wear from practice picking

[s0u1h4ck3r]

Why do they use brass? Wouldn't it be better with a harder metal?

[ltdbjd]

I can only takes some guesses since I'm not a manufacturer, but I'd imagine one reason is cost. Brass is a fairly soft metal, so it's easier to machine than say a block of stainless steel. Some people say that brass tends to slide against each other easier than other metals, though I haven't seen any real evidence (or looked for it) to support that conclusion.

There are some locks and keys that are made with nickel steel alloys, but as you can imagine, they are all the high end, high quality, expensive locks.

[Silverado]

I would also venture to say that having a non magnetic metal in there eliminates bypass using a magnet.