u/Tattertot34

Hey yall I’m stuck between a few optics i need some help narrowing down as im super indecisive. My SPR is a mk12ish really more of an SPR I’ll attach a photo. I would like to be able to hit 1000 yards, but will primarily be at 300-600 yards. But yeah im stuck between

Bushnell mped 3-18
Athlon ares etr 4.5-30
Athlon ares btr 2.5-15
Vortex viper pst 3-15
Or spending some more money and getting a NF-Nx8 2.5-20.

If i could keep it under 1000 i would but if the NF-NX8 is really all that i guess i could grab it. Any help?

Hey! I’m currently in the process of getting ready to apply to more PD’s and SO’s in my surrounding area. I attempted last year with 2 SO’s that will allow hand tattoos and I was ultimately non selected towards the final stages of the process. I passed PAT, written, Oral board, Background Investigation, and meeting with Detectives. Here are some things that came up during my background.

Smoking weed. I smoked weed 1 time back in freshman year of college so this was 2019, I haven’t touched it since.

Work experience. I’ve had a lot of jobs being only 24 years old but I ultimately had no choice to have that many. My parents were poor and were never providers so I had to do that for myself. I’ve been doing that since age 13. I’ve had so many jobs because when I was coming back and forth from college if the boss i worked for wasn’t happy that I was bouncing back and forth from work and then going to college for 4 months and coming back to work they’d tell me it’s not going to work out. And as i got older i held a job at a shop consistently for 3 years before i decided to move to FL.

Speeding ticket in 2023. I got a speeding ticket in 2023 first one ever and was the last one. I was doing 65 in a 55MPH speed zone on a highway. Paid it and that’s been over and done with.

I only have 3 years of college. I don’t have a degree( i have my HS diploma) but i decided after 3 years i still didn’t know what i wanted to do i switched my major a lot and i ultimately decided to leave.

My tattoos. This is obviously the hardest one, i have hand tattoos, a few on my head underneath my hair, and a bigger one on the back of my neck. No profanity, or anything absolutely insane, on my head was 2 chrysanthemums, my hand is a sacred heart and my other hand is a traditional wolf. The back of my neck is a big traditional bird.

I don’t have any other social media besides this reddit account, I’ve never had Snapchat, IG (besides my work one but never a personal) same goes for FB. Oh and i guess my YT account i do have a YT account.

This is where my question starts. Since my non selection I’ve tried to fix most of the fixable things. Unfortunately i cannot go back in time and unsmoke weed, but I’ve put more time in between then and now. I’ve been getting tattoo removal every 6-8 weeks and I’ve had good movement, my head tattoos are pretty much gone, the back of my neck is fading albeit slowly but it’s going, and my hands about the same. I’ve had my finger tattoos surgically removed, will probably end up having the back of my neck skin grafted so it’s off already. The pain of laser is almost unbearable but i plan on doing it for a bit longer before i make that decision. I’ve kept 2 jobs consistently at the same places for 2 1/2 years now. (when i applied i had just started at 1 and the other i was only there for 6 months.) I’ve put more time in between the speeding ticket, and haven’t accumulated anymore, or been pulled over at all. Haven’t even gotten a parking ticket. I don’t drink at all, I’ve done some training like in CPR and a few other classes i thought would be good to put onto a resume. The only thing i haven’t done is gone back to school, i just cannot afford it currently as I’d be paying for it on my own, and i don’t want to have more student loans right now as I’m almost done paying mine off and it’s the only debt i have. I do plan on going back to help strengthen my application i just don’t know when.

My question is what else is there i can do to strengthen my application for the future? My 1 year nonselect ends in July, but i plan on waiting a bit longer until more of my tattoos are removed. I really want this as a career and i just want my application to truly stand out as much as possible compared to the others who are applying with no visible tattoos as that is my biggest hurdle i need to overcome. When i asked my BI why i was nonselected he basically put it in terms of, it was this kid versus you, and you both pretty much had the same application, but he doesn’t have tattoos and you do. Are there any other things i can do that i haven’t thought of to strengthen my application?

Hey guys! I have the age old question of what pen machine to buy. I was using an FK EXO and then switched to a Bishop packer after a while with the FK. It’s been about a year and a half with the bishop packer and lately i feel like it’s just not hitting as hard as it used to. Multiple passes on lines, shading taking longer to build up etc etc. I’ve changed absolutely nothing in routine or technique and I’m just about fed up and i really feel like it’s the bishop at this point.

I’m looking into a new pen while i send this one in for an RMA. I’ve been looking at the hatchback irons sharp pen, bishop wand liner, or even those little ambition torpeds. I usually line in a 9RL, 5RL, 7RL, 0803-1203RL, but would like to go a little chunkier to maybe a 9RS or 11RL. And then i shade with a 1203RL, 1207RL, and 13CM/13BPCM. I usually line currently at 7.8v. Any suggestions?

I would also like to say i do want something that will put in lines a lot easier than fighting with the machine as I’ve been doing lately (haven’t had this problem in the past maybe the last month and a half this problem has started). I prefer an all in one machine but i have no problem with getting a dedicated liner and then another machine to shade until i get my packer back from bishop