When I was in Vermont a couple of weeks ago (before the flooding), I visited an antique store in Waterbury and found this Wahl Eversharp gold-filled mechanical pencil, which I bought for $6.00.
They're relatively common, but it's a nice pencil, even if I'm still trying to figure it out. I managed to dislodge a piece of old lead in it and the mechanism still works, but I've not yet figured it out. I managed to get some new lead into it and it will write, but the lead is off-center and obviously there's a better way of filling it than the way I'm doing it.
I suspect some of the problem may be that Wahl had refills specific to its products and since the company's no longer around, the leads aren't either. If anyone has experience with these, let me know. I've seen online guides that show leads being filled into the mechanism through a V-shaped slot, but mine doesn't seem to work the same way.