happen if someone told it like it was regarding fighting for your life and if ANYONE would have the huevos to print it. I don't have much in common with the Ayoob types who would probably be scarred for life if they had to shoot someone, and I am probably too close to Askin's view.

[9.3X62AL]

KCSO--check for PM, sir.

[Bret4207]

I had a recent "feud" with Mr. Ayoob. When I saw neither of us would "win" I let it drop. Better than being banned from the board. Actually I thought the Ayoob crowd, walking around in various "conditions", would be a bit more likely to shoot. Some seem to have the "I'm a target" mentality. I guess I'm just an old stick in the mud these days and assume everyone should try and be aware of whats going on around them.

Talked with a guy who knew Askins back in the day. His recollection was that he wasn't too awful friendly. IIRC "odd duck" was the phrase he used among others. I never was a fan, but the man could shoot!

[Swagerman]

Talked with a guy who knew Askins back in the day. His recollection was that he wasn't too awful friendly. IIRC "odd duck" was the phrase he used among others. I never was a fan, but the man could shoot!

======================================

My father inlaw, a Marine wounded at Nicaruagra fighting mt. bandits, knew all those old time border patrolmen, he was one himself for decades. Frank was in federal government service for over 35 years. He was tough as nails, but a fair man with one and all.

The reason I brought up Askins was a misreference to him from my aging and dying father inlaw on a hospital bed. I had Frank at fairly lucid moment in his elderly years, we talked about the old days of the Border Patrol and its characters.

Having read a lot of Askins lurid adventures in Gun's magazine, I asked if he knew Charlie Askins personaly. He told me in a mixed up mind set of Askins accidently shooting a fellow BP with a gun he didn't realize was loaded. The bullet went through the wall and hit the victim in the next room. Turns out it was another BP man and not Askins. Frank was in his 90s and not too sharp at that point in his failing health.

This really had me curious, Askins accidently shot a man in the BP? Stupid ole me, I write Charlie at Gun's and asked him about it.

The man wrote me back in a rage, he called my father inlaw some pretty bad names, and threatend to maybe make him another notch on his body count. Hey, I've got the letter some place. Also some Border Patrol pictures of tha era, with Frank and Askins in a camp fire scene together....this was back in the 30s.

I wrote Askins back telling him that Frank was not in too good of shape and wasn't long for this world. But really doubt he could shade Frank if he was still an able person. He never replied to that.

So, that is one reason I'm not an Askin fan.

My father inlaw also knew Bill Jordan quite well.

Frank has citations of merit from at least 3 presidents for his government service. I'll be in respect for his lifes work.

Jim

[Bret4207]

Waugh! A Nicaragua Marine!! Probably served with the legendary Chesty Puller. You should count yourself lucky to have even known the man. Wish I could have met him.

I knew several old time USBP guys who were nearing retirement age when I moved up here. They had a LOT of stories about Bill Jordon, not all flattering, but most said he was a good guy. It seems his fame left a bad taste in a couple guys mouths, but even they admitted he was incredibly fast.

If you ever get a chance to engage Ken Howell over on 24 hr CF in conversation, ask him about the Elmer, Jack and Warren feud. His accounts back up those of my source. Some things got ugly for a while.

[Swagerman]

Frank was telling me about his Nicaraugra days, he said some of the marines were just common tough gangsters, killers and thugs that joined the marines to escape prosicution of arrest for their past deeds in society. That would have been deeds done in the late roaring 20s to 30s, bootlegging and Al Capone.

But he said they were pretty loyal in combat as they watched each others six o-clock.

Frank caught one in the knee, they had to carry him out.

I've got pictures of some of that crowd, and they do look like a bunch of rowdies.

Turns out the man who accidently shot a fellow BP man was Bill Jordan. Askins had made sure he mentioned that fact to me.

That certainly was a strange era in history, but its all water under the bridge, they are mostly all gone by now.

Jim

[Bret4207]

Heard the same story. Who knows if it's true or not. There's a lot of lies out there, and then there truth. For instance, back before I dumped Catherine Zeta Jones for Jessica Alba........

[longhorn]

Askin's autobiography is a pretty good read--but you do have to keep in mind that he was the product of a very different era and lived in, essentially, another world. Struck me that he probably had the same sort of mental make-up as, say, John Wesley Hardin: warrior. An (amused) armchair psychiatrist might use another term....

[singleshotbuff]

Never been a huge fan of Askins, but I have read some of his work. I find that I can find something interesting in most peoples writing (gun related of course).

