Masterlock No. 5 flaw?

[thepassionofchad]

I just started my lockpicking hobby adventure a couple days ago, so I went out and bought one of the best Masterlock pads I could find at the local Home Depot. This was the No.5. At first it took me 2 hours to pick it with a diamond pick I made. But now it takes less a few seconds. How?

What I discovered for my particular lock was that if it was turned upside down so the pins fell into their chambers, and a little bit of tension was applied, the last 3 would set themselves. This left only the first pin needed to be picked. I know this may not be the case for all No. 5's, but if you have one, give it a go and report back. Most likely it won't be the first pin, it might be the second, third, fourth, or none of them. But go ahead and play around with it.

I made a video of me picking it in that manner. Skip ahead to ~2:30 to see it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_i572Mpnm4

[raimundo]

typical master lock, theres a lot of posts here from newbies who say "I picked it with just a tension wrench,"

[thepassionofchad]

Ha, yes, I tried and in fact just picked it with the tension wrench... wow.

Do you have and recommendations for a newbie who wants a difficult padlock to pick?

[freakparade3]

Brinks R70 is a good next step. It's only 4 pins but the real trick is getting the proper tension.

[lock2006]

You can try the Masters Pro series padlocks like the #6121 or #911
with 5-spool pin tumbler hope this helps.