Skilcraft U.S. Government Retractable Ball Point Pen, Fine Point, Blue Ink, Box of 12 (7520-01-332-3967)

I happened upon these when searching for my old favorite, the similar BiC Clic retractable pen that's apparently long since gone out of production. These seem to be a worthy replacement.So far, I've used just one pen out of my box of 12. Right out of the box, the tip was wobbly on my Skilcraft. Disassembling the pen, stretching the spring about 5 mm for added spring strength, and reassembling resulted in a perfectly stable tip.Another issue--my Skilcraft skipped and it took writing a few characters before the ink started to flow as it should. This happened on three consecutive occasions after the pen had sat for just a few minutes. Placing the tip end of the refill assembly into a Pyrex measuring cup with an inch of boiling water, then letting it sit until the water cooled completely fixed that issue. This, by the way, works for nearly all non-roller ball point pens.After a spring stretch and a boiling water treatment for the tip, the Skilcraft has proven to be an excellent writing instrument. The writing is smooth, the fine point makes filling out multi-part carbon forms a breeze, and the blue ink is beautiful. Additionally, the ink dries more quickly than BiC and especially Paper Mate blue inks.In my case, at least, some assembly was required--but I'm very pleased with this pen after successfully sorting it out. Hopefully my new "old favorite" will remain available at least until I retire.

Where has this legendary U.S pen quality gone? It's worse than any Chinese made pen I've gotten from the dollar stores.My box is blue Medium point mfg. date 07/30/2019. I'm writing this on 03/28/2020.The only 2 reasons I'm not returning these are it's shelter in place by the corona virus outbreak and I know the vision impaired are being supported by the purchase, but I DO NOT RECOMMEND THESE TO ANYONE. I will not be buying these again. I was really hopeful after seeing the limited reviews on Amazon and Youtube all supporting the pen's quality, but all expectations are failures--except the inner ink barrel does appear to be made of brass. A waste of money. What can I even do with these, try them as pen refills in another pen body?Skilcraft ballpoint writing might have been amazing back in the day, but now it's not any better than your standard Bic Stick and I'd argue even those are better than the box I've received. The Bic Stick Pens once you get them running they will write very smooth without much pressure. THESE require so much pressure even in 10 minutes of testing them in scribbles my hand is hurting. The entire body of the pen is plastic and you can tell the pens are not even uniformly made. I'm trying to say, I don't know how much of the process is by hand or automated, but it's poor quality assurance.Of the 12 pack:1/12 is absolute garbage. Not only is the clicker stuck and does not retract despite fiddling with it, the actual silver blue portion of not even the right size for this pen. The silver decorative bit is larger so even when it is screwed down that section shakes because it's too large circumference for the rest of the pen throwing balance way off.5/12 had sticking issue where I had to manually loosen the barrel and relieve pressure so I can click the pen to retract. Easy fix, but why? Why would the pen even be overly tightened?3/12 were perfect and clicking correctly3/12 needed some time, 50% of the time the clicker would jam. Maybe the heat in my hand helped? I was still very disappointed that these required any pause at all to adjust the pens or wait. Aren't these well-known to just click and go? They were not.That's more than half coming to me with issues.Once you get the ink going, it is not even dark for all of them. I realize ballpoints need some pressure at the beginning but then should flow smoothly and the ink should be bold and dark as intended not a light dried up, barely see-able junk as I've experienced.The bodies of the pens, again are not uniformly made. Some upon unscrewing or re-screwing do not align the parts. The actual threads of the plastic shaved off! What?Horrible pens. Maybe I was just unlucky, but I'm not spending more to find out.

I worked at an Army Medical Center for 25 years and these pens were what we used. I loved them then - size, fine point and the fact that they were "those government pens" that many, many civilians wanted to have. After that facility closed, I wished I'd kept a couple of them. About 6 months ago I found two of them in the back of a drawer. I was so excited! I mean it - I REALLY missed having this pen for over 20 years! The ink, of course, was dry. I went to every office store in town looking for refills - no luck. Then I decided to look for Skillcraft refills in Amazon. I was so surprised and thrilled to find the pens!! I bought 3 boxes - 2 black and 1blue. I've given a bunch of them away cause people like the fine point and the slim diameter and the short length. I'll never be without this pen as long as I live! These are the same pens - those Skilcraft U.S. government pens!!!!!THANK YOU!!

I used one of these pens for 3 years working in a 500 script/day pharmacy. We do a TON of writing in the pharmacy, and I do a good job of keeping a hold of my pen. Everyone else had to have literally gone through over 100 other pens, and this baby is still kicking. The 1 mile thing is no joke. Build quality is exactly the same as the day I took it out of the box (with a few more hairline scratches) and the only way you could tell it's 3+ years old is that the words on the side have completely faded away. Best. Pens. Ever. I actually left that job, and had some of my co-workers arguing over who I handed "Jacob's blind person pen" down to. Also, they call it that because I always brag about this American company, and how they employ the blind to make these. Awesome awesome awesome pens!

I have read online articles gushing about the government pen and its rich history serving our military. I bought a pack of them out of curiosity. The pen is compact and easy to carry. Its ink cartridge is well made and reliable, unlike those similarly styled give-away pens that stop working if you leave them in a drawer for a year. The writing experience is nothing to write home about and I find I prefer a more free-flowing ink, like a Pilot G2, for daily writing. Still, if you want a pen that will always work when you need it, this is the way to go.

Absolutely love these pens. They are the best. They write very smooth and have a nice weight to them. Shipping was very very fast. 100% the best!