Pick failure?

[Wooly Mammoth]

I've been picking locks for a little over a month now. In that time, I've gotten my hands on a small variety of locks. Two of them were Master No. 3s. They were fairly old, with an indeterminate amount of wear when I found them. They were very easy to open when I first tried them, but after about a week of (constant) practice, both of them seemed to suddenly stop opening. One moment I can open it with ease, but suddenly it refuses to ever open again. The keys still work, but picking does not seem to do much. The other locks of about equal difficulty still open fine. My question, then is this: Exactly how fast can a lock wear down, and could there be another reason for these issues?

[barbarian]

If the key still works, it shouldn't be wear.

Keep trying. Could just be that the feel you were used to has changed.

[Wooly Mammoth]

If the key still works, it shouldn't be wear.

Keep trying. Could just be that the feel you were used to has changed.

One would think. Wouldn't the change in feel be more gradual though?

[datagram]

[...] and could there be another reason for these issues?

Yeah, you're just having a bad day/week. It happens to the best of lockpickers, just keep practicing and focus on single pin picking if you really want to understand how to open those locks you own 100% of the time.

dg

[n2oah]

You may have just lost the "muscle memory" for those particular locks.

[lock2006]

I got the same issue with my master locks #1 and #3 they do the same thing One moment I can open it with ease, but suddenly it refuses to ever open again i guess the amount of wear make them act this way,what i do is i lubricates the locks and use differents picks, this work for me
hope this helps.

[Wooly Mammoth]

I got the same issue with my master locks #1 and #3 they do the same thing One moment I can open it with ease, but suddenly it refuses to ever open again i guess the amount of wear make them act this way,what i do is i lubricates the locks and use differents picks, this work for me
hope this helps.

That sound about like what happens. One moment it opens in 5 seconds, and suddenly it no longer opens at all. I suppose that's to be expected from locks that had been laying in snow and water for an indeterminate amount of time.