Picking a "Stubborn Pin"

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Hi there!

I just got into lock-picking this past month and have had pretty satisfying success with my padlocks and practice locks. I'm consistently having an issue with one pin in my current setup on my practice lock though. The first pin, when it binds, is particularly difficult to move, it takes a great deal of pressure form my pick, and about 9/10 times, one i get it to move, it pops waaay up and oversets. I'm trying to use less and less tension but still have the same problem. Oversetting this pin seems to be my only obstacle when opening this particular lock, to the point when i feel it set, I know I can do the other pins no problem every time.
There's nothing special about the pin stack itself, no spools or serrations. I'm picking pin by pin with a hook pick.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

[Shackle Jackal]

Hi there!

I just got into lock-picking this past month and have had pretty satisfying success with my padlocks and practice locks. I'm consistently having an issue with one pin in my current setup on my practice lock though. The first pin, when it binds, is particularly difficult to move, it takes a great deal of pressure form my pick, and about 9/10 times, one i get it to move, it pops waaay up and oversets. I'm trying to use less and less tension but still have the same problem. Oversetting this pin seems to be my only obstacle when opening this particular lock, to the point when i feel it set, I know I can do the other pins no problem every time.
There's nothing special about the pin stack itself, no spools or serrations. I'm picking pin by pin with a hook pick.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

Are you able to take the lock apart and give it a good cleaning ? It could be little bits of metal, perhaps a burr.

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Are you able to take the lock apart and give it a good cleaning ? It could be little bits of metal, perhaps a burr.

Good idea! Though I'm more interested in overcoming this when I encounter it than "fixing" the lock.

I just had a little breakthrough through. It seems like 2 pins are binding at once, this one and the one behind it. If I pick the "Stubborn pin" first, it sets just fine, it's only if I set the other one too that causes it to jam up.
Does that make any sense?