Manual Pick Gun Techniques

by **Benvox2** » 23 May 2007 0:38

Hi everybody!

I have recently purchased a Brockhage BPG-10 Manual Pick gun from the USA the other day, however I am finding it still very difficult to pick locks ranging from doors to padlocks and was wondering if any veterans out their would share some techniques or hints in using a manual pick gun.

I have just been applying a constant tension a clicking away with the trigger on various power settings and sometimes think im actually forcing the bottom pin up into the body and trapping it their!

I have also read in other posts that you can drill a hole in the back of the gun to allow a screw to pretrude wich lessens the force of the needle, but im not sure I want to attempt this as the gun isnt that cheap and customs can be a worry!

Any hints/ideas ideas would be welcome, Thanks! :idea:

by **Eyes_Only** » 23 May 2007 1:05

Some pick guns are just weak. I got a Ilco pick gun from my FB course and it looked like it was a pretty solid piece of hardware but when I tried it on a kwikset lock the thing performed very poorly. I had to snap the trigger about 20 or more times to get it open while my EZ-Pick Gun (ordered it from a spy store from NY) works way better and faster. I've never tried Brockhage but I hope that brand isn't a weakling like Ilco's gun.

by **mrdan** » 23 May 2007 1:13

Mine is a HPC one and it works good and has an adjustment for tension or "snap" level. It does take some practice getting used to the way it works.

by **mrdan** » 23 May 2007 1:17

I find the most success when I hold it so the snap is barely felt and slowly change the angle and kind of ride the edge of the point of feeling snap. Don't forget to change the tension on the tension wrench too. (You kinda get a feel for it)

by **Shrub** » 23 May 2007 6:22

Youve recently stated that youve yet to pick a lock,

I suggest you put the guns down and step away,

You say your an apprentiuce locksmith? what are they teaching you or are you lying in your profile?

You must learn to pick locks first then worry about playing with toys, the guns are used for speed, i dont do warrents etc so dont need speed so hand pick on the door everytime,

I suggest you will always need lockpicking to fall back on should things go wrong with the guns, if you cant do that in the first place your then stuck,

Learn lockpicking then learn to do it quicker with guns, dont do it the other way around or else it will take you 4 times longer to do any practice and learn how to lockpick as you will giv up too easily with the thought that you can simply use a gun and be done with it,

The secret with the manual guns is to keep pulling the trigger as fast as you can and just get the tension right on the gun,
As said angleing the gun works wonders,
Differant blades make a big differance also,
The tension is important, you can either put constant tension on and hope for the best or gently bounce the tension while pulling the trigger,

Balencing the tension is the most fundemental area of picking and as you cant pick locks very well yet if at all then i suggest that this lack of skill is whats being transfered to the guns and that is why you arent having much luck,

Go back to picking and keep at that until you can do it then look at cheat ways,

by **Benvox2** » 24 May 2007 1:19

Thanks for all the replys.

Well im soon to be going into a 4 year apprenticeship so im not officially a apprentice just yet!

When you say "get the tension right on the gun" I take it you mean the wheel on the side that makes it harder or softer, but how do you know when its "right" ?

And also im not sure on what you both mean by "angeling" is that slightly twisting the gun while its in the keyway and striking the pins on a different angle, what exactly does this achieve?

And finally with the tension, you say "bouncing" and changing it, does this mean holding the tension wrench at a minimal standard then pulsing it harder etc?

Im so eager for this business that I cant just use the handpicks, I practise with the gun and picks all the time but still cant get the hang of it!

Thanks again for all the great replys!

by **Eyes_Only** » 24 May 2007 1:36

It means alternating from light to heavier tension as you snap the gun.

by **Benvox2** » 24 May 2007 6:04

Ok so thats light and heavier tension on the wrench? because everyones saying tension for the snapping pressure and tension for the wrench, and its confusing me! hehe

Thanks!

by **Shrub** » 24 May 2007 6:11

A few things then,

I suggest you remove the locksmith thing from your profile as you are not one and not learning to be one yet so your misleading people,

I suggest you leave the guns alone,

I suggest you slow down and read properly,

I suggest you learn to pick by hand with bought tools,

Click my www button and learn now,

by **UWSDWF** » 24 May 2007 9:25

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

by **Benvox2** » 25 May 2007 0:59

grrrrrrr whats with that??

