[GautamaB]

Thanks for all the feedback. An update:

I had been using King Pin 5's previously and had semi-recently switched over to the Need Jig 5's. I LOVE everything Needle Jig that I've used previously (flat 7 mags, curved 9 mags, 8 rounds...) so I assumed the 5's were fine and that wasn't be the issue.

I feel like a moron for not thinking of it sooner but I'm pretty sure the needles were the issue. My mentor was a confused that I didn't mention to him that I switched 5's recently and was certain that was the issue (along with what people here seemed to be saying). Rookie mistake: never assume every batch of needles is okay.

So I had my mentor do a tattoo with one of the Needle Jig 5's I had been using. He put in 2 lines before he stopped, said "Dude these are junk, I can't feel anything I'm doing with these...", and switched out the needle to a King Pin 5. HA! That was exactly my problem: couldn't feel anything to gauge depth

I swapped to one of his King Pin 5's (what I had been using for months) and the tattoo I did today went in smooth and easy.

Upon looking under a magnifying glass, it looks like the Needle Jig liners are crazy loose. There's basically no taper, they almost looks like a round shader.

So I have some Tat Soul 5's in the mail (heard good things) and am re-ordering more King Pin 5's right now. Hopefully that solves the mystery! I liked everything Needle Jig until this, I guess every company has bad batches though. I'll post again once I get the new needle and make sure that was the issue.