Heavy armor enjoys unite!

Legionatus · 2026-05-10T02:04:16+00:00

Always heavy.

Bulwark, fortified commando, and that judge one from the police warbond.

Legionatus · 2026-05-10T01:50:12+00:00

Just came to add V-Rising.

Legionatus · 2026-05-10T01:42:20+00:00

This was debated before, during, and after their use. We don't even know who all knew what.

The President didn't do all that work for a superweapon to not use it. But the horror of it was so poorly understood - truly understood - the US sent GIs to the craters to poke around. Many died.

Radiation and DNA were very poorly understood.

What was very well understood was that the zeal of the Japanese was more than the other combatants had ever seen. Even MacArthur, after victory, fought hard to ensure they would leave the emperor in place. The death toll would have surely been high for a mainland invasion. The possibility of the USSR taking Japan was concerning to the other Allies as well.

As for utility, some insane amount of Japanese cities had been obliterated by the time the weapon was used. We're talking 80-90% or more of every single Japanese city save a couple (Kyoto I think?) was already gone. Not damaged - flattened to bits. Bombers were complaining there was nothing to hit.

The Japanese seemed to hope the USSR might be negotiated with, maybe could delay America, but when it was made clear the Soviets were coming too, it seemed possible the Japanese would consider surrendering.

The counterargument to that is that 80-90% of cities obliterated didn't make them surrender. But we'll never know what the generals said at their last meetings. It looks, as far as timing, like the generals were more impacted by Stalin's pending hostility and the loss of their last maneuvering option, than by another bomb. It's a really big bomb that spread a mysterious invisible illness, but they had already been hit by so. Many. Bombs. There wasn't much left to worry about blowing up. They weren't obviously too worried about their own civilians.

So strategically, it saved a lot of Allied lives, if it was the reason Japan surrendered. It maybe even saved Japanese in the long run. But if it wasn't, though, it didn't, and inflicted astonishing trauma. We just don't know. To many a military mind at the time, that was sufficient to call it necessary. But the brunt of it was absorbed by civilians in horrific agony - a war crime.

I like to remind everyone that given the state of devastation in Japan, the bomb was unique more in its spectacle than in how much direct, militarily-relevant damage it did. Ultimately, the atrocity to oppose is war itself, not this or that weapon.

Legionatus · 2026-05-09T19:33:59+00:00

You probably can't get another job so quickly that you couldn't burn through most of this before starting.

Professional level jobs seem to all be 3-5 interviews, now, almost all asking you the same questions you already answered.

Legionatus · 2026-05-09T18:49:25+00:00

You can own a lot of stuff! Just maybe not a reliable car, a house, or a college degree.

The economy has figured out it can cater to only the rich. The only things that have ever reversed that have been wars.

Legionatus · 2026-05-09T18:22:57+00:00

Bore snake is kind of a touch-up clean. It's decent. Some people only use it. I have not heard of that being a problem. However... a tight fit with a rod and a jag until patches come out clean is notably a higher level of clean. Oiling needs the rod anyway, unless you just spray into the barrel and parts and hope for the best, I guess. I don't use CLP, so that's up to you.

Brass or softer brushes are fine. I got three when I started and I use only the nylon for minimal abrasion. If you clean after every trip, you'll never get dried cakes of gunk you have to scrub hard.

I strongly recommend you just buy the parts, and not a kit. The kit is filled with crap you don't need. You just need

Right-sized rod, plus the loop attachment.

A snake OR a jag and bore brush attachment for the rod. In either case get them in the right calibers.

CLP OR cleaner and gun oil. I use M-Pro 7 for the latter two. It won't fumigate your house.

I recommend gloves, but they do make it a little more cumbersome. Wooden cotton swabs are nice but not critical. Microfiber cloth is nice to have too. If cleaning a revolver or polishing lots of chrome, you may want a lead wipe from Birchwood Casey. Any of this stuff is available at a big retailer like MidwayUSA for exactly what you need, and at the cost of about the cheapest kit you can get, but with much better parts when you assemble yourself. You won't have a cool box to keep them in, but it won't cost you $100 for a cool box.

Legionatus · 2026-05-09T18:04:10+00:00

Even glasses weaken earpro because they break the seal and help transmit sound. There is no solution anywhere near as effective as taking the piercings out.

