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Two years ago I have bought a Karas Kustoms Bolt pen in black form Cult Pens. I do have some other pens form Karas, but this pen is using a bolt action to forward and retract the refill. I like the pen very much because all parts are made in house and made from metal, hard to fail in my opinion. The pen is using ONLY Parker style refills, including Fisher-Space with their spacer. One characteristic of the pen is their own clip design, attached with two little hex screws, a very sturdy heavy-duty clip! Recently Karas Pens release a new version called V2 with some improvements. I have bought a green Karas Pen the Bolt V2 with Parker set-up. The initial Bolt and Bolt V2 looks the same, but there are some changes. First the guys form Karas pen redesigned the internal body to accommodate more refills, from Parker to Pilot G2. Also they have moved the bolt action mechanism on the far back of the pen to allow different style refills to fit into their pen; for that job now the pen is using a screwed spacer (to avoid any moving parts). Another major improvement is the O-ring between the upper and lower body parts to stay together when are screwed. At the last is the J-slot redesigned for easier movement. When I purchase the pen I should opt for the conversion kit for a fiver, but I didn't. Anyway because of the distance between Karas pens and me, it didn't worth to reorder just the conversion kit, so I have emailed the company and they replied that a mini hex/Allen key of 3/46" or 1.3mm will work. So far I have tried Schimdt EF9000, Pentel Energel, Uniball Jetstream and Fisher Space refills, all working fine. The Bolt V2 become my favorite pens form all Karas pens I have now.

I am looking for a bottled ink for fountain pens that is close in color and qualities to Pentel EnerGel black. I know those pens use a gel hybrid ink, so I am looking for something close. They are my favorite ballpoints, maybe tied with V5 Precise RT. I will be using the ink in a Lamy Al-Star EF. I have Noodler's Bad Black Moccasin, but there is no sheen, and it has a wierd green tone to it. I want pure black. I do not want India ink or carbon or pigmented inks. So which ink is closest to what I am looking for? Pure black is a must (no color undertones, not even gray), some sheen would be a bonus. I do not see anything in Noodler's line like that except maybe X-Feather, which I have had no experience with. I believe Bad Black Moccasin and X Feather are supposed to be the darkest Noodler's inks, despite HoD, so I would venture to guess that Noodler's is out. I have not tried Infinite Black by PR. I have heard good things, but not necessarily about its color. Does anyone have experience with Aurora Black or J Herban Perle Noire? Do they have these wanted qualities? Do you have any other ink suggestions? Thanks ahead for the input.