Master lock Tough under fire

[lockjones]

I inherited a rifle with a Master lock tough under fire trigger lock. It opens with a key numbered P250. It appears to be a master key as it opened some other trigger locks the lady kept, so I left her the key. Does anyone know if I can get another key somewhere or can these locks be rekeyed.

[Solomon]

Anything to do with trigger locks is pretty touchy, so just to make sure I understand this correctly... you inherited a rifle, it had a trigger lock on it, and it opens with a key which also opens locks attached to other guns this lady owns. You now have a trigger lock for the rifle she gave you, but no key, and you want to get a key so you can use it to secure your rifle. Is this accurate?

If so, your best bet is to just give her the lock back and get your own. They're not expensive, after all. If you got her key copied, you'd obviously have access to the rest of the guns (which don't belong to you), so I can imagine this being frowned upon from a legal standpoint. If you wanted to keep the lock that came with it, but have it re-pinned so her key would no longer work, it would definately be the more sensible option... but it'd cost the same to just to purchase a new lock. Besides, I doubt trigger locks have removeable cores, so it's not really an option anyway. Just give her the lock back so she has it as a spare or something, and buy yourself a new lock. That's my suggestion.

[lockjones]

Anything to do with trigger locks is pretty touchy, so just to make sure I understand this correctly... you inherited a rifle, it had a trigger lock on it, and it opens with a key which also opens locks attached to other guns this lady owns. You now have a trigger lock for the rifle she gave you, but no key, and you want to get a key so you can use it to secure your rifle. Is this accurate?

If so, your best bet is to just give her the lock back and get your own. They're not expensive, after all. If you got her key copied, you'd obviously have access to the rest of the guns (which don't belong to you), so I can imagine this being frowned upon from a legal standpoint. If you wanted to keep the lock that came with it, but have it re-pinned so her key would no longer work, it would definately be the more sensible option... but it'd cost the same to just to purchase a new lock. Besides, I doubt trigger locks have removeable cores, so it's not really an option anyway. Just give her the lock back so she has it as a spare or something, and buy yourself a new lock. That's my suggestion.

Kinda what I figured. Thanks.

[MacGyver101]

Besides, I doubt trigger locks have removeable cores, so it's not really an option anyway.

That's correct: the cylinder in a Master Lock trigger lock can't be removed without breaking open the half of the lock that contains the core. (The more recent ones appear to be spot-welded closed.)

While it's possible to rekey one, you'd need appropriate pins, blanks and some means of reassembling the lock body. As Solomon suggests, it would be far cheaper to simply buy a new one -- unless you're simply curious and want to undertake this as an educational experiment. (If so, though, there are many other locks you could find that would be much easier to rekey!)

It appears to be a master key as it opened some other trigger locks the lady kept . . .

Master sells packages of keyed-alike trigger locks (where one key opens all of the locks sold in the package): that was almost certainly the reason why your key appeared to be a "master key". Even when you don't intentionally buy them "keyed alike", though, it's not than uncommon to find that you've bought two locks that open with the same key: there don't seem to be that many different key cuts for those locks.