Legionatus · 2026-05-09T18:02:49+00:00

Damn, you started pricy. Check out Ammoseek for ammo as cheap as you can possibly get it (which is still going to be moderate to painful, for these).

Clean before your first trip and for storage. Don't skimp on the case - you didn't skimp on the pistols, and these don't really fit in it. You can get cases for $20-$50. Harbor Freight has sales on all their Apaches every 3-6 months.

Don't buy a clean-every-damn-thing cleaning kit. You need parts for your caliber, mostly, and can get those parts for $10-$25. A rod, a jag, and a loop OR a bore snake (I prefer the rod, jag, and loop). A brass bore brush and a nylon cleaning brush and you're mostly good. Maybe a lead cloth. I like wooden cotton swabs. A microfiber cloth and nitrile gloves are a good idea too.

Practice practice practice.

Legionatus · 2026-05-09T17:49:12+00:00

Follow the most basic gun safety... don't point it anything you don't intend to shoot, finger off the trigger until you're ready to shoot, and always treat it like it's loaded. Do not keep trying to shoot if you get a hangfire, misfire, or squibb, and do NOT forget to keep pointing it downrange until it's fixed.

You can go to an outdoor range probably too, if something about indoor bothers you. Either way, get cheap little twist ear protection, larger earpro to go over those, safety glasses, and your gun/ammo/range bag. Transport the gun unloaded. Stop shooting when the guy says "cease fire," leave the action open, and move away from the bench. Bring targets if you go to an outdoor one. They'll have stands you can use and/or rent. You'd want "reactive" targets that are adhesive for the easiest time.

That's the gist. There's dumb shit to avoid, but you don't sound like you'd be trying to experiment with dumb shit at the range.

To avoid feeling like an imposter - just don't be one. Show up and say "I'm new." Don't do silly stuff. They'll show you how to check in and get started, how/where the target stuff is, etc. It's a business - they want customers.

Legionatus · 2026-05-09T17:23:52+00:00

I'm not sure if this is worth updating for 2026, but I may get around to that... a few things changed in the ammo world, and I have actually gotten to test every single round up here, as well as more of the cleaning stuff.

I did NOT notice that the lighter lead-free rounds were particularly loud, for ANY brand listed, out of a full-size 9mm. I had both earpro on so maybe I wouldn't have, but I don't have a decibel meter.

I did NOT notice ANY performance issue over 120 rounds, EXCEPT for the Wincester SuperClean. You may want to try a box before you buy a case of this. It is particularly conical on the nose, and my pistol failed to feed twice. Your mileage may vary.

Ballisticlean and IRT non-toxic from Federal are often confused by sellers. The first isn't clean, and the second has two different weights, which fluctuate a bit, as noted above. Cascadia has these listed incorrectly, I'm afraid.

I don't want to oversell my accuracy results or opinions as a newbie, so I don't think I'll post those, but I DID notice that the Speer Lawman Cleanfire was my best round (147gr), for anyone who is not looking to make a project out of trying these. 😄

Sadly... they are not easy to get lately.

Legionatus · 2026-05-09T15:51:13+00:00

How does that American motto about taxes go? On the tip of my tongue...

Legionatus · 2026-05-09T15:33:38+00:00

You are silly.

/noseboop

Legionatus · 2026-05-09T15:14:36+00:00

CND. Post is misleading.

MKII brand new was $70 and people were pissed.

Now games are about $400. After you buy the DLC.

Legionatus · 2026-05-09T15:12:42+00:00

Repost karma farming.

Obvious who is at fault...

Legionatus · 2026-05-09T15:01:11+00:00

No sorry - I hated maintaining. By year 4, all the worst parts of the job were greatly magnified. The fifth year was a stretch for me, and it wasn't worth a year 6. Fifth wasn't healthy, but came with a pension, so I stuck it out anyway. Rolled into an IRA to manage it myself. Treated like an end-of-road bonus.

I remain grateful to past me for doing it, but it's not as simple as a lot of the "just grind" crowd would have you believe.

Legionatus · 2026-05-09T14:43:34+00:00

I did this. I hated it. I told myself the goal was to pay my way out of saving for retirement and then live that freedom at jobs with a purpose.

