There is no hack at all. Those refills are all standard Parker G2 style refills made by different suppliers. In most older (I mean 20yrs old etc) pens, you probably need to loosen cap by reversing one or two turns to retract the tips into the body. Otherwise, they work most of the time.
Even on the modern Caran d'Ache 849, you still need to loosen the knock by a turn or two to get the tip to retract. This may vary depending on the refill (I've found that not all G2s are identical). While it's not a true "hack", I've had several people contact me saying that it "doesn't work" because the tip extends past the opening when the refill is retracted. I play it safe and call it a hack if an adjustment is usually required...
This or a rotring 600? I’m torn…
They're both great. Very different pens with different feels.
There is no hack at all. Those refills are all standard Parker G2 style refills made by different suppliers. In most older (I mean 20yrs old etc) pens, you probably need to loosen cap by reversing one or two turns to retract the tips into the body. Otherwise, they work most of the time.
Even on the modern Caran d'Ache 849, you still need to loosen the knock by a turn or two to get the tip to retract. This may vary depending on the refill (I've found that not all G2s are identical). While it's not a true "hack", I've had several people contact me saying that it "doesn't work" because the tip extends past the opening when the refill is retracted. I play it safe and call it a hack if an adjustment is usually required...