I took your advice about leaving the guns alone earlier and i had my first sucess!

I managed, using a half-hook to pick a 6 pin oval cylinder!!
it was such a good feeling to actually pick a lock!

So im going to keep at the handpicks, but i only ever wanted some techniques with the pick gun which people shared with me well.

by **Shrub** » 25 May 2007 5:19

Thats great news,

Stick witht he hand picks and when your god at that come back to the guns and go from there,

Grrrrrrrrrr is exactly what it sounds like when you say it, its written as you say it so lets all do it together, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

by **Benvox2** » 27 May 2007 3:52

Ok thanks all, ill keep at the handpicks and I will try angelling and being a bit more mobile with the tension on the snap gun and hopefully hit sucess.

by **quicksilver** » 31 May 2007 8:23

Think about what is taking place with the snap-gun concept..... the pins are being bounced to the shear-line. Therefore, when starting, the pins must be in their most loose unbound position. Why is this important? Because with each snap the pins potentially bind upward perhaps beyond the shear-line. Therefore let the pins DROP with a complete lack of tension on the wrench prior to snapping. This is a co-ordinated effort between the two hands. The one with the wrench, let's the wrench momentarily tighten lightly at the time just before snapping; but if unsuccessful, loosen up and let the pins fall to have another attempt at it. Do not continue to lock the pins with continued tension as this may defeat the concept of bouncing the pins. What's more it may be advantageous to attempt to bounce all the pins rather than 2 here - 3 there, etc.

Put you senses to work and listen for the pins to drop between attempts. So that both your hands are working in unison. The "tension wrench hand" tightening the pins to the shear-line as the "gun-hand" bounces them to that point. Think......about what is actually taking place in the mechanics of your attempts. Do your best not to stuff that thing into the key-way and start to snap like a madman, believing that simple numbers of attempts will win the day. There is a logic to what you are attempting. Think of the American game Basket Ball. Wherein many tall fellows attempt to toss a ball upward into a basket. These tall guys do everything they can to increase the odds of that ball going into that basket. They don't just shoot in ever-increasing amounts in the hopes of a score; they plan, they understand that it "ain't about luck"....best of luck to you; keep practicing!

by **n00bking** » 31 May 2007 8:49

Well here is what I have found with my lockpicktools.com snap gun.

1. Find how far you have to put your pick in. When I first got it I shoved it all the way into the lock and pulled the trigger. Didn't work so well. It just so happens that I have made my Kwikset deadbolt into a cutaway. And I found this, if you put your gun in too far it gets caught on something on the back and won't go up. So stick your gun in like an 8th of and inch and just push up the pins, not with the trigger but just manually push up the pins. Keep pushing up and move back, and if you keep pushing back you may encounter something and then you can't push your pick back anymore. Stop. That is that thing that your pick gets under sometimes and it can't snap past that.

Anyone understand that, or am I speaking jibberish?

2. Some people say pull your trigger as fast as possible. I have tried that and it works. It takes like 5 fast pulls on my KW1 deadbolt. But if I leave like 1 second between snaps, (pull it slowly) it takes 2 snaps. So try fast and slow.

3. If you are trying on a lock that has a spring cover that can easily pop off instead of slide off, or like on a dollar store padlock, doesn't even have a spring cover, it is just solid, to get the springs in you need to like put them in the outer cylinder and use like tweezers to guide them into the holes. So if you are trying on lock that has a spring cover that can easily pop off, duct tape it on, hold it on, or like every 3 successful snap picks take it off, and take pliers and make it smaller. My KW1's condition, not so good, I currently have him on bypass. Until I get the organ transplants in the mail (clksupplies.com) I will have to keep his condition stable and exert minimal stress upon him. (While snapping the cover came off and I lost some pins and my springs got all messed up.)

Manual Pick Gun Techniques

Have you had much sucess with a manual pick gun?

Manual Pick Gun Techniques

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