SC1 Keyway

[horriefic]

Totally new to lockpicking. Am hooked. Bought the Ultimate Adversary Lock and liking it. Have been practising picking 1 pin in each of the 7 pin positions, and also 2 pin in various positions. No issues and learning fast.

But I get stumped at 3 pins. The SC1 keyway makes it difficult for me to get a good purchase of the back pin to push it up cleanly. And when I do, the shaft of the lockpick inadvertently also pushes up the pins in front.

Advise needed? What's the way to attack a pin in a SC1 keyway? Do you come in from the side and kinda curl it upwards?

Thanks!

On another note, does anybody know what plug fits into the Ultimate Adversary Lock? Maybe I should buy a plug with a simpler Sargeant L keyway and swap the plug for my easier practising.

[RedE]

In case nobody else has said it, welcome to the forums!

In response to your question, I must first ask what kind of a pick are you using? I have used a medium hook on your style of lock before with no problems. And yes, you may have to come at each pinstack from an angle to avoid disturbing the others.

[GWiens2001]

A picture of the pick(s) you are using may be helpful. Have seen many cheap pick sets with the neck of the pick that is quite tall, making it more difficult to reach the back pins without touching the front pins.

Gordon

[Jacob Morgan]

Are you tensioning from the top or bottom? If it is from the bottom, then if one is not careful the wrench can take up too much space. Top of keyway or a different style of wrench at the bottom may be called for. Also, if you are using a hook, it does not have to be a monster hook, a fairly shallow one should work and that would give more clearance.

There are keyways with more difficult warding in common use in North America (some of the Yales, for example). The SC keyway is fairly open as far as keyways go, although there are some "composite" keyways out there that hardly have any warding at all.

[dhk42]

I think I might have asked the same question at some point.

The Ultimate Adversary 7-pin lock is the single tightest Schlage style keyway I have experienced and like you it was the first one. And that lock also has great tolerances. It really is an ultimate adversary. It still gives me a lot more trouble than many other locks.

As others have suggested, try thinner/different picks. Pick off the side warding. Make sure you can feel/get to all of the pins before you apply tension.

Read that last sentence again.

It would be far easier to tap another rim cylinder than to switch the plug, I think. By the time you do that you'll also know how to repin any cylinder, which is absolutely worth knowing.