Are european locks harder to pick than american locks??????

by **NewBee :)** » 14 Feb 2006 14:56

Just wondering

by **Aqua** » 14 Feb 2006 16:05

Actually, european locks may be a bit harder to pick, due to the narrower keyhole, and the often need for slimline picks.
The pins-upside-down thing may become a small problem at first for both, european lockpickers and american lockpickers, but it's just something that you get used to after you pick a few locks.
Beside those 2 factors, the locks don't differ much. (at least nothing else pops into my head)
I'm talking (writing) about basic pin-tumbler locks ofcorse.

by **illusion** » 14 Feb 2006 16:46

If you deviate from pin tumbler locks you can then say that Abloy disc-locks (Finnish), and the range of British Standard lever locks are pretty formidable and are both European.

However the US has things such as Medeco which are all ranked highly so it may even out.

Generaly I'd be inclined to say European...

by **What** » 14 Feb 2006 17:37

Aqua wrote:Actually, european locks may be a bit harder to pick, due to the narrower keyhole, and the often need for slimline picks.
The pins-upside-down thing may become a small problem at first for both, european lockpickers and american lockpickers, but it's just something that you get used to after you pick a few locks.
Beside those 2 factors, the locks don't differ much. (at least nothing else pops into my head)
I'm talking (writing) about basic pin-tumbler locks ofcorse.

are euro keyways thinner than a masterlock?

by **pinky** » 14 Feb 2006 18:10

they are only hard if you dont understand them and you cant pick them, get to know them , understand them and pick them and they are pussy cats.

by **Wade** » 14 Feb 2006 22:56

pinky wrote:they are only hard if you dont understand them and you cant pick them, get to know them , understand them and pick them and they are pussy cats.

pussy cats huh ?

by **greyman** » 17 Feb 2006 6:03

I'm afraid the original question is way too open ended to give a short response. Of course it all depends what locks you are talking about. With hundreds of different locks around, you need to be specific. I assume you are talking about pin tumbler lock cylinders. In which case you still have to narrow it down quite a lot since some have spool pins, profile pins, sidebars and other antipick features. If you ignore all that and just stick to plain vanilla pin tumbler cylinders, then I'd say there is no essential difference as long as you compare like with like - ie well made locks from reputable manufacturers with similar keyways.

One point to note is that euro cylinders are generally mounted upside down, which makes picking them a bit different from the UK/American/Australian convention. It might be fair to say it's harder when they are upside down.

Another thing is that European locks quite often have nasty key profiles - this definitely makes picking harder. You may not get far with EVVA locks for instance.

by **Olcaytug** » 17 Feb 2006 14:21

And my nightmares... Dimple locks! (Those with keys having small spherical dents along the sides)

I'm not sure whether they can be classified in this category but absolutely they are becomming very popular in Europe, it seems...

I'm trying them with picks of my own design, since I can't find any templates. Foil impressioning defeats them easily but it is not the way for a fair sportsman! :wink:

By the way I haven't tryed matador rakes so far... Do they really work?

Regards.

by **illusion** » 17 Feb 2006 14:24

They work better on some than others...

I recently made two and posted the result here: viewtopic.php?p=131329#131329

by **Omikron** » 17 Feb 2006 14:34

I've been tossing around the idea of ordering the MTL picks from MBA USA but I don't know how good the quality is. I'll have to see if I can find another lockie that has them already and ask them what they think.

by **Olcaytug** » 18 Feb 2006 18:43

illusion wrote:They work better on some than others...

I recently made two and posted the result here: viewtopic.php?p=131329#131329

Thanks friend

I will give them a try, wit a feater-touch tension tool

It is really difficult to pick one pin at a time when it comes to 6/6 mashrum+serrated+spool pins.

by **illusion** » 18 Feb 2006 18:54

Yes, I have an AGB dimple lock, which has 7 pins, of which 5 of them are spool pins. I've had difficulty opening it using Matador picks, but the keyway hardly helps matters.

A photo of the lock itself: http://photobucket.com/albums/b25/jangofett511/?action=view&current=DSCF0159.jpg

You need to make some picks if you wish to single-pin-pick them.. a stadard pick is annoying to manouever in these locks.

Are european locks harder to pick than american locks??????

Are european locks harder to pick than american locks??????

Are european locks harder to pick than american locks?

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