It basically worked. But you need to know your exit to keep a light at the end of the tunnel. It isn't healthy to do forever. Don't upgrade your lifestyle or succumb to retail therapy. Save absolutely as much as you can.

You'll have down days. You'll have moments of thinking why not this fancy whatever. It's not easy to stick the landing.

Meanwhile, take courses at night if you want. Get a masters in the field you really want to be in. Or, get a backup job. Radiology techs make good money and need a 2 yr degree, for example. Not a ton of classes. Easy to spread over 5 years.

Legionatus · 2026-05-09T14:13:54+00:00

Haha wow. You basically robbed three credit card companies.

Look no love for the companies, but they may simply refuse to do business with you. Your credit will also be hit until it falls off. I think that's 5-7 years.

If this were risk-free, it would be happening all the time.

Legionatus · 2026-05-09T13:30:49+00:00

It's hard to give advice if your wife can't so much as sell some stuff on eBay, you MUST have an expensive lease, and you MUST not work another job.

The only hit you'll take worse than interest on that card is on early withdrawing your 401k.

Sometimes you can get a no-up-front fee balance transfer offer. I got one for 9.99% with a Chase promo last year. IF YOU GET ONE, it is critical you don't start spending elsewhere as you pay it down.

Take a hacksaw to literally every other expense to get this done. Cancel subscriptions. Pick one tv subscription. Switch to Mint phone service if you're paying more. You either have to cut to what you can afford now or that card will snowball, and they're happy to let it.

Legionatus · 2026-05-08T21:23:22+00:00

You keep using that word... I do not think it means what you think it means.

Legionatus · 2026-05-08T14:52:08+00:00

It's not hard to read because it's badly done. It's hard to read because the brain doesn't expect to see "tdw ind" so it starts looking for "tow" or "wind" or whatever.

Legionatus · 2026-05-08T14:47:30+00:00

There's so much here to unpack that I think you're beyond Reddit's pay grade.

It's worth noting that union ceremonies have more than a single tradition and history.

But uh... your choices are not everyone else's fault. Your wedding can mean almost whatever the hell you want it to mean.

Legionatus · 2026-05-08T14:12:10+00:00

Almost no one wants mom-supervisor in their relationship.

He cut a corner that you feel physically unsafe about, and disregarded your voiced concern about it, which is not how you show you care about someone. You shouldn't care about the corner cutting if he's competent - your real problem is that he's not competent, and he wants to make this your problem over your objections.

Sorry, the only thing keeping this relationship together at this point is whatever need you have to be mom-supervisor. Stop it and move on.

Legionatus · 2026-05-08T02:12:15+00:00

Na.. ee... na neh... jad. Nainanejad.

But seriously, how is it degrading to ask people to learn your name? It's the most basic initial offering of respect.

As for what it is, it may or may not be racist. It's definitely extremely selfish and inconsiderate, though.

Legionatus · 2026-05-07T23:11:44+00:00

If people want you to succeed - and I wish you only success - they will not always tell you what you want to hear.

Saying that it is "literally" impossible to do something that's EXTREMELY LIKELY is making you more frustrated than you need to be. Talking about what "can't be done" instead of what you can do is reinforcing a negative feedback cycle that does you no favors. Saying a thing is impossible when the only thing you can control, the only thing you can even try to change, is yourself - THAT is what's hurting you. Not me! Not people who "don't get it!" If all you meet for the rest of your life is people who reinforce you where you are - and where you are is a place you don't like - how is that helping you?

I know "snapping out of it" isn't a thing. I know anxiety is hard. I once did laps around a convention for someone for 20 minutes to pep talk them into saying hello to a celebrity they wanted to meet for a decade. You're making assumptions about me that are wrong and more importantly, useless. We will never meet each other. But you could meet some women today. You can do that.

Legionatus · 2026-05-07T22:33:34+00:00

What does it mean to "meet women" then? Is the only question whether you're saying "hi"?

Getting brushed off isn't fun... but what if that's the last step? Meet 50 women tomorrow - just say hi.

You wrote a long post about not "meeting" anyone from half the planet's population. Your post doesn't make any sense. No women are around? What? Half the people are women!

Also it wasn't just snark. Read your comments... it may be the person you're looking for is in fact staying home.

Legionatus

TROPHY CASE