I just received a Pelikan 30, M30 or P30. I can't decide which it is because I am finding conflicting info. Some sources state the P30 is the piston filler and the M30 is the cartridge filler. That makes sense to me. Other info I have read suggests the opposite. In any case, I have the piston filler version. It may even be a franken pen. The cap says "Pelikan 30 Rolled Gold - Germany" but I have seen a picture and the nib is wrong on my example.

The semi-hooded nib indicates to me that it is not typically a user removable nib but I am not sure. I operated the piston and it works fairly smooth. Just a little tight but still operable. Not Pelikan smooth as I have been accustomed to with my other Pels. It looked freshly flushed as there was condensation in the ink window. Here is where my radar started going off to a possible piston seal issue. I operated the piston and placed it to my ear and could hear some air/liquid bubbling noise coming from the piston knob when the piston was fully retracted. I decided to go ahead and ink it just to see if it would hold ink. I noticed that while I can write with it, the nib is wetter than what it should be. If I hold it nib down, ink starts to puddle close to the end of the feed in a few seconds. If I do not write with it, it will drip ink eventually. If I leave it sitting on my desk, the section will be wet with ink. I do not see any obvious cracks on the section and ink is not leaking anywhere except for the feed so I think the pen body itself is sound.

So, that long winded explanation is to ask if anyone knows how the piston comes out of this pen. I suspect it is similar to a TWSBI because I see some flat tabs adjacent to the top of the barrel just under the piston knob. Is my reasoning correct? I just want to get in and get the piston re-greased to see if the leak goes away.

Ebay image of the pen: