door handle locks

[loanbanker]

Granted I am a novice at best. However I have had no problem so far with picking various deadbolt and padlocks. However the regular door handle locks seem to get me every time. Is the lock the same regarding the pins etc?

Please forgive the novice question. I guess I could go buy one and take it apart, however I was hoping the forum could save me some coin by your experience!

BTW I am in the USA just in case that makes a difference.

[melvin2001]

KIK cylinders (key in knob) are generally considered to be of lesser quality then their deadbolt counterparts. kwikset has even been known to put plastic in their kik cylinders. the kik cylinders are of such low quality (generally) that they can often be unreliable to pick and even give seasoned professionals trouble. just practice a lot and you'll get a feel for them. if you can pick a deadbolt you can pick a kik... its just a matter of practice.

oh and i hope all those deadbolts and knobs are not ones in use.... you wouldn't want to be responsible for breaking your front door or anything i assume....

[VashTSPD]

Some of the cheap padlocks (ie Master #3) should be easy to pick, but aren't very reliable either. Very hard to feel the binding pin in those little crappy cylinders. Also, you may have upper class deadbolts but easy KIKs. A brand name or picture of the locks would get you a better response. And like Melvin2001 said, don't pick locks that you use on your doors. They can break, or you could screw them up and not know how to fix them, that's happened before.

[loanbanker]

Great advise and great responses. I guess it comes down to practice. Thank you again.