on salePilot Custom 743 Fountain Pen - Black

I like the piston converter. It is the same as the Custom 823 except without vac fitting and has a nice variety of nib choices.

I own lots of gold nib pens, 14kt/21kt Sailors, 14kt/18kt Pelikans, other 14kt Pilots, 14kt Platinums, and many various other vintage and some what vintage pens. This Custom 743 with a Fine-Medium nib may very well be the smoothest writing pen of them all and puts out a nice fine line of ink in any direction. Ink flow is superb, no skipping at all. It is an excellent bang for the buck. The CON-70 converter is extremely easy to fill with its plunger type action, much easier than a standard twist type converter and may hold more ink than the standard international converter.
If you want a superb writing pen of excellent quality that rivals or betters the writing experience of pens twice its cost look no further than the Pilot Custom 743. Japanese nibs are much finer tip size than European made nibs so if you want a nib equivalent to a fine nib on a Pelikan, a medium Pilot nib will feel equivalent. I went with the Fine-Medium nib because I wanted something about equivalent to an extra Fine Pelikan or a Fine nib of other European pens and I wasn’t disappointed. (Pelikans tend to have larger tips than other manufacturers)
Cleaning the Custom 743 is also very easy using the CON-70 plunger converter, and quicker than with twist type converters.

I've loved writing with the 'grail' Custom 823 and its smooth nib. But the pump-vacuum Custom 823 has been finicky and difficult to clean. The Custom 743 gives an almost identical writing experience without interrupted ink flow. Only a complete removal of the 823's pressure seal O-ring from its double reservoir (not just unscrewing the plunger) has kept my 823 in my rotation. I know use the Custom 743 almost exclusively.

I was already the proud onwer of a Pilot 74, bought in Ginza in 200r . Moving the the 743 makes an already amazing user experience even more so!

I own(ed) two Pilot Custom 823s -- one Fine, the other Medium; both in "smoke."In my frustration trying to adequately and less tediously clean the Medium I committed the fatal error of violating the warranty provisions using a TWSBI wrench to open it up for a thorough cleaning after watching a YouTube video. Hey kids, don't try this at home; it never was the same. It wouldn't inhale ink with that satisfying slurp. I'd get maybe a page worth of ink. I sent it to Pilot with full admission of my error in hopes they might restore its magnificence at a cost less than replacing the pen. Nope; no charge, no difference. I've limped along with its devastating underwhelmingness since.But I loved that medium nib! I got excited to learn of the availability of the Pilot Custom 743 -- same nib, same size, nearly the same weight, and a high-quality black resin body that utilizes either a CON-70 converter or Pilot cartridge. The pen is fulfilling my every expectation and promises easier cleaning and greater ink diversity -- in other words, more fun. So, I ask myself and you: Whither the Custom 823? It is highly-rated and very popular. But for $44 more I have every confidence I am going to be much happier with this Custom 743 than I was with its 823 predecessor. As for the 823's anti-ink-burp chamber, I might have to throw away an ink cartridge if I fly with the 743. No biggie.