American Lock Series 1105

[pinsetter]

Last night I acquired an American Lock Series 1105 from an auction sale. It is an anodized blue body, and I could see from the keys that it was 5 pins. I actually thought it was a cheap looking lock and figured I'd have it picked in no time. Wrong again! After about 20 minutes of trying to pick it and noticing several hang-ups on multiple pins I decided to remove the core, disassemble it, and have a look at what was inside. I was actually shocked to see what came out of this simple looking lock. Every single pin was a security pin. The bottom pins were all serrated, even the short pins. The top pins were 3 serrated pins in the front, and 2 serrated spools in the back.
Before opening this lock up I thought the Brinks lock was bad, and it is, but this American lock seems to be built to much higher tolerances. The drilling looks pretty precise, which makes the lock bind strangely, but what I noticed more was the material the cylinder shell is made from. It is not soft brass or a cheap alloy. The shell is made from a hard alloy of good quality, which I feel will retain the shape and size of the chambers very well. It just appears that these locks are made to last for years without significant wear on the cylinder. Now I can easily see why American Locks have such a reputation for being high quality and hard to pick! Looks sure can be deceiving, as I still have not successfully picked this lock!

[mh]

Similar experience as I had on this American Series 2000 padlock:
viewtopic.php?t=12347
It doesn't look hard to pick from the outside, but it sure is...

mh

[Raccoon]

I've clocked at least 20-30 hours on my 700 series, and I've barely gotten the cylinder to budge. I think my picks are the weak link, as the front and second-to-last pins are deep, with a high last pin. If this keeps up, I'll have traveled around the country with this padlock and no love.

At least it keeps me occupied on trips.

[pinsetter]

I have been able to false set the 1105 several times, but due to the last pin being high and the 2 pins directly prior to it being low, I'm not able to set the very back pin without pushing up the pins before it. As I stated, these are serrated key pins and they hang badly in that they will not fall back down out of the way of the shear line without releasing torque on the plug. When I release torque (very slowly and carefully by the way) not only do the upset key pins fall back down, but so do the last two driver pins, which are the two spools. I've tried picking it with hooks of various sizes and shapes, half diamonds, and picks modeled after Falle Safe's and have not yet found the magic pick to use to set that last pin without getting into the key pins in front of it. I'm pretty sure the tolerances are tight enough on the drilling that this lock is gonna be a real chore to open. I WILL open it!! It may give me trouble, but I won't be beaten by it!

[jgencinc]

I have a couple american locks. They are very tough. For some reason I have a lot of luck using the king pick.

http://www.geocities.com/romstar_orion/lockpicks/

I gently rock it like a lever on the bottom of the cylinder,using the bottom of the pick as a fulcrum. There are so many security features in these locks, you need to get a good feel. I get a lot more control using this technique. The feedback is also good using the king pick.

The locks are tough. It took me over a week to pick my 2000.

[Gordon Airporte]

I have an American 2000 which has become me nemesis. My problem is getting a wrench to stay in it. Everytime I think I'm feeling a false set it's the wrench falling out
I've made several custom wrenches for it, each of which ends up having some problem.
So what do you use for tension jgencinc? Or just do the obvious thing and take the cylinder out first?

[raimundo]

Ive got an american that Im becoming friendly and familiar with, its no pushover, but picking it is interesting, four serrated spools and a serrated driver on top, the usual serrated bottoms, but three in one oil is very useful on it. getting the right tensor is part of the problem, also remember that sometimes you actually have it picked before you realize it, so before dropping tension, put in a small straight screwdriver and give it a try, most often, I find that I have picked it and dont even know it because its not turning much. Lately I have been using a tensor made from flattend bike spoke, the kind that is made flattend, not the kind you pound down.

[pinsetter]

Well, that's wild! I just *thought* I was getting false sets! I did as raimundo suggested and inserted a screwdriver after *false* setting the lock, only to find out that it was actually picked! For some reason my lock also takes a lot of tension to overcome the spring on the cam. I've probably had it picked several times and did not realize it. Thanks ray!