As to the original topic of this thread, I do like Venturino. I read his column and articles in Handloader and Rifle mags most months. He's one of the few writers that I CAN stand to read, and he's into a lot of the same types of stuff that I am.

As to my REAL favorite writers, I'm afraid most are long gone. Elmer Keith, Finn Aaggard and Bob Milek come to mind. Finn probably at the top of the list.

More recently, I liked reading Ross Seyfried, although he does seem to be a polarizing writer. Don't see his work in any mags I pick up anymore.

SSB

[9.3X62AL]

I can't bring myself to criticize COL. Askins, Bill Jordan, or other men of their time. They saw and did things in ugly times and ugly places, and it's not my place to render judgement. Men and women of that time might be the greatest generation of citizens ever produced by this nation, with the possible exception of this nation's Founding Fathers. In good conscience, I can't speak against them.

[Swagerman]

Bill Jordan was a stand up guy, a friend to one and all. He was probably Skeeter Skelton's closes friend.

He was a wizard with the fast draw, and he did it with a S&W model 19 that had his signature made grips. He was a tall man with huge hands.

Jordan was also a good man of character. No John Wesley Harden (killer) there, nor an odd duck. He fit right in with the rest of society, just like my deceased father inlaw Frank.

Jim

[Bret4207]

Yup, never heard anything really bad about Bill outside of the jealousy famous type folks get. I think "No Second Place Winner" was the first real book I ever bought, outside of my Scout manual and all those comic books I wish I still had.

You know, I just lost a friend a few days ago. He was a farmer and raised Black Clydesdale drafters. I spent some time with him. I'm a little deaf, he was real deaf, so there was a lot of yelling. He was a funny guy, humor-wise. Knew more about horses than anyone I ever met and didn't BS you about things. Now he's gone. My point is, why don't we ever realize they're going? I could have written to Elmer, Skeeter and Bill. I could have made time to spend with Jim the farmer. I could take the time to call Buckshot or Al and wish them a happy birthday or something. Why is we just don't do this stuff? I had the chance to meet a couple of the better known writers. Didn't do it. Did meet Charlie Alshimer (sp) who writes for Deer and Deer Hunting, nice Christian guy. I met a lesser known writer when I was about 15-16. I think his name was Bob Zwirz, but it didn't mean much to me at the time and I didn't write it down or anything. Do have a personally autographed book from Wilf Pyle.

A letter from Elmer or Jack would mean a lot to me now. Traveling a bit and meeting them would have meant more, but I'm just not the type to do it. Outside of "Maybe they don't want to be bothered" I wonder why we don't take the chance and drop a line or spend time with these guys who know what their talking about?

[NVcurmudgeon]

Good point, Bret. I did write to Jack O'Connor, my all-time favorite, on the occasion of his retirement fron Outdoor Life. It was a letter of thanks for almost thirty years of good reading, education, and being a big factor in turning me into one of the nuttiest of gun nuts. I received the most gracious, even humble, full-page reply. I wish I still had it, but I've moved too many times. I can still remember most of it.

Definitely should have written to Finn Aagard, Elmer Keith and Col. Whelen when I could have. Maybe it's time for me to send off fan letters to Al Miller, Sam Fadala, and Mike Venturino.

Among the gifted, unpaid writers we are privileged to learn from on this board, I am fortunate to see several of them often, and have been printing out some of their posts for years. It would be worth the trip for you to attend NCBS.

[Swagerman]

Back in the late 70s, took the family on vacation from northern Kali. to as far north as Montana. We had some folks we knew who moved up there a few years back on a shoe-string.

On the way driving up north, stopped in just about every gunshop, sporting goods store enroute trying to find some .41 long Colt cartridges for a nice early Colt HE I recently acquired.

When I got to a little Idaho town named Salmon, stopped in combination bar and grill, hunting and fishing restaurant to ask about the ammo. The owner shook his head no, but said wait a minute. He got on the phone, then said for me to go up a certain street and and address, talk to the man.

The man turned out to be Elmer Keith, who welcomed me into his home. Elmer's wife was there as well. He had some .41 Colt, but did not want to part with it as it was quite scarace back then. But we shot the bull for about and hour on the joys of reloading .44s. I had a Ruger Blackhawk first model .44 magnum at that time, serial #951 if I remember right.

Recon Elmer is the only real gun personality I have ever met in person. But have talked with a few over the phone in past years.

Jim