[Pen/Pencil Review] .50 Caliber Purpleheart Wood Ballpoint Pen by Lehr Arts

A Facebook comment said, “Heavy round for heavy words”. Or so I can hope, maybe. This Lehr Arts ballpoint pen is hand -crafted by Aaron T. Lehr in Austin, TX. I do like buying one off pens on occasion, especially if it supports an independent artist. This pen is made from a .50 caliber bullet with a purpleheart wood finger grip.

This is no lightweight pen. In fact, it’s the heftiest – by a large margin – pen I own. It’s 6.75″ long, which makes it long enough to be comfortable in my hand (and I’ve got a medium sized hand – not “man hands”, but I’m definitely not “dainty”), I couldn’t even begin to tell you what it weighs – though I could probably use it as a blunt force weapon in an extreme situation – it is after all mostly brass. It’s a twist open ballpoint (probably medium) with a Cross refill mechanism.

Note to Cross or other refill makers: I know it’s a pretty small refill, but if you could make a gel ink refill that fit your ball point pen mechanisms like Parker has…I k now I would be eternally grateful and would spend lots of money with you.

Back to the pen. It’s remarkably well-balanced for something this big. It’s definitely wider and bulkier than anything I’ve ever used, but not uncomfortable. The bullet casing is naturally gradient from the widest end – which has a diameter of just over 0.75″ down to the point. The finger grip is comfortable being hand-turned wood – I chose one with the 1.5″ of finger grip, though they have 1″ finger grips and many different woods and stone materials to choose from. The hardware is brass to go with the casing.

This is a beautiful piece of work. This is definitely an ART pen. It’s not truly designed for everyday use, but almost comfortable enough to do so. I could definitely see it used for people with fine motor skill issues or joint issues – it’s heavy, but ergonomic and being wide, doesn’t require a lot of knuckle bending.

If you like dealing with independent artists, are (or know) people into weaponry, and need gift ideas – or if you just like collecting one of a kind pens at a reasonable price – go check this guy out. I picked up this pen for $25. They have smaller caliber bullet pens that are shinier with Parker refills for $35, which is a price point you can’t argue with for the uniqueness of the pen. The artist and his wife sell pens at area gun shows (which is where I found this one). Check out the website. Tell ’em I sent ya.

And just because it *IS* so big that it might not be comfortable to a lot of people, I give it a 4 of 5 bronze pencils.

Tags: bullet pen, Lehr Arts, pens, writing instruments