Sheaffer Targa Slim Cartridge

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

Hey all, I just picked up a nice (or so I thought) Sheaffer Targa Slim, in original box. I cleaned it out and was attempting to pop open one of the slim cartridges to clean it out, but it does not fit.

 

 

What am I doing wrong here? Are these cartridges not compatible with this pen? This is for sure a "slim" cartridge as it is labeled "Cartridge II" and the wrapping for the two-pack says that is for use with Sheaffer "slim" pens. This is definitely a Sheaffer Targa Slim but the cartridge does not fit, it is too thick for the body of the pen. The opening is simultaneously too narrow, I had to put a lot of pressure on the pen to get the piercing tube of the pen to pop it. 

 

Really confused...

 

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

Ahh, I am really stupid. I'll keep the post up for posterity in case someone else makes the same mistake. I was attempting to put the wrong side in the pen. 🤦‍♂️ 

[John T]

2 hours ago, LoveBigPensAndCannotLie said:

Ahh, I am really stupid. I'll keep the post up for posterity in case someone else makes the same mistake. I was attempting to put the wrong side in the pen. 🤦‍♂️ 

The first, second, and third time I tried to put a cartridge in a pilot pen.... 😅   😬 

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

5 hours ago, John T said:

The first, second, and third time I tried to put a cartridge in a pilot pen.... 😅   😬 

 

I had a similar experience actually, except with Platinum, and it wasn't totally my fault. This was years and years ago before I was really into fountain pens, I bought a Platinum desk pen as a gift for a friend into stationery. 

 

When I was helping him set it up, we didn't see any cartridge in the pen so I went back to the store with the pen and asked them for the appropriate cartridges. They rummaged a bit in the back, got some cartridges and I bought it and brought it back. We tried fitting it in and no matter what we tried it would not go in. Finally shoved it in and it pierced the cartridge but it leaked and the back wouldn't screw on. We gave up on that pen.

 

Fast-forward a few years later when I was more into fountain pens, I had purchased a Pilot Metro and I had also picked up a really cheap Platinum dollar pen. I realized the cartridges for the Pilot looked suspiciously familiar, took a look at the cartridges that I bought for my friend's pen a few years prior. They sold me Pilot cartridges for a Platinum pen! No wonder they didn't fit.

 

I went back to my friend and we looked at the pen again, the actual Platinum cartridges fit perfectly. And the other reason the pen wouldn't close because was because there was a Platinum cartridge that came with the pen that was stuck deep in the barrel. That was more on me, whoopsies.