A few weeks ago I posted a review of The Mighty Pen Company's .30-06/.308 Combo Pen. I found it to be near perfect in balance and a smooth writer. And ever since posting that review I've been putting a new Mighty Pen through its paces.
This is the .300 Winchester Magnum/ .300 Winchester Short Magnum model. It differs from the previous .30-06/.308 combo pens not only in parent caliber but in refill style. This is the nickel model, featuring copper accents. There is another model also; brass with copper accents.
First, the most obvious difference between the two model is the size. The .300 WM/WSM is slightly longer and wider than the .30-06/.308 model. More on this later, as right now I want to focus on the business of laying that sweet ink down.
Whereas the .30-06/.308 pens use the ubiquitous andif you get a Chinese manufactured example, somewhat skippyCross refill, the .300 WM/WSM model uses a higher quality (and higher ink capacity) Parker refill. Now, with the Cross model you can use the excellent Fisher Cross-style refill (preferably in Fine), but other than that you're fairly limited on alternatives. With the new .300 WM/WSM model you have many, and I mean many options.
Supplied with the pen is a Parker-style gel refill. It's a smooth writer that puts down a thick, albeit wet, line. It goes on jet black but dries a semi-opaque deep charcoal. It requires much less pressure than a ballpoint to lay down a solid line, but if you don't write with enough pressure the line will skip (I'm talking really light writing here). Gel pens are unique in their chemistry and use a mixture of the more common ballpoint and rollerball features. Ballpoints use a viscous, oil-based ink where the color is made up of dyes dissolved in the ink. Rollerballs, as many of you might know, write much smoother than ballpoints. In many ways rollerballs are simply fountain pens in ballpoint form. In contrast to ballpoints, rollerballs use a thin, water-based ink, but still get its color from dye. Rollerballs are require much less force to get the ink onto the paper at the cost of drying time. Gel pens are a subsidiary, if you will, of rollerballs. The ink is gelled instead of liquid, and suspended pigments are used instead of dissolved dyes. The use of pigments is why you see so many vibrant colors in gel pens that can't be produced with rollerball or ballpoint inks. But gel pens aren't without their faults. They're slow to dry once on paper, just like rollerballs. And they can be, well, globby once in a while. I haven't experienced any globbiness with this refill, but slow to dry? Yes.
But back to the refills available for this pen. As stated, if comes supplied with a black gel refill. It also takes Parker, select Mont Blanc refills (with a slightly shorter spring, not included), and Fisher's Space Pen refill (with the Parker adapter that comes with every Fisher refill). As I said above, the gel refill is very good compared to some of the stinker gel pens I've used in the past. Parker ballpoints are a cut above Cross in terms of feel, ability to put down an uninterrupted line, capacity, and look. And, oddly enough, the expensive Mont Blanc ballpoint refill I received wasn't nearly as smooth as the Parker refill. This could be a fluke or it could be the norm, I'm not sure. The Fisher refills are very good provided you buy the fine tip version and stay away from the medium refills (you can find them under "junk" in the dictionary).
The refills are all very compatible with the pen and fit perfectly, though I did have a little issue with the Mont Blanc refill. Due to an oddly shaped barrel, the Mont Blanc refill requires a slightly shorter spring in order to fit. This is no problem, but when changing the refill from a Mont Blanc to another refill, the shorter spring became lodge in the tip and required a bit of the good old prod and shove to get it out. Not a major issue, but notable. I colored the end of the spring that kept getting stuck in black Sharpie and just made sure it was reversed from then on, and haven't had anymore problems.
This pen, just like the cheaper .30-06/.308 models, is very handsome. I love anything copper, brass, or bronze, but I've really fallen for the nickel with copper accents look.
The nickel is smooth and the copper is covered in epoxy, so you needn't worry about tarnishing. The copper accents are just gorgeous.
This is the .300 Winchester Magnum/ .300 Winchester Short Magnum model. It differs from the previous .30-06/.308 combo pens not only in parent caliber but in refill style. This is the nickel model, featuring copper accents. There is another model also; brass with copper accents.
First, the most obvious difference between the two model is the size. The .300 WM/WSM is slightly longer and wider than the .30-06/.308 model. More on this later, as right now I want to focus on the business of laying that sweet ink down.
Whereas the .30-06/.308 pens use the ubiquitous andif you get a Chinese manufactured example, somewhat skippyCross refill, the .300 WM/WSM model uses a higher quality (and higher ink capacity) Parker refill. Now, with the Cross model you can use the excellent Fisher Cross-style refill (preferably in Fine), but other than that you're fairly limited on alternatives. With the new .300 WM/WSM model you have many, and I mean many options.
Supplied with the pen is a Parker-style gel refill. It's a smooth writer that puts down a thick, albeit wet, line. It goes on jet black but dries a semi-opaque deep charcoal. It requires much less pressure than a ballpoint to lay down a solid line, but if you don't write with enough pressure the line will skip (I'm talking really light writing here). Gel pens are unique in their chemistry and use a mixture of the more common ballpoint and rollerball features. Ballpoints use a viscous, oil-based ink where the color is made up of dyes dissolved in the ink. Rollerballs, as many of you might know, write much smoother than ballpoints. In many ways rollerballs are simply fountain pens in ballpoint form. In contrast to ballpoints, rollerballs use a thin, water-based ink, but still get its color from dye. Rollerballs are require much less force to get the ink onto the paper at the cost of drying time. Gel pens are a subsidiary, if you will, of rollerballs. The ink is gelled instead of liquid, and suspended pigments are used instead of dissolved dyes. The use of pigments is why you see so many vibrant colors in gel pens that can't be produced with rollerball or ballpoint inks. But gel pens aren't without their faults. They're slow to dry once on paper, just like rollerballs. And they can be, well, globby once in a while. I haven't experienced any globbiness with this refill, but slow to dry? Yes.
But back to the refills available for this pen. As stated, if comes supplied with a black gel refill. It also takes Parker, select Mont Blanc refills (with a slightly shorter spring, not included), and Fisher's Space Pen refill (with the Parker adapter that comes with every Fisher refill). As I said above, the gel refill is very good compared to some of the stinker gel pens I've used in the past. Parker ballpoints are a cut above Cross in terms of feel, ability to put down an uninterrupted line, capacity, and look. And, oddly enough, the expensive Mont Blanc ballpoint refill I received wasn't nearly as smooth as the Parker refill. This could be a fluke or it could be the norm, I'm not sure. The Fisher refills are very good provided you buy the fine tip version and stay away from the medium refills (you can find them under "junk" in the dictionary).
The refills are all very compatible with the pen and fit perfectly, though I did have a little issue with the Mont Blanc refill. Due to an oddly shaped barrel, the Mont Blanc refill requires a slightly shorter spring in order to fit. This is no problem, but when changing the refill from a Mont Blanc to another refill, the shorter spring became lodge in the tip and required a bit of the good old prod and shove to get it out. Not a major issue, but notable. I colored the end of the spring that kept getting stuck in black Sharpie and just made sure it was reversed from then on, and haven't had anymore problems.
This pen, just like the cheaper .30-06/.308 models, is very handsome. I love anything copper, brass, or bronze, but I've really fallen for the nickel with copper accents look.
The nickel is smooth and the copper is covered in epoxy, so you needn't worry about tarnishing. The copper accents are just gorgeous.