[RenderMan]

Other than the well documented bypass, these locks are perfect for practicing security pins in tight spaces.

I have one and routinly dump the pins and just setup a couple of chambers to get the feel of the pins without totally frustrating myself.

[jgardhouse]

All this said, they are so great to bump... The tolerences help bigtime!

Catch 22 I suppose.

[jgencinc]

I made a wrench specifaclly for the 2000. I used a wiper insert. I place it in the upper part of the keyway. Where the pins are. I fine tuned it, nipping away from the blade so it would go as far in as possible, but not touch the first pin. When I got that part right, I measured the end of the lock body and gave it a twist there. Making the twist far enough away so it wouldn't touch the body of the lock. I like twisted wrenches.

I don't know, but I have a ton of wrenches. Whenever i have a hard time picking with what I have. I make a wrench specifically for the keyway I'm picking. It usually helps. Slipping wrenches are the worst.

[Gordon Airporte]

I made a wrench specifaclly for the 2000. I used a wiper insert. I place it in the upper part of the keyway. Where the pins are. I fine tuned it, nipping away from the blade so it would go as far in as possible, but not touch the first pin. When I got that part right, I measured the end of the lock body and gave it a twist there. Making the twist far enough away so it wouldn't touch the body of the lock. I like twisted wrenches.

I've been making them to fit the top of the keyway too, but with three bends so it jogs over then bends up above the body and over again into the handle. Like steps. But yours only uses one 90 degree bend, plus the twist?

I don't know, but I have a ton of wrenches. Whenever i have a hard time picking with what I have. I make a wrench specifically for the keyway I'm picking. It usually helps. Slipping wrenches are the worst.

Same here . Usually, once I've practiced, I can get to where I use a generic wrench, just to keep the clutter on my desk down a little.

[Squelchtone]

All this said, they are so great to bump... The tolerences help bigtime!

Catch 22 I suppose.

I just got an American 1105 today, and my key is 42746. Is 7 the deepest cut on these locks if I want to file one of my 2 keys into a bump key?

It looks like it can go down to 8 and then it hits the warding....

Thanks for the info

Squelchtone

[awol70]

i have picked a TON of american locks on cam,right out of the box on many occasions,but this 6-pin 2000 series puck is giving me a hell of a time...i think i may have gotten a "false false set"
a few times and not realized it was actually open....
wish me luck,y'all....

[tballard]

I've got an American 1105 and a Brinks Shrouded (which is similar pinwise) It took me forever to get the knack of them, but I finally have a technique which seems to work for me, and perhaps might help others.

The right turning tool and pick make all the difference for me. I used top tension for a long time, but recently found that using a short/thick tension wrench on the bottom with a bent paperclip stuck in the little undercut at the bottom of the keyway works wonderfully. (Never thought I'd be stocking my pickcase with paperclips...)

I use a pick similar to a Peterson Gem, to do the picking. Work from back to front, lifting each pin a tiny bit until it sticks. The trick here is to only lift each pin the minimum amount to get it to stick, otherwise you run the risk of oversetting, which usually means you need to reset to zero and try again. After one or two passes like this, the plug will tilt a few degrees because all the pins have been picked to at least a false set.

Now, probe the pins from the back to the front using the pick to pull against the back side of each pin. The pins which are false set will response by rotating the plug backwards against your wrench. Lift these very slowly until they click into the next false set or (hopefully) the shear line. The pins which are properly set will feel rock solid, and you can skip them. Repeat this process on the non-solid pins until the lock springs open.

Oversetting is the biggest problem I have with these locks, and have found that when a lock is being stubborn, resetting it and trying again often helps a lot. The other issue I have, (which might be particular to my locks) is that the front pin seems to come unset very easily, and very quietly. The number times I've gone to reset a lock only to discover that the front pin had dropped without me noticing it is a bit embarassing.