trouble picking

[24601]

Hey guys!

I recently got a lock pick set from southhord which I think is really good although this is my first set and my first experience with lock picking. I immediately tried my luck at opening a master lock no.3 which I managed to rake open after about 30 minutes. I've gotten pretty good at it too and can open it in less then a minute usually either by picking or raking. The problem is, it's the only lock i can open. Any of lock I try, even another Master Lock no.3 i can't open. Could my lock just be slightly broken and therefore easier to open? What can I do to get better at this?

Thanks,

24601

[peoplma]

Lock picking is usually very frustrating for beginners. 30min for your first lock is pretty good I'd say! You may have gotten lucky picking it, then perfected the technique for that particular lock. All locks are different, be sure you're not using the same method on all of them. When raking, always try front to back, back to front, middle to back to front etc. while varying tension. When it doesn't work, slowly let up tension so you can hear how many pins you had set, and falsely set pins will click louder and stronger than correctly set ones. Don't get discouraged, lock picking takes tons of patience and practice.

[Liminality]

Opening a complete lock is pretty impressive for someone's first attempt, although I don't think you'll become as proficient as you might want if you start off by raking.

The normal route for most hobby-pickers is to head over to your local hardware store and buy a 10~15 dollar 'Kwikset' deadbolt kit, or its generic counterpart. From this, you remove all the pins but one, or two, and reassemble. This way you can feel exactly what its like to set a pin, and then work up to 3, 4, and finally 5 pins once you've progressed there. SPP (Single Pin Picking) is normally recommended for beginners, at least for the very beginning, as it allows you to feel the mechanics of the lock and what provides more isolated feedback as to what you are doing.
One note about this: You might accidentally destroy your first cylinder, so either use extra caution, or find a guide on cylinder disassembly.

After mastering your first kwikset(or kwikset clone), you might want to try picking other padlocks. The smaller laminated locks (layers of metal stacked horizonally) are pretty safe bets, but some can be difficult to manipulate due to poor manufacturing. If your pickset has any smaller picks, you can try among the smaller(~2" tall) brass padlocks, which normally have 4 pins.