Oldest 5200 I've seen, found today.

[nick08037]

Comrade627 - good work on the 5200, do you know if the pins are original for the lock made in the late 1980s? Has American always used security pins? Nick

[nite0wl]

Very nice work on the picking and cleanup. American Lock's factory lube is always trouble for me (even when the thing is only months old it still manages to gum things up). I always bathe my American Locks in WD-40 to remove the factory lube and whatever else found it's way in there, then rinse it again in alcohol (to remove the WD-40), then in warm water (to remove the alcohol) before drying everything and applying a good lock lube.

On that note, is it worth making one of those comb picks for this?

I know you already got the lock open but for future reference comb picks should not work on most American Lock designs (maybe on some of their very old designs from the Junkunc days).

[Robotnik]

Found one of the '80s 5200s in an antique shop yesterday, date code XGK. Believe this is March of 1984. First photo is a full gut shot, midway through cleaning; note the lack of serrated/security pins. Cleaned it up, but decided to refrain from any sort of severe chemical or abrasive cleaning to keep the character intact. Lock was seized with hardened factory grease; looked like somebody had oiled it with Crisco .

Did find the lack of security pins intriguing; appears somewhere between 84 and 86 marked their introduction (?).

[Comrade627]

Comrade627 - good work on the 5200, do you know if the pins are original for the lock made in the late 1980s? Has American always used security pins? Nick

I THINK they were the original pins in the lock, only based on a small forensic look at the sex screw, it looked like a screwdriver have never touched it under magnifying glass.

Nice find robotnik, that metal body is the same type as the one I found, I just blasted mine with alcohol, goo-gone, and some high grit sand paper to make it smooth again. It still has it's character. March of 84 seems correct on that one.

I can't tell with the picture, but it looks like the top 3 pins on the right are heavily worn security pins? Could just be my eyes playing tricks.

[Robotnik]

Comrade627 - good work on the 5200, do you know if the pins are original for the lock made in the late 1980s? Has American always used security pins? Nick

I THINK they were the original pins in the lock, only based on a small forensic look at the sex screw, it looked like a screwdriver have never touched it under magnifying glass.

Nice find robotnik, that metal body is the same type as the one I found, I just blasted mine with alcohol, goo-gone, and some high grit sand paper to make it smooth again. It still has it's character. March of 84 seems correct on that one.

I can't tell with the picture, but it looks like the top 3 pins on the right are heavily worn security pins? Could just be my eyes playing tricks.

The driver pins were definitely standard; the macro photo may not be doing it justice. If I gut it again, I'll snap a close up photo of the pins. As with yours, these appear to be the original pins based on the lock's wear pattern.

I considered taking more of the patina off this lock, but had grown fond of the rusted shackle and two corroded spots on the reverse, so I stuck with removing the loose rust and surface grime.

[nick08037]

I just picked up a few used 5200's for practice. Looking forward to working with them. I will check the date codes but I am not expecting any vintage examples in the lot. -Nick

[Comrade627]

I just picked up a few used 5200's for practice. Looking forward to working with them. I will check the date codes but I am not expecting any vintage examples in the lot. -Nick

A semi reliable method of rough dating the 5200 is looking at what the body is made of. It SEEMS like the good ol' pre ML 5200's have a solid, heavier, body with an even... something, I'm not a metal-ologist so here's what I mean. Notice it's just a good ol' chunk of steel or something regular looking.
http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/ah2 ... 0uoilj.jpg
Now that one is from the 80's and had been hit with high grit sandpaper to take off years of gunk, so I doubt you'll see one that clean in the wild but hey, crazier things have been known to happen. You can also find the pre ML 5200's in a brownish color upon encountering one.

Now we look at post ML 5200's, and their what I like to call Twilight metal, because well, if you've had the "pleasure" of seeing the movies...
http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/ah2 ... mmmdw6.jpg
And here http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41zLi6HRCaL._SY355_.jpg

See it? That glimmery stuff? To me, in an instant the body color of a 5200 will often tell me if it's worth picking up, or using as a fishing lure.

[GWiens2001]

See it? That glimmery stuff? To me, in an instant the body color of a 5200 will often tell me if it's worth picking up, or using as a fishing lure.

Nice point about body color. Will say that while have not tried using the new ones as a fishing lure, bet you could cast a loooong way with one of them.

Gordon

[Comrade627]

See it? That glimmery stuff? To me, in an instant the body color of a 5200 will often tell me if it's worth picking up, or using as a fishing lure.

Nice point about body color. Will say that while have not tried using the new ones as a fishing lure, bet you could cast a loooong way with one of them.

Gordon

There's fishing in Arizona?

Had to.

[GWiens2001]

See it? That glimmery stuff? To me, in an instant the body color of a 5200 will often tell me if it's worth picking up, or using as a fishing lure.

Nice point about body color. Will say that while have not tried using the new ones as a fishing lure, bet you could cast a loooong way with one of them.

Gordon

There's fishing in Arizona?

Had to.

Sure there is. The sand trout are especially good, if you can find/catch them. Best bait is a horny toad, but they are protected, so you can't claim to be fishing with them. But there is no reason that you can't take your pet horny toad for a walk in the river, is there?



Gordon

[BSG_314159]

So I had a silver 5200 thinking it was a military lock that was made Oct 2008 but it's a civilian model.



My oldest 5200 is a 1990s model.

Here is my august 1986 6570 american lock